THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Counting stars at the Sakon Nakhon Christmas parade 2017

Counting stars at the Sakon Nakhon Christmas parade 2017

Join a traditional Thai Christmas procession this coming holiday season

Local and international tourists are invited to join a joyous festive parade and count glittering stars at the only annual Christmas Star Procession in the country at Ban Ta Rae in Sakon Nakhon, from December 21-25.

Ban Ta Rae is home to Thailand’s largest Roman Catholic community, which has been celebrating the Christmas star procession annually since 1982 to commemorate the Christmas nativity.

This year’s festivity starts at the 100-year-old Ta Rae community from December 21. During this period, the people of the community elaborately decorate their colonial- and Vietnamese-style houses with star-shaped lamps and glittering Christmas trees. The highlight of the event is the traditional Christmas star parade which is unique to Ban Ta Rae. A mass is also held at the community’s cathedral (St Michael’s Cathedral), and visitors can enjoy a city tram tour, a walking street and a traditional Christmas nativity play.

The spectacular Star Procession takes place on 25 December from 18.00 hrs. onwards at The (Roman Catholic) Archdiocese of Thare and Nonseng. Over 200 vehicles will join the procession and these are brightly decorated by members of the Roman Catholic communities of Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan and Kalasin.

Also joining the procession will be traditional Christmas figures, such as Santa Claus and angels. But the real atmosphere is generated by the thousands of Christian pilgrims and locals who join in the procession with their own glittering star lanterns.

For more information please contact: TAT Nakhon Phanom Office, Tel: +66 (0) 4251 3490-1

RELATED
nationthailand