Every year for over forty years, Chiang Mai has held a flower festival at the end of the cool season to celebrate the rich and diverse flora cultivated in the province's lush mountains. Throughout the city during this time there are flower-related competitions and wonderful flower arrangements to marvel at. The highlight of the festival though, is the parade, which showcases intricately designed and painstakingly handcrafted floats (all made from real flowers) accompanied by excellent marching bands from local schools. The parade is also a great opportunity to see the many tradtional outfits worn by the different ethnic groups of the province.
With flowers such a huge part of our DNA, we're always excited to see the competitions and floats. And this year we decided to make a floral display of our own. At our workshop, in an old shed, we came across an old bicycle, traditionally used to sell items,
and set about restoring it to its original granduer.
Chris cycled it across town, to the bemusement of locals and tourists alike, from our head office on Charoen Muang Road, around the moat and past Thapae Gate and on to our boutique at Kad Klang Wiang on Ratchadamnoen Road.
We accessorised it with a traditional Chiang Mai umbrella from Bo Sang - handmade from bamboo and cotton,
and decorated it with fresh orchids from the local garden centre at Kham Thiang market.
The bike now proudly sits outside our Kad Klang Wiang boutique. Come and take a look!
This year's festival runs from Friday 3rd February to Sunday 5th February. The parade takes place at around 9am on Saturday 4th February and runs from the junction of Bamrungrat Road and Charoen Muang Road to Nong Buak Had park in the old city.