The Bo Sang Umbrella
Slip out of the bustle of tourist-packed streets of Chiang Mai City for a somewhat more quaint taste of local culture and craftsmanship. Only 20 minutes from the city, Bo Sang is the center of Saa paper parasols, where from the 15th – 17th of January they will they will roll out all the fanfare their little hamlet has to offer for the annual Bo Sang Umbrella and Handicrafts festival.
The Saa paper that the umbrellas are made from mulberry bark. The trees aren’t killed though, so don’t panic. They usually use young limbs in the fall, and the bark is stripped, boiled, pulped, picked through with a fine-toothed comb, and many things I’m not aware of and wouldn’t really understand anyway. In short, the tree bark goes through an incredibly labor intensive process on its way to becoming one of the most renowned arts and crafts materials on the planet. Things like dried flowers can actually be incorporated into the sheets of paper used to make the lanterns and umbrellas that will line the Lana streets of the little village during the festival (and a good many other things as well).
But failing to have put an actual dried flower into the paper itself, one can easily be painted onto, and often is along with many other symbols and images of animals and nature. And the decorative painters don’t limit themselves to painting the umbrellas, they paint furniture, clothing, bags, and many other things that will be on display during the festival. The area is also well known for teak furniture and silk.
The festival will also have performances, a parade, a beauty contest and lots of little exhibitions all over the place. Of course this IS Thailand, so there will also be a mouthwatering spread of Northern Thai goodness along with the national favorites. You won’t go hungry.
If you enjoy Thai handicrafts, shopping, and the unique flavors of Thailand’s north you’ll love this easy day trip out from Chiang Mai City, where so many of the things in the shops lining the streets are mass produced, often not even in Thailand.
