The Sound of Garden Shears at Six in the Morning
I wasn’t expecting to hear it through the hotel window — the rhythmic clip-clip of someone trimming chrysanthemums on the sidewalk below Tha Phae Road. It was barely light out, and already the old city smelled like cut stems and damp soil. That’s how Chiang Mai announces its Flower Festival: not with a press release, but with the entire city quietly rearranging itself into a garden.
The 49th Chiang Mai Flower Festival runs February 13 to 15, 2026, centered on Nong Buak Haad Park at the southwest corner of the old city moat. It’s one of northern Thailand’s longest-running annual events, and despite what the name suggests, it’s less a horticultural exhibition and more a city-wide celebration where flowers happen to be the excuse.
Twenty-Five Floats and One Very Long Walk
The parade is Saturday morning, February 14th. It starts around 9 AM from Nawarat Bridge, then winds through Tha Phae Road, Kotchasarn Road, Changlor Road, and Arak Road before ending at the park. The whole route is maybe three kilometers, but the procession moves slowly — really slowly — so expect it to take a couple of hours.
There are roughly 25 floats, each one covered in real flowers. Not silk, not plastic. Fresh orchids, marigolds, chrysanthemums, roses, and whatever else was in season that week. Some of the designs are genuinely impressive — temples, mythical creatures, scenes from Lanna folklore — and the craftsmanship holds up to close inspection, which you’ll get, because the floats stop frequently.
Dancers in traditional Lanna dress walk alongside. So do beauty pageant contestants, school marching bands, and what seems like every civic organization in Chiang Mai Province. The atmosphere is cheerful but not aggressive. Nobody’s trying to sell you anything along the route, which is refreshing.
The trick most people miss: after the parade ends, the floats park outside Nong Buak Haad. By around noon, the crowds thin out and you can walk right up to the floats, take photos from any angle, and actually appreciate the detail. The morning rush along Tha Phae Road is the spectacle; the afternoon at the park is where you get the good pictures.
What Happens at the Park
Nong Buak Haad stays open from 9 AM to midnight all three days. Friday evening kicks off with the opening ceremony at 7 PM, followed by the Miss Flower Blooming beauty contest that runs until about 11 PM. Saturday evening features a Lanna cultural performance from 6 to 8 PM. Sunday continues with music and more cultural shows through the afternoon.
During the day, the park hosts garden exhibitions. Nurseries and horticultural societies from across northern Thailand compete in categories — orchids, bonsai, ornamental arrangements, miniature gardens. The competition entries are the highlight if you care about plants at all. Some of these orchid specimens are genuinely rare, and the bonsai section tends to be quietly extraordinary.
The market area surrounding the exhibitions sells potted plants, seeds, gardening tools, flower arrangements, and local handicrafts. Prices are reasonable for the most part, though the orchid vendors know what they have.
Eating Your Way Through It
The food situation at the festival is solid but not revelatory — mostly the same northern Thai standards you’d find at any Chiang Mai market. Khao soi is everywhere, obviously. Sai oua (Chiang Mai sausage) gets grilled fresh at dozens of stalls. There’s som tam, grilled chicken, mango sticky rice, and the usual rotation of Thai sweets.
Honest assessment: the festival food is fine, but Chiang Mai has better food experiences elsewhere. If you want khao soi that’s actually worth writing about, head to Khao Soi Khun Yai on Charoen Rat Road or Khao Soi Lam Duan on Charoen Prathet Road — both within easy reach of the old city. The festival stalls are convenient when you’re already there, not a destination in themselves.
Bring cash. Most vendors don’t take cards, and the ATMs near the park get long queues on Saturday. Having 500-1,000 baht in small bills (20s and 100s) will save you some hassle.
The Parts Nobody Warns You About
Saturday is hot. February in Chiang Mai sits around 30°C by midday, and there’s limited shade along the parade route. The mornings are cooler — sometimes down to 18-20°C — so the temperature swing can catch you off guard. Bring water, wear sunscreen, and don’t try to watch the entire parade from one spot in direct sun.
Traffic around the moat on Saturday is genuinely terrible. If you’re driving or riding a scooter, don’t try to get anywhere near the southwest corner of the old city between about 7 AM and 2 PM. Walking or cycling is the only sane option. If you’re staying outside the old city, take a Grab to somewhere on the east side of the moat and walk in.
The park gets crowded on Saturday afternoon after the parade ends. If you want a calmer experience of the exhibitions, go Friday evening after the opening ceremony, or Sunday morning before the afternoon shows start.
Phone signal can get spotty when several thousand people are packed into the park area. Download offline maps before you go. And the public toilets exist but are… Thai festival standard. The nearby shopping centers (Maya Mall, for instance) are a better option if you can make the walk.
Getting to Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) has direct flights from Bangkok (about an hour), plus connections from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and a handful of other Asian cities. From the airport to the old city is 15 minutes by car when there’s no traffic, which during flower festival weekend means it could be 30.
Songthaews — the red pickup trucks — are still the cheapest way to get around, usually 30-40 baht per person for short hops within the city. Grab works well in Chiang Mai and is often easier than negotiating with songthaew drivers, especially if your Thai is limited.
If you’re coming from Bangkok by train, the overnight sleeper is a classic experience — about 13 hours, and you wake up in Chiang Mai. Book the second-class sleeper berths; first class isn’t dramatically better and costs twice as much.
For booking flights or accommodation, Trip.com tends to have decent rates on Chiang Mai hotels, especially the boutique places inside the old city. If you want to bundle activities — cooking classes, temple tours, that sort of thing — KLOOK and KKday both list Chiang Mai experiences, though I’d honestly just book most things when you arrive. The city is walkable enough that pre-booking isn’t essential for most activities.
Worth Extending the Trip
Three days for the festival is plenty. But Chiang Mai itself deserves more time. Doi Suthep is the obvious temple visit — the 306-step staircase up to Wat Phra That is a rite of passage, and the views of the city from the top are worth the sweat. The old city has enough temples to fill several days if you’re into that, though Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh are the two that actually justify the entrance fee.
The Sunday Walking Street market on Ratchadamnoen Road is one of the best night markets in Thailand, full stop. It runs from Tha Phae Gate westward and is significantly better than the daily Night Bazaar on Chang Klan Road, which is mostly tourist trinkets at this point.
For day trips, the Mae Sa Valley has orchid farms and butterfly gardens. Doi Inthanon — Thailand’s highest peak — is about two hours southwest. And if you’re interested in Thai cooking, Chiang Mai has more cooking schools per capita than probably anywhere else in the country.
The morning after the festival ended, I walked past Nong Buak Haad on the way to get coffee. A few vendors were dismantling their stalls, and someone had left a bunch of marigolds on a bench — still bright, just slightly wilted. A stray dog was sleeping next to them. That felt about right.
