We had for several weeks reveled in the Chinese New Year celebrations of festivals, fireworks and special foods in Chiang Mai when the Flower Festival kicked off yesterday morning at about 8 am with 23 flower-saturated floats parading over Kaew Nawarat Bridge. Tawee Layramen, my Thai friend for Montpelier, Ohio, and his sister Seichan picked me up at seven and left us at the bridge.
There, two sets of stands held dignitaries, one for judging the floats, the other for giving welcoming speeches. Then, for the next three or more hours a parade of sights, sounds and smells moved down the street to our delight.
This Festival is held annually in February here in CM, and by the looks of it, it compares favorably to our July 4th parades. It certainly celebrated the beauties of Thailand (each float featured one or more beautiful Thai women, usually sitting below the Buddha image), with schools, companies and provinces sponsoring the floats. There were bands, dancers, acrobats, the three kings, folk music and cultural performances, and I saw only a small portion of the three day celeb
ration. The Flower Fest is a national event, with performers coming from all over Thailand. I can conclude only by saying it would have been far more fun if Dianne's return to the US hadn't started two days ago. But I'm pleased to report that she's home safe and sound.
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