Phi Ta Khon Festival

LOEI  The annual Bun Luang and Phi Ta Khon festival will be held 26 to 28 June, in Dansai, Loei province.
It should attract thousands of domestic visitors, who are interested in the cultural aspects of this ancient festival, while attracting foreigners who are interested in Isan folklore and traditions.
The Bun Luang and Phi Ta Kon Festival is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Isan. It is at its most colourful and dramatic in Dansai where it attracts foreigners drawn to this ancient festival of ghosts.
It has its roots in merit making and a ceremony to ask for plentiful rain during the rice planting season.
The special characteristics of the festival attracts visitors from Japan, United States and Germany, although Japan has become the main source market for visitors over the last 10 years.
inside no 3Though the Bun Luang and Phi Ta Khon Festival is an annual event, it does not always fall on the same dates because the dates have to be determined by a ritual performance by the highly respected mediums, Jao Por Guan and Jao Mae Nang Tiam.
The mediums are not easily swayed by commercial considerations such as establishing fixed annual dates, or even giving adequate warning so more visitors can attend None of these factors figure in their spiritual considerations.
The Phi Ta Kon is part of Bun Luang festival and in Dansai district they have been combined into two festivals namely Bun Phra Wet – the festival of the fourth lunar month and Bun Bang Fai – the festival of the sixth lunar month commonly known as the bamboo rocket festival.
Bun Phra Wet is also a religious ceremony where locals congregate to listen to 13 Buddhist sermons. They believe that being part of the congregation at the sermon sessions guarantees great merit.
Bun Bang Fai festival is held to worship spirits, the protectors of the village and to ask for sufficient rain for the rice planting season.
Features of the three-day festival
The ceremony usually starts as early as 0300 or 0400 with a parade of the men folk from Phon Chai Temple in Dansai district to the Man River. Before sunrise, they will perform a ritual to invite Phra Up Pa Khut, which is deemed to be a white marble, an incarnation of a holy monk having supernatural powers who can change his form to be whatever he likes to be. In this case, a slab of marble.
inside no 3.1The procession will then bring Phra Up Pa Khut back to the temple for worship and ceremonies.
The colourful activities begin on the second day at dawn with local people dressed as Phi Ta Khon. They cheerfully perform on village streets in the afternoon. Beautifully decorated cars make up the street parade adorned by colourful flowers and candles. The Phi Ta Khon costumes come in all size from a little Phi Ta Khon to groups of serious looking giant Phi Ta Khon.
Phi Ta Khon is a charming and distinctive festival and visitors can join in with local residents to enjoy this community celebration.
The two mediums, Jao Por Guan and Jao Mai Nang Tiam, will travel in decorated vehicles and people along the procession route will pay respect to them. Late on the second day, bamboo rockets will be launched to encourage rain clouds to soak the fields ready for rice planting.
On the third day, villagers will return to the temple to listen to Buddhist sermons for one last time to close the festival.
Phi Ta Khon
Phi Ta Khon costumes are made from rags and bamboo sticky rice streamers as well as scratches of cloth. On the neck or hips, there will be tin cans or bells.
In the past, the costumes would be thrown into the Man River after each ceremony to get rid of bad luck and misfortune. Nowadays, participants keep their costumes and add more decorations with time to keep them looking fresh.
Transport
Nok Air and Thai AirAsia offer two daily flights each from Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport to Loei Airport, about 30 km from Loei town and around 80 km from Dansai. There are no train services. There are frequent bus services. Day services are safer than the late night ones.
Hotels
According to TAT Loei office, there are 5,284 rooms in the province. The provincial town has hotels with 2,042 rooms followed by Chiang Khan (1,165 rooms), Phu Ruea (776), Dan Sai (386), Nong Hin (122) and other districts (793).

sourced:ttrweekly.com