Chiang Mai Songkran Festival

• Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year.
  This is the time for Thai to pay homage to Buddha imaged, clean their houses and sprinkle water on their elders in a show of respect. Anyone who ventures out on the street is likely to get a through dousing of water, all in good fun, but also quite welcome at the peak of the hot season. Chiang Mai is famous for the Songkran parades and beauty contests.

• This Songkran Festival tour gives you the ideal overview about the people and culture of North Thailand and a combination of cultural highlights and soft adventure under professional guidance.

Loy Krathong (Light Festival)

• Thailand's waterways rivers, klongs, even hotel swimming pools will be ablaze with dazing lights, when the Kingdom celebrates "Loy Krathong" one of the year's most-awaited festivals.
  
  

• The annual festival, also celebrated in other neighboring countries, is held on the full moon day of the 12th lunar month. Thais place great importance in this event and while the best celebrations are said to be held in Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Chiangmai, the event and while the best celebrations are said to be held in Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and Chiangmai, the event is marked with great funfair all over the Kingdom.
  
  

• The festival is believed to have its beginnings at least in Thailand in Sukhothai Province, north of Bangkok, almost 800 years ago. A stone inscription from the Sukhothai Period describes an ancient Loy Krathong festival : "There are four main gates in the city of Sukhothai. On festive occasions, people jam the city to witness the light festival in progress. It's as if the city would burst."
  When the ancient Sukhothai city was restored to its former splendor as the Historical Park of Sukhothai, efforts were made to bring back ancient festivals and their legendary festive atmosphere. This brought back the light festival of Loy Krathong. It has remained a major attraction since.
  
  

• "Loy" means to float, and "krathong" means a leaf cup.
  This moniker seems apt as most floating objects you see during Loy Krathong nights are flowers formed like cups, if not artificial petals that look like cups in many angles.
  It is a most colorful festival. In most areas where it is celebrated, you will see Thai women resplendent in colorful attire, hair festooned with flowers, and gaily-dressed men, also fully garbed, gather with floats in their hands wherever there's water.
  
  

• As the krathongs meander while making their way downstream, you'll often see little boys swim to them to retrieve the tiny cargo of coins before releasing them down the "river of no return".
  Explanation of the festival's significance vary. One belief is that as the floats embark on their journey, they take with it the owner's misfortunes. Most Thais also believe the floating of the krathong is a yearly sloughing off of all the sins and calamities that have befallen a person.
  
  

• On a lighter note, it's also believed that lovers can forecast the fortune of their romance by watching their krathong float downstream to gather.
  Krathongs that remain together into the darkness, promise life-long partnership. This custom's religious significance is somewhat debatable, though. Some say Loy Krathong is an act of remission to the goddess Mae Khongkha, the mother of water.
  Western psychologists say it symbolizes the egg's prenatal consciousness of its journey of the ovary down the fallopian tube to conception, a legend (for explanation) quite common to Eastern and Western cultures. The Biblical story of Moses in the Bulrushes is similar.
  Whatever its significance, you shouldn't fail to watch or join in a Loy Krathong festival for a once in a life time experience. Check out the hotels or your travel agent for a schedule.

                          Annual Flower Festival

• One of Chiangmai's most spectacular festivals takes place in early February of each year, the Annual Flower Festival, which takes place in February next year. This is one of Chiangmai's premier tourist events, attracting visitors from all over Thailand, and overseas as well. The city is resplendent with floral decorations, and there are flower show competitions for prizes, performances of traditional music and dance, a beauty contest, and the centerpiece of the festivities, the Flower Festival Parade on the second day, Saturday, February 5th.
  
  

• February is the ideal time for flower viewing and cultivation in Chiangmai, as it is still cool enough that the temperate climate flowers, such as roses and chrysanthemums are still blooming, and also Chiangmai's famous orchids. All of these and many more will be used to bedeck the beautiful floral floats which are the highlight of the annual parade, when private sector companies and associations and government agencies from all over the province compete for coveted awards.
  
  

• This year, the flower exhibitions and landscape competitions will be held at nearby Buak Haad Park, located in the southwest corner of the old city, inside the moat and walls. These will begin at 8:00 am on Friday, February 4th at Buak Haad Park, and can be seen throughout the festival. The official opening ceremony will take place at 5:00 pm, followed by music and dance performances by the College of Dramatic Arts, Chiangmai.
  

• The second day of the festival, starts with the annual parade of bands, marching groups and the beautiful, flower-laden floats. The parade starts at 8:00 am from the Nawarat bridge and proceeds down Thapae Road, Kotchasam Road, Boonruangrit Road, and Arak Road, ending at Buak Haad Park. Here all the floats are parked and will be on exhibit until the end of the festival. This is your opportunity to view the floats up close and see the intricate craftsmanship which goes into the making of each one. And, it provides the perfect opportunity for picture-taking as well. It is recommended that you secure a viewing spot for the parade early, as the streets are always crowded for this event. At 2:00 pm, at the park, the new Flower Queen will be crowned and the results of the judging of the floats will be announced. This will be followed by a program of traditional music and dance at 7:00 pm.

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