Two Beautiful Festivals to Ask Students About This Week

There are a few festivals happening this week in Japan and Thailand, home to many of our students. Japanese families are celebrating the Seven-Five-Three Festival while our Thai students will be celebrating two festivals, both as beautiful as they are significant!

As we've previously covered Seven-Five-Three, we'll put the spotlight on Thailand's festivals. While the pandemic will surely put a damper on celebrations this year, you can still ask your students about their previous experiences with the festivals as well as any private celebrations they may have this year.

As always, we've put together questions that you can use to spark discussions along with relevant vocabulary (bolded) that you can introduce to students to help them talk about this topic.

Lantern Festival

The twelfth full moon of the year (November 19th this year), is the day two festivals in Thailand occur, one called "Yee Peng" and the other "Loy Krathong."

Yee Peng is the one that most of us are familiar with. It involves releasing lanterns into the sky and is more common in northern part of the country. You can get an idea from this video.

• Are lantern festivals common in your part of Thailand? If so, where do you buy the lanterns? Can you get them from temples, street vendors, supermarkets, or any other places? Or do you make them yourself?
• Have you ever released a lantern into the sky? If so, how was the experience? If not, would you like to try?
• What's the best part of Thailand for a tourist to experience the Thai Lantern Festival?

When people release lanterns, they often make a wish for the coming year. Some will even write their wishes onto the lanterns.

• What wishes do people usually make when they release a lantern?
• What wishes do you have for the coming year, if you don't mind sharing?
• What wishes did you make last year? Did they come true?

Floating Basket Festival

Loy Krathong (pronounced "kra-tong"), on the other hand, means "floating basket." This festival practice takes place all over the country and involves releasing small baskets of offerings onto lakes and rivers.

The baskets are usually made of banana leaves and a cut of banana tree trunk on top of which people typically place candles, flowers, and incense.

• In your city or town, do people release little baskets onto the river?
• What if a city or town doesn't have a river or lake? How do people celebrate Loy Krathong?
• What are the little baskets made of? Do people make them themselves or do they buy them?

Placing the baskets in the water symbolizes letting go of one's bad luck, bad energy, bad karma, and any other negativity accumulated in the past year. Some people put nail clippings and hair into the basket for this reason.

• Why do some people put their hair and nails into the floating baskets?
• How do you get rid of negativity in your daily life?

Depending on who you ask, the baskets are also a way to ask for good luck, pay respect to Buddha, and give thanks to the water goddess who's actually a Hindu Goddess known as "Ganga." While Thailand is a majority Buddhist country, due to its history, Hinduism also has a strong influence on local religious practices.

• Can you tell me some stories about the water goddess?
• What are some differences between how Thai people pay respect to Buddha during festivals and during their everyday life?
• What are some Hindu gods and goddesses that people pray to in Thailand?

Some people also put coins onto their baskets, though the unfortunate result is that there are thieves who wait in the water to steal them.

• Do you put money into your floating baskets? Why? Why not?
• I've heard there are thieves who steal money from floating baskets? What do you think of them?

Additional Info

If you're having a great discussion with your students, the questions above might not be enough. Here are some more to keep your conversation going!

• Do you decorate your home for the lantern or floating basket festival?
• Are there parades or firework shows that take place during the festivals?
• I hear that these festivals have become somewhat romantic – like a second Valentine's Day. What do you think about this trend?

There are also many interesting questions you can ask about the logistical side of the festivals.

• What happens to the lanterns that are released into the sky? Do they fall onto trees or hit airplanes or buildings?
• Do people ever hurt themselves when they're releasing the lanterns?
• Who's responsible for organizing the festivals? City governments or temples?
• Do the festivals leave a lot of litter that needs to be picked up?
• There must be huge crowds and lots of traffic! How do you get around during the festivals?

👋 That’s It For Now!

We hope you enjoyed learning about festivals our students will be taking part in this week and have some great discussions! Happy tutoring!