Source: North County Times

http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20021115/61803.html

On November 18, 2002 North County Times reported that "with brightly colored silk costumes, spicy curry dishes and floating floral displays, Escondido's [CA] Buddhist temple will celebrate the annual Loi Krathong Festival Sunday. Open to the public as well as temple members, the free event is based on a traditional river festival in Thailand, organizers said. On the full moon night of the 12th month of the lunar calendar -- usually sometime between late October and November -- people gather at rivers in Thailand with krathongs, traditionally banana leaves formed in the shape of a lotus flower, said Bee Harris, president of the organizing committee for the Escondido festival. The origin of the festival is in debate. Some people believe the festival traces its ancestry from a Hindu ritual worshipping a water goddess, while others believe it is based on a Buddhist rite that pays tribute to a footprint of the Buddha found on a river bank."