Thai Smiles, Part 57: At The Chiang Mai Flower Festival Parade

One of the float participants, waiting with his friends for their ride

Every so often the stars align correctly and my travel schedule allows me to take in places and events I wouldn't ordinarily experience. This past trip I found myself in Chiang Mai during the days of the annual flower festival, and if you're any sort of flower fanatic it's a sight not to be missed. Since we haven't added anything to the Thai Smiles series since last August it seems time for a new set, and here it is.

A male and a female? Two males? Two females? Half the fun is in the guessing, so no clues...

As has been my usual modus operandi I'm going to start off with some pictures taken before the actual event, and cover the peripheral information, parade and floats themselves in the near future. If I space on that again (there's still more to come on the ocean-side Maruekatayawan teak palace post from last December, for example) feel free to e-kick me in the butt and remind me.

Two guys working on a power generator at the staging area

There was a staging area for the float participants to gather and await the walk to their floats that had been parked on side streets in preparation for the parade. The parade itself was on Thai Time, and if it actually got started at 16:00 I couldn't tell you where; no place near the parade route, that's for sure.

A tourist's child, sitting with three participants

So... here today are a few of the people awaiting further instructions. More about the parade (and festival) to come soon.

The traditional costumes were - as you'd expect - quite colorful