Yi Peng Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Experiencing Yi Peng has always been a dream of mine. Watching thousands of lanterns rise into the night sky felt like stepping into a scene from Tangled—truly a dream come true for many girls.

Before attending, we kept our expectations low because we had come across many negative reviews. Some mentioned safety concerns, such as parts of the stage catching fire. While releasing lanterns is obviously not a completely risk-free activity and accidents can happen when people are careless, the organizers should still be well prepared for such situations. Considering there were more than 3,000 attendees, monitoring and controlling everything would not have been an easy task.

We purchased the standard ticket, which cost around $180. Initially, we felt it was quite overpriced—and to some extent, it was. However, after experiencing the event ourselves, it honestly felt worth the money. The biggest surprise was the fireworks display that began as we released our lanterns into the sky. Seeing the lanterns floating overhead while fireworks illuminated the night was absolutely breathtaking. It was a magical experience that I would love to witness again.