Naga Fireball Festival

When: Thursday 5 October to Friday, 6 October, 2017

The Naga Fireball Festival is held in Nong Khai during the full moon of the eleventh lunar month (October). The festival extends over two nights. The dates coincide with the Buddhist holiday of Wan Awk Pansa, the end of the annual Rains Retreat.

Each year on the night of the full moon in October, silent naga fireballs appear from the river. These small pink ball float vertically upwards, sometimes as high as 300 metres and then vanish. In some years, several thousand of these spheres appear - in other years, only a few.

A possible scientific theory holds that the naga fireballs are a mix of methane and nitrogen generated by decomposing organic materials on the bottom of the river. When a certain temperature threshold is reached, the gases are released, combine with oxygen when they break the water’s surface and combust.

The locals believe that the naga or nak serpents of the river exhale the fireballs to call the Buddha to return to earth at the end of Buddhist Lent...

Festival Video


Next Occurrence: Tuesday 23 October to Wednesday, 24 October, 2018