Spectacular homemade rockets were launched for the annual rainmaking festival in Thailand.

Footage shows the amateur scientists launching their PVC pipes stuffed with gunpowder into air above fields on May 12.

The ritual was performed during the Bun Bang Fai Rocket festival, which is celebrated in several provinces in the northeastern part of the country.

In Thai, ‘bun' means ‘merit, ' and ‘bang' means bamboo, which is used to make rockets. ‘Fai' means ‘fire' representing gunpowder being stuffed into the rockets.

According to local beliefs, the rockets are launched skyward as an offering to Phaya Thaen, the Buddhist deity associated with rain.

The event happens each year at the end of the hot season, when temperatures reach 40 degrees Celsius.

Locals believe firing rockets into the clouds triggers the much-needed rains for their rice crops. However, the resulting rain is likely due to the onset of the monsoon season.