WAT CHALONG FAIR & RHYTHMIC EXOTIC BACKPACKERS

This weekend, my wife, son and I are planning to check out the temple fair at Wat Chalong.  Here's the info from Phuket Gazette:

CHALONG: The annual Wat Chalong Fair this year will be held February 16 to 22. Each day of the fair, which was first held in 1954, will feature a sermon by monks, live entertainment and hundreds of stalls selling food and wares.

The fair is free to enter and will start at 4.30 pm each day.

Thai country music (look thung) stars, including Roong Suriya, Arpaporn Nakornsawan, Bew Kalayanee and Jingreedkhao Wongtewan, will perform live at the fair from 10 pm to midnight as follows:

Feb 16 Mangpor Chonthicha

Feb 17 Bew Kalayanee

Feb 18 Ying Thitikarn

Feb 19 Jingreedkhao Wongtewan

Feb 20 Rung Suriya

Feb 21 Lew Arjareeya

Feb 22 Arpaporn Nakornsawan

Before the stars take to the stage local students will perform live on stage.

Each night of the fair Asian and European movies will be shown at an outdoor cinema from 8 pm, and there will be live performances of traditional Thai shadow plays (nang talung) from 9 pm to 2 am as well as traditional Thai music.

The Wat Chalong Fair attracts thousands of visitors each year. Motorists are warned of tailbacks in the surrounding areas.

Vendors looking to join the fair may bid for their preferred pitch at an auction of stall sites at the fair at Wat Chalong on February 4, starting at 9 am.

But tonight we'll be at Jungceylon Shopping Center in Patong for their "Pinky Piggy Celebration" for Chinese New Year.  What sold me was the listing of the Hip Hop Dragon Show with the Rhythmic Exotic Backpackers.  With a name like that, I just have to film and blog about it (although I will be missing the Phuket International Blues Festival with the Soi Dog Blues Band).

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

Yes, Chinese New Year is widely celebrated in Thailand — many people of various Chinese ancestry here, particularly Hokkien Chinese who came to Phuket from Malaysia in order to work the tin mines in the 18th and 19th centuries.  This year of 2007 (or 2550 on the Thai calendar) is the year 4704 — Year of the Pig — on the lunar calendar.

Although the New Year begins on February 18th, celebrations have already begun and transportation hubs are clogged as family members travel to visit each other.  According to the Bangkok Post, this weekend one should:

Saturday, February 17

• Fill an auspicious rice urn with rice to the top.  Place an 'ang pow' red packet containing nine different currencies of rich countries inside the urn.  In addition, your fridge should be full of food when entering into the Chinese New Year.

Sunday, February 18

• Wear red clothing to welcome the Chinese New Year and the first thing you eat should have a sweet taste.


• Decorate the house with fresh blooming flowers.  Place a pair of auspicious lime or orange trees in front of your house to prevent bad energy from entering your home.


• To increase good 'chi' energy, roll 8, 18 or 28 bright oranges with golden coins into your home at 9:18am.

I don't know about rolling oranges into the house Sunday morning but I do think we'll go watch some fireworks at Jungceylon tomorrow night.

Happy New Year (and it's only two more months before we celebrate Thai New Year/Songkran — my favorite of the three New Year celebrations we have here in Thailand).