Celebrating Beauty at a Thai Loy Krathong Festival with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
When I read about the Thai Loy Krathong Festival in the newspaper, I convinced my family to go by noting they would have traditional dancers, an orchestra, and good food.
Loy Krathong usually falls in November and celebrates the
goddess of water named Phra Mae Kongka according to the brochure handed out at
the festival, which was held at the Filipino American Community Club in Marina,
California.
The brochure further stated that Loy Krathong began in the
thirteenth century during the Kingdom of Sukothai. Queen Nang Noppamas, who may be a mythical
character, made a boat with candles and incense in it and floated it down river
to honor Phra Mae Kongka.
Beauty contests are run during Loy Krathong to honor Queen
Nang Noppamas and one was held for a junior king and queen at the Loy Krathong
Festival we attended. All the children
were dressed in traditional Thai costumes, and the girls had their hair done up
in buns to resemble crowns. I knew the
deciding factor for the winners would be something like who had helped the most
at the festival.
My family participated at the festival as audience members
and diners. My husband Laurent, daughter
Florence, and I admired the Thai dancers.
There was a small orchestra set up with Thai xylophones called
ranads. Ranads have 21 or 22 bars and
get their vibrating sound from a boat-shaped resonator. Unlike Western resonators, Thai musicians
play ranads with two mallets.
We watched the entertainment as we sipped Thai iced tea made
of strong, sugary tea with condensed milk over ice. I bought fried plantains for my family and a
dish called palo, which was a pork stew with boiled eggs that had been flavored
with cinnamon and star anise. It had a wonderful
aroma and tasted good, too.
We sat with an American man whose wife was Thai. He was the chief winemaker at one of Carmel
Valley’s best wineries. He had studied
at the University of Bordeaux and had fun speaking in French with us. He invited us to a Christmas wreath-making
party at the winery with a barbecue and cellar tour. We heartily accepted.
You never can tell what will happen at a Loy Krathong
Festival or any other festival for that matter.
Festivals are truly a fun way for communities to learn about each other.
By Ruth Paget - Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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