Currently The 2010 Flower Festival is taking place here in The Northern Rose. 

It kicked of with OTOP market and walking street yesterday  and lots of nice flower shops of course. Then in the evening there was a the Beauty Contest and some contemporary Lanna Jazz live music in Suan Boak Had park. Today, the festival  started with a flower parade. All the festival floats parked at the Nawarat bridge and then slowly started moving towards Suan Boak Had park around 9 am this morning.

© Text & Photos, Per Sundberg

There is not a single month without a festival in the area of Chiang Mai.

The major trend at the moment is that the smaller villages have their own festivals, with a walking street, lots of food, traditional dances and of course a live band and some fair amount of local whisky consumtion. From Baan Tawai, to Bo Sang and Muangkung to Baan Patan. It seems that every village in Chiang Mai is engaged in some kind of handicraft production and therefore promotes its own festival.

     

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My favorite from last year is the festival in Ban Pratan. It was held between September 11-13 in the area where they make the charming garden dolls in Chiang Mai. Hopefully, this year there will be another festival. I didn´t know that all these dolls seem to me made in more or less the same place in Chiang Mai.

Me and my wife were driving on the main road between Hang Dong and Chiang Mai (108) and  suddenly we saw this huge sign. Another festival taking place. How to keep track of all of these festivals I thought? Luckily though, we decided to have a look. When we drove in through the narrow soi, we didn’t feel like we were in Chiang Mai at all. In a few minutes the noise of the big city was exchanged to the sounds of a countryside village. With my pocket camera I took a snapshot of one of the ladies making and selling clay dolls. It took her only 20 minute to make one doll! I wasn’t sure as of why I took the picture.

Later Jan told me;

- Well look at her face and then look at the dolls she is making. That is the explanation to why you took the picture.

It was a great local festival. The street was extremely long and there were clay and stone dolls exhibited outside every house, all the way up to the local temple.

The villagers said that the village can be visited any day of the year, but since its still fairly unknown. Most shop keepers sell their products to the flower markets and to the Ban Tawai-handicraft area for retail. Now they hope that more people will find their way here, and this was only the start of a new festival tradition.

- Where then is Ban Patan?

When you drive on road 108 from Chiang Mai Central Airport towards Hang Dong, look to left just before the traffic light, where you turn right to go to the Night Safari and the flower expo, there you can see a big doll and a sign that welcomes you to Ban Patan.

© Text and Photo: Per Sundberg

After the merit making for 10.000 Buddhist monks, the street of Nimmanhemin in Chiang Mai has been hosting two larger events.  The first one was NAP (Nimman Street Art and Promenade จัดงานที่นิมมานเหมิ) which took place between 5-9^th December on soi 1- the soi of design and contemporary art. Just as the name say, this was an opportunity for designers and artists to show their work. Closing the street for traffic turned soi 1 in to a "pedestrian paradise". 

Then to be in phase with the climate conference in Copenhagen, Think Green (10-13^th December) –  an initiative to promote the future of environmental friendly Lanna architecture, took place opposite Amari hotel. It seems that by focusing on the traditional Lanna type of house much can be won in terms of green housing. The event also put some focus on rediscovering bamboo- the plant of life.

However, Nimmanhemin is primarily a place to go people watching. December is the time when Thai people go north, it seems hugely important for some Bangkokians to show up at trendy places and coffeeshops (such as Wavee coffee) in winter clothes at this time of the year.

Text: ^PS & Photo: ^JF

Every year the EU film festival is held in Chiang Mai. Sweden currently holds the chairmanship of EU, therefore this year the event will start with the Swedish movie ZOZO at the 5^th of November, Vista Kadsuankaew. That is only on invitation, but the same movie can be viewed on Sunday 8th November.The real schedule starts on the 6th of November.

For more information contact Khun Kobkul Ratchakitti

Tel:  02 305 2600 ext 2646 / 02 305 2646 or at kobkul.ratchakitti@ec.europa.eu

Vista Telephone: 053 894-415

The festival lasts until 15^th of November at 4th Floor of Kadsuankaew Shopping Center. 

^PS

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Here is the official schedule from the Delegation of the European Union Commission