Thailand Rocket Festival (Bun Bang Fai)

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Yasothon Rocket Festival

Bun Bang Fai, or the rocket festival, is a merit-making ceremony traditionally practiced by ethnic Lao people throughout much of northeast Thailand and Laos, in numerous villages and municipalities near the beginning of the rainy season. Celebrations typically include preliminary music and dance performances, competitive processions of floats, dancers and musicians on the second day, and culminating on the third day in competitive firings of home-made rockets.

Dating back to pre-Buddhist times the Bun Bang Fai is held around the May full moon, and is based on the notion that launching bamboo rockets skyward will initiate the rainy season and bring much needed water to the country's rice fields. Traditionally, rockets are constructed out of bamboos and stuffed with gunpowder, but today, many different materials are used, including PVC or metal piping. These rockets come in variety of sizes starting from foot-long bottle rockets to an absurd nine meters in length. Some of the biggest rockets are packed up to 120 kg of gunpowder and balanced precariously on a launching tower made of bamboo scaffolding.

Despite the light-hearted nature to the festival, craftsmen and villagers can take months building their rockets which can be beautifully decorated and carved. The rockets are paraded through the streets before they are launched and much kudos is gained by the teams that have the most beautiful rockets as well as the ones which go the highest or produce the most impressive vapour trail. Bamboo is still used for the rockets, but modern concessions mean that plastic or PVC tubing can also be used. Some of these rockets can be over 10 metres high and filled with dozens of kilos of gunpowder. With the aid of launch-pads approaching Cape Canaveral proportions, the biggest rockets can climb thousands of metres into the sky. Surprisingly, given the combination of rocket-propelled devices and throngs of intoxicated people, accidents are still quite rare. Tradition dictates that the owners and teams involved in unsuccessful rocket launches get thrown into a muddy pond, but it’s also fun for anybody to jump in.

A rocket-building team works together to hoist their weighty, handmade rocket onto the launch scaffolding during the Bun Bang Fai festival on May 11, 2014 in Yasothon.

Things you should know before getting to Yasothon during festival!

Hotels in Yasothon charge much higher rates during the festival and accommodation is usually booked out months in advance. An alternative is to stay in Ubon Ratchathani (98 kms away) and make a day trip to Yasothon. A bus journey from Ubon to Yasothon takes around 1.5 to 2 hours. Ubon Ratchathani is at the end of the north-east rail line with trains taking an average of 9 hours from Bangkok. Flights to Ubon from Bangkok take just over an hour.

Location / Venue of Rocket Festival

Location / Venue

PhayaThaen Park, Mueang, Yasothon

Access From City to Location

Taxi

Access From Capital to City

1.7 hours by bus from Northeastern Bus Terminal in Bangkok 2.1 hour by air plain from airport in Bangkok

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References

Cavanagh, Roy. (2009). Isaan Rocket Festivals.

Retrieve from : http://www.thaizer.com/festivals/isaan-rocket-festivals/

Kaushik. (2014). Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival in Yasothon, Thailand.