My rice harvest experience
November 10, 2013
When is the Chiang Mai Flower Festival?
The Chiang Mai Flower festival is held every year, during the first weekend of February. The festival is a celebration of the beautiful flowers in bloom, at the end of the winter season.
During the festival award winning flowers from Thailand and around the world, are on display at Suan Buak Haad park in the city center. Parades are held that go through the city, displaying beautiful arrangements of flowers from yellow and white chrysanthemums to the Damask Rose, a variety of flower found only in Chiang Mai.
Schedule, Location and Route
The festival normally starts on the Saturday morning, with a parade that starts lining up from Charoen Muang road, going all the way from Nawarat Bridge to the train station. It heads into the centre of town, going down Thapae road towards Thapae gate. It then follows the moat around until it ends at Suan Buak Haad Park. The parade consists of flower covered floats, marching bands, locals dressed in traditional Lanna costume, and hill tribes in their native dress.
The park is the focal point of the festival, where the brightly decorated floats of the parade, and award winning flowers from around the world, are all on display for the public to admire. In the afternoon, there’s also a Miss Chiang Mai Flower Festival competition, where the winner is crowned the Queen of Chiang Mai Flower Festival.
Chiang Mai Flower Festival 2019
The dates for Chiang Mai Flower Festival in 2019 are 1st February to 4th February 2019. Admission is free.
Example schedule from Chiang Mai Flower Festival 2018
The official schedule for the Chiang Mai Flower Festival 2019 has not been released yet, but to give you an idea of the order of events which are roughly the same each year, here is the 2018 schedule.
February 2nd
7 pm: Opening Ceremony at Nong Buak Haad Park followed at 8 pm by the Miss Flower Festival contest.
February 3rd
8am: Departure of the big parade, going from Nawarat Bridge to Nong Buak Haad Park
February 3rd and 4th
7pm to 11pm: Lanna cultural performances (dance, music, theater etc) at Nong Buak Haad Park
Chiang Mai Flower Gardens
If you are interested in flowers and botany, then you might want to visit Queen Sirikit Gardens, Bhuping Flower Gardens and the Royal Rajapreuk Gardens. These are the three main gardens in Chiang Mai, set on vast grounds each with their own variety of flora and fauna to admire.
If you’re looking to buy flowers, there’s also Chiang Mai flower market, located at the back of Warrorot market, on the side that faces the Ping river. The market is in the Chinatown area of Chiang Mai city.
