Thailand Flowers Festival in Chiang Mai
Each year on the first weekend in February flower enthusiasts from across Thailand, as well as those from neighboring countries, head to the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai for the annual Chiang Mai Flower Festival.
Visitors at this time find the city awash with vibrant colors ranging from the electric orange and lilac of bougainvilleas to the velvety pink, white and purple shades of petunias in full bloom.
Homes and shop owners alike line the city streets with flower boxes with the sheer profusion of color that the Chiang Mai Flower Festival and carnival brings to Chiang Mai reinforcing the city's title of the "Rose of the North".
On all three days of the festival prize blooms are on display at Suan Buak Haad park near the city center, with every type of flower, miniature tree and orchid imaginable on display for the judges to choose the best of the species.
Landscape specialists also put on an elaborate display, including patios and waterfalls with exotic decorative plants and flowers.
The best part of the flower festival is without a doubt on the Saturday.
This is when the Chiang Mai Flower Festival really kicks off, with a colorful and entertaining parade through the streets of the northern Thailand city.
Visitors of all ages are enthralled as dozens of flower covered floats crewed by Hill Tribes people and Thais, each in their respective traditional dress, along with marching bands, take part in the procession.
The Flower Festival parade gets underway around 9am from the train station and weaves a meandering path through the streets of the city, before ending up at Narawatt bridge.
The parade moves at a slow pace and stops several times, so there is plenty of time to take pictures of the colorful floats, pretty girls and hill tribe people, with those on the floats handing out roses to spectators lining the roadside.
The VIP viewing dais is right next to the bridge in front of the city Governor's residence and it stands to reason that this is where the Chiang Mai Flower Festival parade stops the longest, enabling the visiting dignitaries to inspect the colorful floats in detail.
The parade then proceeds down Thapae Road to Thapae Gate, before turning left and following the moat to Suan Buak Haad City Park.
Visitors will have no trouble identifying the route of the Chiang Mai Flower Festival procession as its occurrence is eagerly awaited by Chiang Mai residence who enthusiastically line the processions path from start to finish.
When the parade finishes everyone heads to Suan Buak Haad City Park where all of the floats, award winning flower growers and landscape projects are on display.
There are plenty of food stalls located in the park and once all of the floats have made their way there, the annual Chiang Mai Flower festival really gets underway.
Later in the evening the celebrations are formalized with the crowning of the new Chiang Mai Flower Festival Queen, a beauty pageant that is strongly contested and carries a lot of kudos for the winner.
The timing of the Chiang Mai Flower Festival is also a great time to visit the city as the air is cool and the evenings fresh and clear.
Flower lovers wanting to see the festival should book their hotels and flights well in advance, as this colorful display sees many visitors drawn to the city, making accommodation during the Flower Festival difficult to find at times.
Visitors at this time find the city awash with vibrant colors ranging from the electric orange and lilac of bougainvilleas to the velvety pink, white and purple shades of petunias in full bloom.
Homes and shop owners alike line the city streets with flower boxes with the sheer profusion of color that the Chiang Mai Flower Festival and carnival brings to Chiang Mai reinforcing the city's title of the "Rose of the North".
On all three days of the festival prize blooms are on display at Suan Buak Haad park near the city center, with every type of flower, miniature tree and orchid imaginable on display for the judges to choose the best of the species.
Landscape specialists also put on an elaborate display, including patios and waterfalls with exotic decorative plants and flowers.
The best part of the flower festival is without a doubt on the Saturday.
This is when the Chiang Mai Flower Festival really kicks off, with a colorful and entertaining parade through the streets of the northern Thailand city.
Visitors of all ages are enthralled as dozens of flower covered floats crewed by Hill Tribes people and Thais, each in their respective traditional dress, along with marching bands, take part in the procession.
The Flower Festival parade gets underway around 9am from the train station and weaves a meandering path through the streets of the city, before ending up at Narawatt bridge.
The parade moves at a slow pace and stops several times, so there is plenty of time to take pictures of the colorful floats, pretty girls and hill tribe people, with those on the floats handing out roses to spectators lining the roadside.
The VIP viewing dais is right next to the bridge in front of the city Governor's residence and it stands to reason that this is where the Chiang Mai Flower Festival parade stops the longest, enabling the visiting dignitaries to inspect the colorful floats in detail.
The parade then proceeds down Thapae Road to Thapae Gate, before turning left and following the moat to Suan Buak Haad City Park.
Visitors will have no trouble identifying the route of the Chiang Mai Flower Festival procession as its occurrence is eagerly awaited by Chiang Mai residence who enthusiastically line the processions path from start to finish.
When the parade finishes everyone heads to Suan Buak Haad City Park where all of the floats, award winning flower growers and landscape projects are on display.
There are plenty of food stalls located in the park and once all of the floats have made their way there, the annual Chiang Mai Flower festival really gets underway.
Later in the evening the celebrations are formalized with the crowning of the new Chiang Mai Flower Festival Queen, a beauty pageant that is strongly contested and carries a lot of kudos for the winner.
The timing of the Chiang Mai Flower Festival is also a great time to visit the city as the air is cool and the evenings fresh and clear.
Flower lovers wanting to see the festival should book their hotels and flights well in advance, as this colorful display sees many visitors drawn to the city, making accommodation during the Flower Festival difficult to find at times.
