Loy Krathong on the Humber River

Last night was my first Loy Krathong, a Thai festival that my friend Marin celebrates every year and I seem to miss every year for one reason or another, usually because I’m out of town. I was determined not to miss this full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar… known to us western calendar folk as November.

What is Loy Krathong? Let’s ask Wikipedia:

Loi literally means ‘to float,’ while krathong refers to the lotus-shaped receptacle which can float on the water. Originally, the krathong was made of banana leaves or the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. A krathong contains food, betel nuts, flowers, joss sticks, candle and coins. Modern krathongs are more often made of bread or styrofoam. A bread krathong will disintegrate in a few a days and be eaten by fish and other animals. The traditional banana stalk krathongs are also biodegradable, but styrofoam krathongs are frowned on, since they are polluting and may take years to disappear. Regardless of the composition, a krathong will be decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles and incense sticks. A low value coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. During the night of the full moon, Thais will float their krathong on a river, canal or a pond lake. The festival is believed to originate in an ancient practice of paying respect to the spirit of the waters. Today it is simply a time to have fun.

Since this is my inaugural Loy Krathong boat and I haven’t been to Thailand in a LOOOOONG time, I did what any red-blooded internet user would do for tips on how to make one: I did a Google image search. Isn’t Loy Krathong gorgeous?

There’s no way I’m going to attempt that. First of all, this ain’t the tropics. I don’t have a banana tree in my backyard. Flowers are expensive. So I did what any red-blooded consumer would do: I found the cheapest biodegradable boat material that I could find in 10 minutes and wouldn’t mind sinking in the cold river. What did I find?

Ice cream cone cups. After all, they hold ice cream, right? Ice cream is a liquid, sort of, eventually.

I hope the fish don't mind the lack of ice cream

So what are those two tall things sticking up that aren’t incense sticks? Why, ear candles, of course. Not because I wanted the weirdest boat in the flotilla, but because I found beeswax candles WAY too expensive. This alternative was cheap yet aesthetically pleasing. I am proud to say my little barge exceeded all expectations for buoyancy and made it all the way down the Humber River to the waterfall where it perished along with the other boats that made it that far (maybe half?).

Marin was quite prepared this year, wielding a blowtorch for speedy lighting and a pair of rubber boots to get the boats offshore and into the river’s guiding current.

lighters just won't do for Loy Krathong

the flotilla

I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday in November than to hang out with friends, eat tasty Thai food, and construct edible and biodegradable boats to float down the nearest river, sending away the bad karma and making wishes for the year to come.

The photos are best viewed as a full-screen slideshow, or thumbnails, or watch the smaller autoplay slideshow below.