Guernsey children celebrate Loy Krathong - the Thai festival of light

Pre-school children in Guernsey have been learning more about Thai culture. Credit: ITV Channel

Schoolchildren in Guernsey have been celebrating the Thai festival of light.

Loy Krathong is celebrated across Thailand every November.

The Thai word 'Loy' means to float, and 'Krathong' means boat or basket.

Children made boats with flowers and lights Credit: ITV Channel

Preschool children at Butterflies nursery have each made their own Krathong boat to mark the holiday.

Angie Quinn, a mother helping to teach the children, said: "This festival we celebrate every November when it's the full moon, then we have a Krathong, they put flowers and put candles and we just pray.

"We put the Krathong on the water and we say if we do anything wrong with the water or something, just forgive us."

The festival of lights also features music and dance, so when Butterflies pre-school learned about the tradition through one of their children's families, they were keen to get involved…

  • Elaine Allen, Butterflies preschool

Elaine Allen, Manager at Butterflies Preschool said: "In this setting alone, we're only a small setting, we have seven different nationalities.

"It's amazing really that we have so much diversity within a small space, but I think actually it really stems back to how we respect each other and I think that that starts now, it starts at our age group - not when they're in high school or anywhere else, it's now.

"This is where they really need to learn it and it makes them respect everybody that they come into contact with."

The children also had the chance to try traditional Thai food as part of their celebrations.

Families were able to try authentic Thai food. Credit: ITV Channel

Parents and their children welcomed the insight into the Thai culture, opening their eyes to something they would not normally look into.

"I think it's really great to find out about different places in the world, especially because we're not going to travel to loads of places, so yeah, I think it's really good and we've enjoyed it."