Monkey Buffet Festival

What it is

The Monkey Buffet Festival takes place once a year in Lopburi, a province north of Bangkok in Thailand. Its guests are crab-eating macaques, the monkeys that live around the town and its temple, Phra Prang Sam Yod. Food is laid out for them: fruit, vegetables, and in some years produce frozen into blocks of ice. A photograph taken at the temple shows one macaque working at such a block to reach what is inside. People gather to watch the animals eat, and the temple grounds fill for the day.

How it is kept

The day is built around feeding the monkeys of Lopburi Province. Fruit and vegetables were put out for them at the 2007 festival, and some of the produce was frozen inside ice that the animals had to break apart. The monkeys being fed were crab-eating macaques, about 2,000 of them at that time. The setting was Phra Prang Sam Yod temple, where a photograph catches one macaque stretching for the food trapped in ice. Visitors come to the temple grounds to watch the feeding, and the monkeys take what has been left for them.

Today and change

The number of monkeys in Lopburi has risen sharply. In 2024 the town counted around 3,000 of them, and the extra animals brought friction with the people living there. Monkeys were taking bags, drinking what was not theirs, and searching through homes for food. The government began a programme to catch the monkeys and sterilise them. In five months, 1,600 had been taken into captivity for neutering. The festival continues, but it now sits beside an effort to bring the population under control.

Outside attention

Newspapers outside Thailand have taken an interest in the event. The Guardian, published in London, listed it among the strangest festivals it had reported on, and mentioned alongside it a baby-jumping festival in Spain. That ranking is the newspaper's own view, not something the organisers or the temple say about the day. A photograph taken at Phra Prang Sam Yod, showing a macaque reaching for fruit and vegetables frozen into ice, has shaped how the festival is pictured abroad. From far away the event reads as a curiosity. In Lopburi it belongs to a longer and more difficult relationship between people and macaques.

How Monkey Buffet Festival is kept

Once a year, food is prepared for the macaques of Lopburi and set out at Phra Prang Sam Yod temple. Fruit and vegetables are part of it; at the 2007 festival some of the food was frozen into blocks of ice. The monkeys, roughly 2,000 of them at that time, come to take what has been left for them. Visitors and residents gather to watch. Since the population grew to about 3,000 by 2024, the day has been accompanied by a government effort to catch and sterilise monkeys; 1,600 were held for neutering within five months.

When and where

The festival is held once a year. The sources do not give the month or the date it falls on; what is known is that it is annual and takes place in Lopburi, Thailand.

It is kept in Lopburi, in Lopburi Province, north of Bangkok in Thailand. The feeding takes place at the Phra Prang Sam Yod temple, and the monkeys it serves are the crab-eating macaques of the province.

What Monkey Buffet Festival means

The macaques of Lopburi live around the town and its temple, and on this day food is set out for them. The festival gives the town a public occasion of its own and draws visitors who want to see the animals eat. It also stands beside a real difficulty, because as the monkeys multiplied, residents found them taking food and belongings, and the authorities began catching and sterilising them. Both things are true at once: a day of feeding, and a long effort to reduce the number of animals being fed.

Questions people ask about Monkey Buffet Festival

See also

Naga fireballsA festival of glowing orbs rising from the Mekong River, attributed to a mythical serpent.VesakA day to honor the birth, awakening, and passing of the Buddha, kept by Buddhists across Asia.Loy KrathongA Thai festival of floating leaf baskets on rivers to honor water and release negativity.LebaranIndonesia's festive season of homecoming, seeking forgiveness and shared feasts

Good reading and sources

• The lessonThe Guardian, Article
• The lessonThe Guardian, Article

• Monkey Buffet Festival on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.