Bo Sang Umbrella Festival - January

Held at the Bo Sang Handicraft Centre, the festival features paper products, particularly painted paper parasols, cultural shows, beauty contents and a parade showing traditional ways of life.

Flower Festival - February

This 3-day event, held on the first Friday and weekend of February, coincides with the blossoming of Chiang Mai's temperate and tropical flowers. Festivities include a parade of floral floats, ornamental garden flower contents, beauty pageants, music and dancing. The parade begins at Chiang Mai railway station, passes over Nawarat bridge and ends at Suan Buak Had park.

Songkran Festival - April 12-16

The Thai New Year is celebrated with particular gusto in Chiang Mai. Among the events are a parade of the reverred Phra Buddhasihinga image around the old city of Chiang Mai for ritual bathing, sand pagoda-making, blessing of elders and water splashing.

Worship of the City Pillar - June

The worship of Chiang Mai's City Pillar coincides with the beginning of the rainy season. The festival includes a flowery procession of a statue of the god of the rain, starting from Chedi Luang temple, passing through Rajavithi road, Tha Phae gate, and back to Chedi Luang temple at the break of dusk.

Doi Suthep Pilgrimage - May

The Buddhist festival of Visakha Puja is celebrated with a candle-lit procession to the temple on Doi Suthep.

Yi Peng festival - Late October / Early November

Coinciding with the Loi Krathong festival on the full-moon night of the 12th Lunar month, the event features the release of lanterns into the sky to worship all gods of fertility. There are also fireworks, lantern contents and beauty pageants.