Later non-military applications were employed as they became popular with children at carnivals. These lanterns were subsequently incorporated into festivals like the Chinese Mid-Autumn and Lantern Festivals. Pingsi in the Taipei County of Taiwan holds an annual Lantern Festival in which sky lanterns are released.
The people of Northern Thailand also have a variation on sky lanterns. These are known as Khoom Loy. Northern Thai people use sky lanterns all year round, for celebrations and other special occasions. One festival in particular is the Loy Kratong festival in which lovers and partners gather on the riverbanks to float flowers and candles, launch fireworks and release sky lanterns together. It is considered good luck to release a sky lantern, and many Thais believe they are symbolic of problems and worries floating away.