Bun Bang Fai rocket festival in Yasothon
Home-made rockets fired to call the rains. When and where Isan's rocket festivals happen and what visitors should know.
Bun Bang Fai is a merit-making festival held across Isan and parts of Laos at the end of the dry season, usually in May. According to local belief, firing rockets into the sky reminds the rain god Phaya Thaen to send rain for the coming rice-planting season. The best-known celebrations are in Yasothon.
What happens
Villages and communities build rockets, some of them very large, from tubes packed with black powder. The festival includes colourful parades with decorated rockets, traditional dancing and music, and plenty of rural humour and drinking. On the main day the rockets are launched from tall bamboo platforms, and teams whose rockets fail are traditionally thrown into the mud.
Tips
- Watch launches from a safe distance; rockets sometimes misfire.
- The parades are the most photogenic part and are easier to enjoy than the crowded launch site.
- Yasothon has a limited number of hotels; consider staying in Ubon Ratchathani, Roi Et or other nearby cities.
- Similar festivals are held in many Isan provinces, with dates set locally each year.