The village at the foot of “Big Buddha Mountain” hopes to bring more tourists to the area as it hosts it first-ever cultural festival this weekend.
The Khao Chee Chan Lantern Festival, Dec. 14-16, is patterned after the lantern festivals of northern Thailand and will be “the biggest lantern festival to glorify the Buddha image of Khao Chee Chan,” said Khao Chee Chan Municipality Mayor Chonwarat Keeyasut.
The festival will also feature traditional Khon Theater.
Actors provide a sample of this weekend’s Big Buddha Mountain lantern festival during the press conference to announce the event.
The mayor said the event was organized with four goals: to honor Their Majesties the King and Queen, to commemorate the late Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, mark the 12th anniversary of the Buddha painting’s dedication by Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, and to celebrate the 2,600th anniversary of Buddhism.
The festival begins at 5:30 p.m. each evening and will be capped by a parade Dec. 16. For more information, call 08-453-6959.
