Events & Holidays in Bangkok
Seasonal festivals and holidays - once a year
FestivalSeasonalInternational Festival of Dance & Music
See moreBangkok's grandest classical season: for around six weeks each September-October, the Thailand Cultural Centre hosts world-class opera, ballet, symphony orchestras and dance companies flown in from across the globe. It has run for over three decades and is the one time of year this city dresses up for the stage.
Tickets go on sale in July-August and the famous companies sell out first - book early through the festival site or Thaiticketmajor. Seats are dramatically cheaper than the same productions in Europe. The Cultural Centre is right on MRT Thailand Cultural Centre station; skip the car.
FestivalSeasonalMoon Festival
See moreOn the full moon of the eighth lunar month, Yaowarat turns into a mooncake bazaar. Bakeries that make them all year run night counters, families set out altars with fruit and tea toward the moon, and lanterns go up along the side sois. It is a quieter, sweeter night than Chinese New Year - no dragons, just food and family.
Buy mooncakes from the old bakeries on Charoen Krung, not the hotel boxes - a quarter of the price and better pastry. Ask for the salted-egg-yolk lotus if you want the classic; the durian ones are for people who already know they like durian.
FestivalSeasonal808 Festival
See moreBangkok's flagship electronic dance music festival, back for its thirteenth edition over two nights at BITEC in Bang Na. Multiple stages, heavy production and a lineup of international headliners - it is the biggest EDM night of the Thai calendar and draws a crowd from across Southeast Asia.
BITEC is on the BTS Bang Na line but the walk back at 2am is a scrum - pre-book a Grab for a pickup point away from the main gate, or plan on waiting 40 minutes. Tickets are cheapest in the first release; they climb steeply once the lineup drops.
FestivalSeasonalVegetarian Festival
See moreNine days of plant-based street food across the city. Yellow flags mark every vegetarian stall - a paradise for vegans.
View on map
FestivalSeasonalNavaratri at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple
See moreThailand's biggest Hindu festival, held over ten nights at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple on Silom. The temple fills with marigolds, oil lamps and drumming, and the streets around it turn into a market of flower garlands and free vegetarian food. It closes with the Vijaya Dasami procession, when statues of the goddess Durga are carried down Silom Road after dark.
Go on the final night for the procession - it is the one time Silom Road closes and the whole street belongs to the temple. Come barefoot-ready: shoes come off at the gate. Dress covered shoulders and knees, do not photograph inside the shrine, and accept the free vegetarian food if it is offered, refusing is the rude move. Expect road closures around Silom and Surasak, so take the BTS.
HolidaySeasonalKing Rama IX Memorial Day
See moreA public holiday marking the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) on October 13, 2016 - the world's longest-reigning monarch of his era and still deeply beloved. The day carries dawn alms-giving, remembrance ceremonies at Sanam Luang and portraits framed in black-and-yellow across the city. Banks and offices close; the mood is quiet and respectful.
A day to match the city's tone: banks shut, some entertainment scales down, and loud party plans read poorly. If you're near Sanam Luang in the morning, the remembrance ceremony is moving to witness - dress in muted colours as locals do.
More events added throughout the year