Chiang Mai / Festivals
Chiang Mai celebrates many festivals, most of which are also celebrated in other parts of Thailand, but probably with less fervor. Among them are the Flower Carnival (on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday of February), Songkran (April 13-15) and Yee Peng (on the day of the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, generally mid-November).
The Flower Carnival celebrates the time when Chiang Mai’s temperate and tropical flowers are in full bloom; it is characterized by colorful floral floats and parades.
Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year. Chiang Mai celebrates Songkran with special elation in a 3-day carousel of religious merit-making, pilgrimages, beauty parades, dancing and uninhibited good-natured water throwing.
Yee Peng is Thailand’s loveliest festival when, under the full moon, people float banana-leaf boats bearing a lighted candle, incense, a flower and small coin onto rivers, canals, lakes and streams to honor water spirits and float away the past year’s sins.
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