On the night of Tuesday, 24 November 2026, the full moon rises over northern Thailand and the whole region turns to its rivers.
Most visitors are in Chiang Mai that night, shoulder to shoulder, phones raised to a sky full of lanterns. It's spectacular. It's also crowded, loud and hard to enjoy if you'd rather feel the festival than fight through it.
An hour and a half south, Lampang celebrates the same moon in a very different way.
Not lotus boats. Ships.
In Lampang, families don't float small lotus-shaped krathong. They float Sapao: little ships of bamboo, banana leaf and coloured paper, complete with sails, flags and candles.
Each one carries offerings of flowers, rice, fruit and sweets. Some are for relatives who have passed away. Some are a thank-you to the Wang River, which has carried this town for centuries. An old Lanna belief says that whoever launches a Sapao will one day sail a great ship to the next life.
On festival night, hundreds of these glowing ships drift slowly downstream, under the lit-up Ratsadaphisek Bridge. The crowd is mostly local families. You can hear the river.
And this year, one of those ships can be yours
On our three-day Lampang, Slowly private tour, you don't just watch the Sapao. You build one.
On the afternoon of Day 2, a local artisan sits down with you at our riverside resort and guides you through making your own small Sapao ship. On festival night, you carry it to the water from a reserved spot on the riverbank, light the candle and let it go.
No hunting for a place to stand. No worrying about road closures or where your driver will find you. Just you, the moon and a little ship you made with your own hands.
The rest of the trip is just as unhurried
- A Burmese teak temple most tourists miss: Wat Si Rong Mueang, built over a century ago by timber traders
- A horse-drawn carriage ride through the old riverside streets in the late-afternoon light
- A private Khantoke dinner with traditional Lanna dance
- Paint your own rooster bowl in the town that made it famous
- Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, a 15th-century temple of teak and gold, visited in the cool, quiet morning
You stay two nights at Lampang River Retreat, a Lanna-style riverside resort. We pick you up from your Chiang Mai hotel and bring you back, door to door.
Why book now
Lampang is a small city, and its riverside hotels fill weeks before the full moon. The festival is on 24 November. Our groups are private and capped at 9 guests, so festival dates go first.
From USD 990 per person, all meals, entrance fees, workshops and your riverside festival spot included.
See the full itinerary and reserve your festival dates →
Questions? Message us on WhatsApp, LINE or Messenger. We reply daily, 09:00–18:00 Thailand time.
