I had the pleasure of viewing the 41st Chiang Mai Flower Festival this year. The parade took place on 4th February 2017, on what was a beautiful, albeit very hot day. The parade starts early in the morning – about 8am – from Nawarat bridge over the Ping River, and follows a traditional route along Thapae road, Kotchasarn road, Changlor road, Arak road and ends at Nong Buak Haad Park.

This was the third flower festival that I have seen in Chiang Mai over the years. It is a wonderful celebration of Thai culture, with thousands of participants dressed in traditional as well as modern costumes.

I personally love to see the traditional Thai costumes with the beautiful silks and ornate jewelry. A variety of different pots and bowls containing flower petals were carried by many girls.

The traditional Thai umbrellas provide a wonderful contrast to the costumes, as well being as a very a light and practical sun shade. I made sure that I was on the bright side of the street so that I could try to catch the light shining through the umbrellas.

A few years ago, 2014 I think, when I last viewed the flower festival, the organizers arranged for the parade to begin at about 3 pm, rather than the usual 8 am. The purpose being to save the participants from the searing sun as the parade processes, slowly – and in fits and starts – along the route. It takes about 4-5 hours, I think, for the parade to pass, and in temperatures in the low 30’s (deg C) – and with very high radiant heat – the marchers really do suffer. Indeed, if you were not born and bred in Thailand, I doubt you could survive it! Yet the girls and boys, men and women, remain beautiful and ever smiling, despite being roasted in the sun.

Whilst the late start in 2014 was no doubt a relief for the marchers, it was a loss for photographers, as the sun soon moved down below the buildings and the majority of the parade passed by in the shade. Perhaps, the organizers make a decision about the start time based on the predicted temperature for the day? Anyway, the parade reverted back to the morning start this year.

Nevertheless, it was still a very hot day on 4th Feb this year and even though I was only taking photographs, I had to find some shade every now and then, to recover my cool! For many of the participants, particularly those without umbrellas, there was no such relief from the sun. Yet they remained calm and composed and smiled at every one of the thousands of photographers lining the route. They really were amazing.

One really has to take ones hat off to the participants who managed to look so calm and demure in such hot temperatures, despite it being the so-called winter season in northern Thailand.

There were numerous occasions when the parade ground to a halt, and the participants had to stand in the sun for ages until the whole procession got going again.

I don’t know for sure, but it seems to me that the parade is much bigger than it used to be. There are large numbers of flower floats, school bands, participants from different schools, colleges, farms and so on. It has become a huge draw from tourists from around the world. This year I could help but notice how many tourists there were from China, as well as from countless other countries around the world.

The girls and boys on the flower floats had an easier time than the walkers, but many also had no protection from the sun.

I loved the school and college bands. They played with such gusto!

The parade itself is only one event in the Flower Festival. It is followed by in late afternoon by the the Miss Chiang Mai Flower festival, which goes on into the evening when the new Flower Festival Queen is chosen. I did not stay to see who won, but there was no shortage of beautiful girls (and handsome boys) as the following sequence of photographs shows.