Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival is held every year to attract tourists all over the world. This festival is dedicated to monkeys, a familiar type of animal in Thailand. Joining Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival, you will definitely experience many wonderful things about Thai culture.
Lopburi Monkey Banquet is one of the biggest festivals in Thailand, held annually in Lopburi province. According to some famous newspapers in the world, Monkey Banquet is not only an amazing festival but also the strangest festival in the world. In Thailand, monkeys are considered a sacred type of animal. Therefore, this festival is held exclusively for them. If you plan to travel to Thailand at the end of November, visit Lopburi province and enjoy yourself at Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival!
When is the Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival held?
The Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival is held once a year, on the last Sunday of November. This is also the time that many tourists visit Thailand. So, if you have an opportunity to come to Thailand at this time, you definitely have to visit Lopburi province and participate in this unique festival. Lopburi Province is 150 km from Bangkok. Because the transport system of Thailand is very modern, you can move to Lopburi province conveniently and easily.
If you've been to Lopburi province, look for Phra Prang Sam Yot temple because this festival will be held here. At this time, thousands of intelligent monkeys from everywhere will be brought to many different places here and participate in the Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival. Experiencing many dynasties, Lopburi still has many traces from the war. But the most interesting thing that attracts visitors to this city is the thousands of monkeys living freely throughout the city. In Lop Buri, monkeys are free to wander around, provided with food and drink, and free to tease visitors. Monkeys in here are protected by the state. People must not attack or repel them. They are fed daily in three areas, but often feed themselves by stealing people's food.
You can move to Lopburi by many different means in Thailand
History of Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival
Since 1989, the Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival has been organized to treat wild monkeys for a delightful meal and to promote Thailand tourism. Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival comes from a unique perspective of Thailand. People consider monkeys to be the most loyal, brave soldiers in the defense of the safety of Narai - the most revered god of Hindu.
When the god Narai is safe, he will bless Thailand with good luck and peace. Therefore, coming to this festival, people and tourists will participate in many activities such as playing with monkeys, feeding monkeys... These are activities that attract a lot of participants. Along with decorating fruits, people also erected monkey statues at this festival. At this festival, there will be about 4 tons of fruits including bananas, apples, grapes,... and many other drinks such as fruit juice, Coca, milk, mineral water... Fruit jelly is also one of the indispensable dishes in the banquet. It's used for many different activities.
The party will start at 10.00 am. After the opening, fruits and desserts, drinks, and soft drinks will be displayed on tables around the temple. Thousands of monkeys will come together, eat deliciously. Tourists are delighted to be feeding the monkeys, and some people joke and take photos with them.
Although Thailand has to pay a lot of money each year to organize this festival, the festival also attracts a lot of tourists. For example, in 2015, to organize the Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival, people had to prepare 2 tons of food, mainly fruits, jelly, jam, and vegetables, with a total value of up to 11,000 USD. Food for monkeys is mostly from cherry and durian. The price of 1 kg fruit ranges from 1900 - 2000 Baht. Banqueting tables for monkeys are located at many temples in Lopburi province.
Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival has been organized to treat wild monkeys for a delightful meal and to promote Thailand tourism
Interesting activities at Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival
You may not know but the main activity in the Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival is playing with monkeys. At 10 am, the Lopburi Monkey Banquet Festival will begin. First, the waiter will bring the tables to the temple yard. On the table, there are many different colors and monkeys. More than 600 monkeys dancing on the welcome tables as a display to welcome visitors to this place.
After the opening of the festival, fruits and desserts and drinks, soft drinks are placed on the table around the temple. The little monkeys pulled together to enjoy the party
in a delicious way. This image is said to be unique and interesting, loved by many visitors.
During the party, there are many food and fruits. However, monkeys will certainly like bananas the most. Watching monkeys scramble for bananas also makes visitors excited. The monkeys here are quite mischievous, they play freely, especially imitating tourists, or playing with tourists' bags. Besides, the eye-catching acrobatics that they perform will surely leave visitors with unforgettable impressions.
You will certainly be fun and happy when the monkeys raise their hands to ask for your food. Be quick to capture memorable moments with these monkeys!
Visitors can also participate in parades during the festival, enjoy special cultural performances, or learn about the souvenirs on sale at the festival.
The festival will start from early morning until night
In addition to this Monkey Buffet Festival, there are many other unique festivals taking place over the 12 months. Thailand will certainly be an attractive destination for visitors and their friends, relatives. So, if you have the opportunity, plan to visit this country and experience new and interesting things!
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Hang Moon
Image sources: Internet
