Important Festivals
Chiang Mai Province has numerous festivals throughout the year. In addition to the Songkran Festival and Loy Krathong Festival, there are also unique and interesting local festivals such as the Flower Festival and the Chiang Mai Food Festival. .
FlowerFestival is held in early February every year.
The main activities of the Flower Festival include flower exhibitions, float parades and handicraft fairs. Chiang Mai is known for its wide variety of flowers that bloom throughout the four seasons, and is known as the "Rose of Northern Thailand", and February is the blooming period of temperate flowers. The leading role is the annual Miss Chiang Mai beauty pageant finals. The organizer of the beauty pageant also holds a beauty pageant for tourists (without sharing the stage with the official contestants, there are also prizes), and tourists can sign up for the competition on the spot.
Songkran, held from April 13th to 15th.
Also known as Songkran Festival, it is the Thai New Year and the country has a four-day holiday. At this moment, the whole country celebrates. The revered Buddha statue, Phra Sing Sihing, will be on display and thousands of Buddhist disciples will pour water on him. The celebration also includes a water fight, which is a great way to cool down in the hot April weather in Thailand.
The Loy Krathong Festival is held in mid-November every year.
The Loy Krathong Festival will be held in Chiang Mai for three consecutive days. During the festival, lanterns will be put up in front of every house. During the day, people go to temples to offer incense and pray, and put gold on the faces of Buddha statues. In the evening, a grand beauty float parade will be held, and the highlight will be the release of water lanterns. Most of the people who place water lanterns are lovers. They believe that if their water lanterns float together and never separate, it means that they will grow old together.
The Chiang Mai Food Festival is held every December.
During the Chiang Mai Food Festival, you can enjoy sumptuous Thai cuisine, delightful fruit carvings, traditional cuisine and Lanna cultural performances in Chiang Mai from 16:00 to 23:00 every day.
Habitual taboos
1. Take off your shoes when entering the temple, and dress neatly and dignifiedly. It is best not to wear shorts.
2. Be courteous when meeting monks; women should avoid touching monks. If you want to donate property, you can ask a man to do it for you or place it directly on the table.
3. When greeting, you should put your hands together and do not point at people or objects with your toes.
4. The head is the most sacred part of the body. You cannot touch other people’s heads casually, including children.
5. Don’t give coins when tipping. Coins are generally given to beggars.