Rocket Festival
The Bun Bang Fai Festival ( Thai: ประเพณี บุญ บั้งไฟ, brapheni bun bang fai rocket festival) is an annual in the North East of Thailand, Isaan, event taking place for the bun Tam, ie the creation of merit in the Buddhist faith. The biggest festival of this kind takes place in Yasothon.
The event
Bun Bang Fai lasts three days and is celebrated every year at the beginning of the rainy season, so in May, in many villages and settlements of the ethnic Lao in Isaan. There are typically on the first day musical performances, traditional dances such as Mor Lam, on the second day competitions for the most beautiful floats, the best dancers and musicians, and on the third day as the culmination of the firing of homemade rockets. Target of rocket builders is to fire the rocket into the greatest height.
The rockets
The actual term for rocket Jaruat ( จรวด ) that are Bang Fai ( บั้งไฟ ) actual enlarged Silvestrraketen, but filled with black powder. The black powder is introduced either into a tube made of bamboo or a nowadays is mostly made of PVC, which then has a standard diameter and is easier to fill. The rules of the rocket competition require that the participant must make his rocket itself bootable. Bamboo tubes can be tied together with climbing plants to longer tubes. Ignition is via a fuse or an electric ignition.
There are different sizes for the rocket that will compete in various contests each against each other: the small hot bang Fai Noi ( บั้งไฟ น้อย ). The larger are the numbers for 10,000 ( หมื่น, muen ), 100,000 ( แสน, sow ) and 1,000,000 ( ล้าน, lan ) marked. The largest rockets are not only very expensive but also very dangerous. They are about 9 feet long and contained about 120 kg of black powder. You can reach heights of several kilometers and fly over long distances, but also linked through the crowd. The missiles will be judged according to the altitude reached, the removal of the surcharge and the beauty of the smoke trail.
Etymology
- Bun ( Thai: บุญ ) merit merits; comes from the Punna meritorious act and Sanskrit punya पुण्य meritorious Pali word, see also: bun Tam
- Bang ( Thai: บั้ง ) a portion ( usually made of bamboo)
- Fai ( Thai: ไฟ ) Fire
- Brapheni - also prapheni ( Thai: ประเพณี ) tradition; comes from the Sanskrit परंपर parampara, an unbroken sequence
Worth mentioning
In armed conflict between the state and the red shirts from the Northeast, the downtown Bangkok paralyzed for weeks in early 2010, also Bang Fai rockets were prepared by some of the demonstrators, but not brought to the launch.