Pattaya welcomes in the “Year of the Dragon” Sunday with its annual Chinese New Year festival in Naklua.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and representatives of the Thai Hotels Association outlined the city’s Jan. 22-23 plans at a Jan. 15 press conference at Central Festival Pattaya Beach. They said the annual celebration draws not only Thais of Chinese extraction, but many foreign Chinese-speaking tourists.
The free festival at Lan Po Park will feature concerts from Peter Fodify, Blueberry and others; a Chinese Girl 2012 pageant; and numerous Chinese cultural shows and exhibits. Among them will be magic masks, dance, art, dragon and lion parades and, of course, sales of various Thai and Chinese trinkets and food.
Profits from the two-day festival will be donated to the Sawang Boriboon Foundation to distribute to Thai flood victims.
This year’s Chinese New Year festival runs this weekend, Jan 22 & 23.
