Editorial: November 2014

 |  March 25, 2015

Calendars are filling up. Days are getting not only literally, but figuratively, shorter. So much to do and so many places to be as Chiang Mai gears up for our favourite season.

Here at Citylife, we too have been busy planning all sorts of festivities.

We have also had a bit of fun these past few months, with our, ahem, Grape Appreciation Walk, which saw about 110 readers traversing and sipping their way through Nimmanhaemin’s bars and restaurants (nothing as uncouth as downing, chugging, slurping or guzzling with us lot), and our Ratwitthi Halloween Zombie Crawl which will occur after we go to press, and will hopefully be an even bigger success.

We intend to organise regular events for our readers, and the next big one is our upcoming Citylife Garden Fair on Saturday 22nd November at JJ Hobby Market.

It all started when the residents of Hillside Condo 4 organised a post-tsunami fundraiser in early 2005, for which Citylife was one of the sponsors. It was such a success (raising 640,000 baht for tsunami victims) that some members of the organising committee came to us afterwards to propose organising a fundraising garden fair on our old Citylife grounds. And so, for seven years we held two fairs a year where we invited friends, clients and our readers to come along and set up stalls to sell goods and services, or if they were a non-profit organisation, to raise awareness and funds. We would also invite musicians, dancers and performers to come along to show and share their skills. All proceeds were then donated to charities of choice per event. Since we no longer have a garden (boo) we have been fortunate enough to have discovered JJ Hobby Market, which has been very accommodating and a great partner in helping to realise our annual event, now in its second year at the new location.

Last year, we had a total of 120 stalls – restaurants, bakeries, gifts, bars, orphanages, decor products, art, secondhand goods, crafts…you name it – and were attended by well over 3,000 of our readers. Numerous businesses donated fantastic prizes to be bid on in the silent and live auctions as well as to be won in the raffle and tombola.

This year’s event (at press, 60 stalls have already confirmed) will raise funds to support Skills for Life, which offers vocational training and scholarships, including housing and cost of living to the disadvantaged youth of our city, as well as to The Foundation for Developing and Supporting Children, which focuses on educational, social and humanitarian development.

Please come and join our fantastic fair this year! If you have anything to sell – books, cookies, Christmas cards, clothes, jewellery, cocktails, burgers, kebabs – then please get in touch with us for a stall which is only 300 baht each (200 baht for non-profits). If you feel that you can donate something towards our raffle or auction then we would be so very grateful; we plan to have regular auctions throughout the day so that everyone will have an opportunity to make bids on great deals (Bangkok Airways has just donated 16 return domestic plane tickets – yay!). And if you simply want a fantastic day out with the family or with friends, pop on by. We have plenty of parking nearby and we provide shuttle service to the venue. There will be at least 120 stalls with great deals and steals to choose from (think Christmas shopping, folks) and we will provide entertainment throughout the day to keep you amused (if you wish to perform please get in touch). We are hoping to attract numerous restaurants and set up a lovely outdoors seating area for you to soak in the ambiance, and taste all the great food.

This is a community event which I really hope that you will all support. Think Bangkok’s Ploenchit Fair’s poorer stepsister: a super casual yet fabulous day out for all.

I hope to see you all there; it’s going to be fun!

For any questions, to book a stall, to donate prizes (yes, please), or to volunteer or perform, please contact maia@chiangmaicitylife.com.