Organisers of the annual Naga Fireball Festival are hoping the gala will once again recapture the imagination of all visitors after a couple of barren Covid-19 pandemic years.
The festival is back in the Isaan province of Nong Khai on October 10 and promotors are predicting a bonanza event that will help boost the provincial economy by 70% to 80%.
President of the Nongkhai Chamber of Commerce, Sasritphon Wichitwong, promises the best Naga Fireball Festival yet and believes it will recapture the imagination of residents and tourists alike.
The festival takes place at the end of the Buddhist Lent, also known as Wan Khao Phansa or the Rains Retreat, on October 10.
Sasritphon reported that many tourists booked accommodation in Nong Khai from October 8 to 10 and that most hotels in the province, especially those located along the Mekong River, are fully booked.
Saritphon stated that the festival would help the province boost its economy by 70% to 80% and predicted that most tourists would spend about 10,000 baht per day on food, accommodation, and travel.
The Naga Fireball Festival, or Bang Fai Phaya Nak in Thai, celebrates the mythical Phaya Nak, a giant serpent which they believe lives in the Mekon River.
Crowds gather and sit along 250 kilometres of the Mekhon River bank in Nong Khai and Bueng Kan provinces to see the fireballs rise from the river at night. The glowing balls in different sizes rise in the air to about 150 metres and then disappear.
Locals believe that the fireballs are released by the giant serpent living in the Mekong River.
Aside from observing the rising fireballs, the festival will feature merit-making ceremonies, artistic performances, boat competitions, Thai boxing, and a walking street full of street food shops.
Photo via Noomsaotours
SOURCE: Khaosod