Well…let me tell you all about it and get you so excited you will be booking the date in your calendar the moment you close this tab.
Since the post-tsunami fundraising in 2005, when Citylife invited our clients, readers and friends to come together for an day of shopping, drinking, eating and dancing, raising money to help victims of the tragedy, we have been organising a community fair to help various local charities at least once a year – often twice – ever since. Over the past seventeen years we have raised nearly 10 million baht for local charities through our many fairs.
Our last event, in November 2019, saw over 10,000 people come to the Citylife Garden Fair in only one day. Held at the garden behind Boonthavorn Mall, the fair saw over 300 stalls selling anything from arts and crafts to fashion and technology. Well over one hundred restaurants, from Michelin-plated kitchens to the city’s favourite street carts, came to cook and feed the hungry hoards. Bars were selling anything from champagne to cocktails and in one day the fair raised over 450,000 baht for local charities.
The fair sprawls across a lovely garden, with ponds, fountains, a lots of shady trees and charming footpaths. It is an all day event, from 10am-9am, for the entire family.
There will be a kid’s zone with fun activities for the little ones. There will be a stage on which local bands will be playing all day long. There will be workshops to join in. There will be craft demonstrations. There will also be food trucks – even one from the German Embassy in Bangkok!
Those who are weary can stop off and get a massage, chill out at a dispensary, hang out by the stage and sway to the music, or just have a charming picnic under a tree.
There will be some very special booths which will be highlighted and making a splash on the day in big luxe tents such as Le Meridien, The Dispensary, Makerspace, Accha Indian Restaurant, SIBS International School, The OT Dispensary, Chiang Mai Solar Cell, Why Not Restaurant and Nekomon Café Chiang Mai.
This year, the Tourism Authority of Chiang Mai partners with Citylife as co-hosts of the fair and will be bringing representatives of the Mae On Tai community to our fair which will be a highlight activity at the event.
Many charities in need have also been given free booths, so please support them. And our chosen charity, Mettha Foundation, will receive any and all donations which we ask you to generously give. We will have raffle tickets to sell, all monies raised will go to the Mettha Foundation, as well as a live auction around 3.30pm with great prizes to be won. Mettha Foundation will use donated funds to help build a school in a remote border region of Mae Hong Son, providing shelter to many abused and disadvantaged children.
There is NO entrance fee to the fair, but we beg you to please consider donating anything from 20 baht to any amount you can manage, so that we can no only enjoy a fabulous day, but together, help out children in need.
Parking, we expect, will be a major problem. We would advise you to please consider carpooling or taking a grab. There will be songtaews shuttling between the front of Maya Lifestyle Mall and the fair all day, for 50 baht each way. But please consider NOT driving.
