2027 edition🇹🇭 Chiang MaiWater FestivalUNESCO listed

Songkran

The Thai new year, delivered by water cannon.

Dates

13 April – 15 April 2027

Location

Northern Thailand, Thailand

Duration

4 days

195

days

hrs

min

sec

Read the story

The story

What it is, and why it matters

Category: Water Festival
Tradition: Buddhist
Attendance: Millions nationwide
Region: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand
UNESCO: Listed

WaterNew yearBlessing

The moat around Chiang Mai's old city becomes a three-day free-for-all. Plastic guns, iced buckets, and a pickup truck with a barrel in the back.

Songkran is the traditional new year across South and Southeast Asia, fixed astronomically rather than on 1 January. In Thailand it runs officially from 14 to 15 April and unofficially for about a week.

The water is originally a blessing — poured over the hands of elders and over Buddha images in temples. Chiang Mai escalated that into a city-wide water fight, and Khaosan Road in Bangkok followed, which is where most visitors encounter it first.

Countdown to 2027

195

days

hrs

min

sec

See the month Water Festival

Traditions

What actually happens

Rod nam dam hua — pouring scented water over an elder's hands to ask for blessing. Bathing the Buddha — temple images ritually washed with jasmine water.

01Rod nam dam hua — pouring scented water over an elder's hands to ask for blessing.
02Bathing the Buddha — temple images ritually washed with jasmine water.
03Sand pagodas — carrying sand to the temple to replace the dirt carried out on your sandals.
04Building the nava — new year house-building, now mostly a public park display.

Food

The table, widened

Khao chae — jasmine-scented rice served in cool iced water, the definitive summer dish.

01Khao chae — jasmine-scented rice served in cool iced water, the definitive summer dish.
02Mango sticky rice, grilled river prawns and endless 7-Eleven rehydration salt.

Music

Sound of the crowd

Isaan mor lam on truck speakers in the provinces; luk thung on the pickup beds; EDM on the floating stages. In Bangkok, Khaoosan Road simply plays the top of the charts at enormous volume for 72 hours.

Religion

Why this date

Songkran derives from the Sanskrit saṅkrānti and marks the sun's entry into Aries. It is Theravada Buddhist in observance but astronomically Hindu in origin — a good illustration of how the mainland Southeast Asian calendar was assembled.

History

How it survived

The date was the official Thai new year until 1940, when the government switched the civil calendar to 1 January and kept Songkran as a holiday. In 2024 Thailand extended the official festival window to nearly a week to spread tourist arrivals.

Gallery

Frames from the field

5 images · Chiang Mai · 2027

Timeline

How it got here

Antiquity
Saṅkrānti
Solar new year rites shared across South and Southeast Asia.
1940
Calendar switch
Thailand adopts 1 January; Songkran survives as the cultural new year.
1990s
The water fight
Chiang Mai's moat and Bangkok's Khaosan Road turn the blessing into a battle.
2024
Week-long
The official window is extended to spread arrivals across the country.

Travel & practical