Flowers are blooming for the annual Flora Festival, which is running daily from 8am to 6pm at the Royal Park Rajapruek in Chiang Mai until Feb 29 next year.
Held under the "Aew Sook Jai: I Wanna Be(e)" concept, the annual festival features a bee as a mascot to guide visitors to witness the beauty of flowers and the abundance of biodiversity at the park.
This is a once-a-year chance to enjoy millions of temperate flowers such as geranium, forget-me-nots, begonia, petunia, salvia, pansy, dusty miller, daisy and New Guinea impatiens in full bloom.
Featured at the Orchid Garden are authentic and cross hybrid varieties, while the Flowering Plants Garden sees colourful species that are recommended for farmers to grow in the mountains.
Other highlights include over 220 varieties of rose, a field of dianthus (or dok phee sua in Thai), a tunnel of Petrea volubilis (or phuang khram), and a field of colourful forget-me-nots at The Netherlands Garden.
There are art and cultural activities including DIY workshops every weekend and during holidays. Visitors are also invited to help make the park a quality learning centre and also a prototype area to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2027.
Exclusively from Wednesday to Jan 2, the park will be holding "Shining Flora 2023" which will see the gardens decorated with lights, allowing visitors to stroll through and enjoy many activities at night from 6-9pm.
The week-long event will also present a walking tour to see Lanna-style architecture at the Royal Pavilion (Hor Kham Luang) as well as cultural and music performances.
On the last night of year, everyone is invited to spend the New Year's Eve countdown by chanting and offering prayers, starting at 10pm.
Tickets for the Flora Festival cost 100 baht for Thai visitors (70 baht for children) and 200 baht for foreign visitors (150 baht for children). Tickets for the "Shining Flora" cost 120 baht for Thai visitors (90 baht for children) and 220 baht for foreign visitors (170 baht for children). There is no admission fee for the countdown on Dec 31.
Visit royalparkrajapruek.org or facebook.com/rprp.cnx.
Flora Festival
Flora Festival
