Fireworks, Flowers, Water fights, and Worship… Chiang Mai Festivals..
Chiang Mai barely has enough days in the year to accommodate all of the festivals the city celebrates. One of the great attractions of Chiang Mai is that there are so many diverse and colourful festivals celebrated in the city that visitors to Thailand can soak the rich culture of Thailand all-year-round.
Due to the celebrations of many events being based on the lunar calendar the exact dates of festivals vary from year-to-year. Below are descriptions, pictures, and rough dates of some of the biggest Chiang Mai festivals for 2006.
Loi Kratong:
Held on a full-moon night in November. Every year hundreds of people assemble floating banana-leaf containers (krathong) decorated with flowers and candles onto the waterways of the city to worship the Goddess of Water. Lanna-style hot-air lanterns are also launched into the air. These are believed to help rid the locals of troubles and are also taken to decorate houses and streets.
Songkran:
Held in mid-April to celebrate the traditional Thai new year. Chiang Mai has become one of the most popular locations to visit for this festival. A variety of religious and fun-related activities (notably the good-natured city-wide water-fight) take place each year, along with parades and a Miss Songkran beauty competition.
Flower Festival:
A three-day festival held during the first weekend in February each year, this event occurs during the period when Chiang Mai's temperate and tropical flowers are in full bloom. The festivities include floral floats, parades, traditional dancing shows and a beauty contest.
Bo Sang Umbrella & Sankampang Handicrafts Festival
Celebrated around the last week of January at Ban Bo Sang, Sankampang. The 3 day festival is in the form of a "street fair" in which the central road of the village is used, with stores on both sides. Stores are decorated in Lanna style, most with the well-known umbrellas, as well as with traditional lanterns. In addition there are contests, exhibitions, cultural performances, local entertainment, and assorted shows day and night. There is a grand procession decorated with umbrellas and local products, a variety of handicrafts for sale, northern-style kantoke meals, and the Miss Bo Sang pageant.
