Change is inevitable, sometimes for the good but not always. The Chiang Mai flower festival was always held at the beginning of February, the end of the winter season and was a real highlight for our trip. It had been a regular event in CM for 48 years. Since Covid it has changed and no longer a weekend event but a 3 week event over Christmas and the New Year and no longer where it used to be held. It was just about to end so we went along to have a look.
It’s now just out of town in a huge field next to a lake near government buildings. It’s more a food market with hundreds of stalls, yes some nice plants and lots of fairy lights and a few fireworks over the lake.
The original flower festival parade started by the train station with hundreds of participants and floats and slowly made its way to the moat road which surrounds the city. It took about 4 hours to get to its final destination, Suan Buak Hard public park on the inside of the moat.
I absolutely loved this festival, a huge parade with hundreds of decorated floats and all the mountain hill tribes bedecked in their amazing outfits. Hmong, Akha, Lisu, Mien, Lahu all looking fabulous and proud of their heritage.
Marching bands which you could hear approaching, drums and brass getting louder a frisson of excitement, the joy was palpable everyone felt it. It wasn’t just floats and bands it encompassed everything I love about the Thais. It was a fantastic spectacle, inclusive, colourful, funny, cultural a real joy.
There were flower displays, bonsai competitions and awards for best floats. There was a stage with bands playing and local dignitaries.
The park had fantastic displays, they closed the park for 2 weeks while they set it up and planted all the flowers. At night it was a true fairy grotto. it lasted only for the weekend. All the pictures above were pre-covid.
The new flower festival has a fine display of flowers and fairy lights but no heart, I came away disappointed.
It seemed more like an Instagram backdrop and food market than the amazing cultural spectacle it had always been. I like to embrace change but please CM can we have the old festival back.
Chris and Sigrid’s excellent adventure 
Beautiful Pictures, I wish I was there xxx
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Wish you were here too xx
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