There are many holidays and festivals celebrated in Thailand and most are new to me. Since arriving in Thailand I had heard a lot about Songkran. I’d been told stories by friends who had traveled here before and everyone in Thailand seemed to be unable to contain their excitement whenever it was mentioned, planning their travels and engagements well in advance of the festival. Songkran is the Thai New Year. It is the new year according to the lunar calendar and is also celebrated in many countries across Southeast Asia.

There are many traditions practiced during the holiday but the most popular is the water festival portion of the celebration. Over the years the ritual of using water to wash away the previous year and get ready for the new has evolved into an enormous water fight. The celebration in Chiang Mai is known for being especially crazy so I made sure to be there during Songkran. I was so excited to party in the streets, soak complete strangers, as well as get drenched myself, but nothing could have prepared me for the mayhem and jubilee that encompassed the three day long festival.

I prepared myself for what was to come; I got a waterproof pouch for my phone and bought a water gun from one of the many tables selling them on the street(I couldn’t resist the one that was Frozen themed!). However, the afternoon of the day before the official start of the festival, while I was out looking for a place to eat lunch, I noticed people had started the water fight early and I was caught without any of my gear! I avoided the main roads and made it back to my hostel fairly dry and then got myself ready to head out and join the battle!

Over the course of the next four days I participated in the celebration in a variety of ways. That first day that I ventured out I walked around for a while, shooting and getting shot by anyone with a water gun, our faces lighting up with glee each time. Usually there was an understanding that if you didn’t have a water weapon you were safe but as the festival progressed that rule went out the window. After walking around for a while, down small streets with families celebrating and then through the Tha Pae Gate which was the main hub of the water fight, I stopped off at a bar with some outdoor tables. I stayed there for a while using it as a home base and getting a water refill from the huge barrels they had. Staying in one place was fun, running back and forth from the table for a refreshment and then to the edge of the sidewalk to attack any passing car or some poor soul on a motorbike. I made friends with everyone at the bar as we swiveled from spraying and soaking each other to uniting against passers-by.

In contrast to staying at one location I spent a few days moving around the city. Traveling along the street had its own breed of excitement as we went running from place to place, ducking behind cars, having wars with people going in the same direction and short battles with others heading the opposite way. Some folks were riding around in a tuk-tuk or in the back of a pick up truck with a barrel of water, which looked like fun but also made them the best targets as they drove past! It was great to meet people walking around as we stopped to ask if we could refill from their water barrel, avoiding the locals who were pulling up dirty water from the canal with buckets on a string, and hitting the jackpot if you found someone with a barrel containing an enormous block of ice! Dousing someone with ice water and hearing their high pitched scream was as much of a treat as feeling the cold shock of getting hit with it made your skin crawl. It was impossible not to get caught up in the communal ecstasy and intensity of the festival; in the beginning I was slightly annoyed if I got a direct shot in the face and by the end I would turn around and give a child a face-full of water! No mercy.

While exploring one day we stumbled upon a parade and stopped to watch part of it. There wasn’t as much craziness in this area and it became clear that this was a much more serious and traditional part of the festival. There were bands marching by, groups walking in traditional Thai dress, and ornate floats carrying statues of the Buddha. As the Buddha statues went by the Thais would walk up to it and throw water on it (as well as the guys on the float accompanying the statue, haha). I spoke to a woman next to me and she explained that the Buddha statues were brought to the parade from temples all over the region and this was the only day of the year that they ever left the temple. The thais throw blessed, perfumed water on the Buddha to bring good luck for the coming year. I decided to take part and bought a bucket of the blessed water with the wonderfully aromatic mixture of dried flower petals in it and the kind Thai lady lent me one of her ladles to use to throw the water(my aim wasn’t so great in the beginning but I got better). It was a really serene ritual that truly inspired one to reflect on the previous year and instilled hope for the future as you quietly gazed at the Buddha and tossed the water through the air.

Looking back on the festival I can see why people talked about it so much and planned their vacations around it; I am certainly glad I did. The part that really struck me the most was the sense of community that I felt. Everyone was included in the celebration, whether young or old, local or foreign, during both the partying times and the traditional rituals. The joy of the festival was contagious and I can’t think of a better way to welcome a new year.