Loy Krathong is one of the most beautiful and popular festivals in Thailand, celebrated every year during the full moon of November. During the evening, many people go down to their local canal or river to float (loy) their krathongs, a small raft traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk, and decorated with elaborately folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, and incense sticks. Many Thai people believe that floating a krathong will create good luck and they often make a wish as the krathong is released onto the water. Some people believe that if the candle remains burning until the krathong is out of sight, their wish will come true. By the end of the evening, there are often hundreds of flickering lights bobbing up and down on the water.

This year the festival was held at Seelari, known to many as the clubhouse of the Oulu Yacht Club, providing an ideal waterside venue for the evening activities and entertainment. Around 5pm as the early guests began to arrive, the full moon, swollen and glowing, appeared in a clear twilight sky above the frozen landscape. As the sun slid further below the horizon, the remnants of light painted the sky into perfectly blended layers of indigo, pink, and blue, gradually darkening into night. Such a dramatic and enchanting opening augured well for the evening ahead.

Although tickets to the event were sold out one week prior to the festival, about 50 additional guests arrived without tickets wishing to be part of the event.  With good humour and a family-like atmosphere, the event organisers welcomed the additional guests, feeding and entertaining around 250 people in total.

The evening was full of colour, music and merriment, with many people dressing in traditional Thai  clothing, carefully detailed with woven silk patterns and symbols. Many of the costumes worn by women included elaborate and beautiful Thai jewellery worn variously around the neck, wrists, ankles, and in the hair.

Entertainment for the evening included graceful and elegant Thai dancing, Thai music and songs played with traditional Thai instruments, and an exciting and vibrant Thai boxing demonstration.

A centrepiece of the evening was the exotic Thai food buffet prepared onsite by the Pailin restaurant team and a small army of volunteer helpers, peeling, chopping, and pounding away for many hours in preparation for the evening. Thai food is an experience not to be missed and brings together aromatic and spicy flavours including chili, ginger, garlic, coriander, lime, and lemongrass. The Pailin restaurant has been serving Thai food to a devoted and growing clientele in Oulu for over 12 months and they were able to reproduce en masse the wonderful, fresh, home-style of cooking for which they have become famous.

The Loy Krathong festival is based on an ancient Hindu tradition of thanking the water god for the rains each season, and was adapted by Buddhists in Thailand as a ceremony in honour of Buddha.  Apart from venerating the Buddha with light (the candles on the raft), the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of one's anger, resentment, and defilement, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot.