Thousands gather in the streets from the city to the Phu Phan mountains

Thursday evening I heard of some sort of parade was to take place on Fridaytold around 4 pm. Friday, mid morning, I noticed and reposted a one hour old facebook post.

There's always plenty to see and do before major events. I decided to check out and see what's going on. At the municipal field there seemed to have been a dress rehearsal underway.

I came to the conclusion that it was a dress rehearsal, after which everyone scurried off to 'shade.'

After my first stop I headed toward Phu Phan. Before I got out of town the route in that direction was at a snail's pace with an unending line of vehicles.

I quickly realized that this was not an afternoon event, rather preparation for a nighttime happening. Lanterns were still being erected and obviously their effect would be after dusk.