TAT Secret (they forgot to tell you) <br><br> &nbsp;&nbsp;of the Dragons and Lions and Serpents

The red banners are already hanging across many major streets entering Sakon City, announcing the annual "Chinese Dragon, Lion and Cobra Festival" held each year on December 11.

It's one of my favorite festivals in this city,
unfortunately it's also Thailand's best kept secret. In 12 years of residing in this town I have not seen it listed in any travel brochure.
Google it: "Sakon Nakhon Dragon Festival," or Sakon Nakhon Chinese festival.
You'll find two entries and a video by Tom of isaan-live and a few posts by me, nothing else.

Preparations for the event are already underway with nightly practices at the Chinese temple, as in this 2008 video

The beating of the sticks is to scare away cobras ?? In past years I've watched many of the neighborhood kids practice with the sticks. It does take a bit of practice, it can be quite painful

During the festival there are three nights of entertainment and art exhibits at the Chinese temple

I strongly recommend seeing the shows, they are an experience of a lifetime. If you are sensitive to noise I recommend earplugs or cotton, it does get noisy at times.

Parade participants stay overnight at the temple on the night before the parade for face painting and other preparations. Participants receive free meals furnished by temple parishioners for all practice evenings and the overnight sleepover

Before the temple performances and the parade there will most likely be some public lion dance performances in town. I should have the information of date and time sometime this month.

The parade departs the temple at 6 am on December 11. The best location to see the parade is the route before it arrives at the downtown bus station. From there the parade splits up into smaller groups to cover different parts of the city. The dragons enter Chinese businesses in a ritual to offer good fortune for them in the coming year. The Chinese dragon is the symbol of good fortune.