Thirty years ago I was studying at Edinburgh University and was utterly crushed when my parents made me come home for the summer and miss the much-anticipated Edinburgh Festivals.
When I came home I told my dad, John Shaw MBE, all about the festival and the fun I would be missing out on. At the time he was the Honorary British Consul here in Chiang Mai and he decided that it would be a fabulous idea if Chiang Mai had a similar event. I remember one day coming home to our round table being crammed with a governor, a mayor, the head of the chamber of commerce, TAT and all sorts of officials who my father was trying to convince. At the time Kad Theatre had just opened to much fanfare, being the most sophisticated theatre at the time in South East Asia. As my dad said (to anyone who would listen) at the time and for decades after…
“Scotland has its own culture, language, history and traditions, as does Lanna. It is also a seat of learning, with many highly respected universities, just like Chiang Mai. It is an independent and proud nation in the highlands with its unique relationship to the capital city to the south – just like us here and Bangkok. We too have a vibrant culture, our own music, arts, crafts and history. Our creative sector is renowned and we are strategically located and primed.”
Unfortunately thirty years ago Chiang Mai was just not ready for such a massive international event and in spite of Citylife Chiang Mai writing articles, news reports and inspirational stories about the possibilities and potential for such an event, it never happened.
When I took over Citylife a quarter of a century ago I would now and then discuss this idea with whoever would listen, eventually gaining the ear of now Honorary British Consul Ben Svasti, MBE, who was most keen on the idea. I had an old friend, Alex Souslby, who used to work in the UK theatre world and after introducing him to Ben, the idea began to have some traction.
All of this dovetailed with the provincial strategy, which, over the past two years, has been to develop festivals in Chiang Mai to attract year-round tourists.
And so it was, that in August 2023 and 2024, a group of us, Ben, Alex, leaders of three local universities, the governor, the mayor, the head of the chamber of commerce and representatives of the tourism council, flew to Edinburgh to check out this festival and experience it for ourselves and for the first time.
As can be expected, from such a massively ambitious project, progress has not been speedy—we comfort ourselves in the fact that Edinburgh Festivals started 77 years ago, having taken decades upon decades to evolve into what it is today.
There are differences in opinion, in visions, in ideas for finding as well as how to spend resources, and with leaders coming, going, and being replaced, it often is disheartening.
However, this year, another delegation is heading to Edinburgh for the festivals this month (though Citylife won’t as we have other commitments), and we hope that, in spite of Governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn’s recent move to Bangkok, progress will continue.
The idea at this point is to encourage the private sector, the education sector, indeed, all sectors, to hold festivals. The various government offices will support endeavours by improving infrastructure, helping with national and international markets, implement ordinances and regulations to facilitate such international events, liaise with banks to develops financial support, liaise with offices such as labour and immigration to encourage entrepreneurship and ease access, work with tourism sectors to maximise their benefits as well as gather their support, work with universities to develop personnel and expertise, work with communities to help them to develop their own festivals or events and engage the general public. The public will be encouraged to invest and join in and it is hoped that this grass-roots, community-lead collection of festivals will benefit Chiang Mai province in an organic, inclusive and sustainable way.
Traditionally Chiang Mai has relied on the largess of the central government in Bangkok for funding. This festivals concept hopes to flip the narrative on its head and develop our very own engine which will drive our own economy, creativity, development and future.
