Udon Thani Thailand Forum - Udon Thani, Thailand

For all you lovers of the MANGO, sweet , sour with chillies or with connieou( sticky rice in coconut milk) This is a date for you. !st-3rd March, place, Non Wai in the grounds of Amphoe. Every year we celebrate the mango harvest with a grand Mang Muan festival. During the day many trade stalls selling nursery fruit trees of all varieties and of course many stalls loaded with mangoes. The Red Cross and other organisations run fund raising activities, you may win a new motorbike or a fridge.There is a small fun fair for the little ones, and of course plenty of food and drink for sale. In the evening the kids give way to the elders. On the 1st we have , no less than Carabou appearing on stage. On other evenings we have beauty contests for the title of Miss Mango and an appearance of the largest group of Mor Lam singers and dancers in the area, Saeng Essan. These are nearly all college students from Udon and put on a fabulous show.It really is a festival to remember and entrance is free, and there is ample parking.
To get here from Udon take the Loei rd out past airport until you get to traffic lights at Nong Wor Sor, turn left and Non Wai is another 20 kms on. You can't miss it, we are on the main rd.Hope to see you.

"Carabou" and mango sauce.....

valentine wrote:You can't miss it, we are on the main rd.Hope to see you.

Hmmm..Val, so are you there because

- there is sticky rice; you would like to develop a sticky rice nose as opposed to the farang version?
- you want to win a new motorbike or fridge?
- you are part of the beauty contest for the title of Miss Mango?
- You are Carabou?
- the entrance is free?

Totally confused

Wife and I are just plain jealous because you get to go and we don't.

thanks for the info, Val. I need a little fun.

yorkman wrote:

valentine wrote:You can't miss it, we are on the main rd.Hope to see you.

Hmmm..Val, so are you there because

- there is sticky rice; you would like to develop a sticky rice nose as opposed to the farang version?
- you want to win a new motorbike or fridge?
- you are part of the beauty contest for the title of Miss Mango?
- You are Carabou?
- the entrance is free?

Totally confused

Me? I'm just here for the beer mate

OK, I am sure the Red Cross will keep an eye on you

valentine wrote: This is a date for you. !st-3rd March

I take it the festival starts on Wednesday, 1st of March until Friday, the 3rd of March? What time each day does it start and finish? Any way of getting a daily schedule of events? Is it too late to sign up to be a judge/official of the "Miss Mango" competition?

jingjai wrote:

valentine wrote: This is a date for you. !st-3rd March

I take it the festival starts on Wednesday, 1st of March until Friday, the 3rd of March? What time each day does it start and finish? Any way of getting a daily schedule of events? Is it too late to sign up to be a judge/official of the "Miss Mango" competition?

Yes the days are correct. Start each day about 10am, just like a market, lasts all day. The evening festivities start as the sun goes down. The judging is a peculiar Thai method. You purchase a basket of mangos of varying value and present them to the lady of your choice, a record is kept of who got what and the one with the most is the winner. In practise you could of course if you had enough money, buy the winner.TiT
There is very tight security with a rub down on entering to search for knives etc, so be prepared.

We just got back from the festival. It was good fun! Saw Val and his lovely wife, had a good chat. It's always good to take part in local activities, reminds me of one of the reasons I moved here.
I highly recommend going. We may go back on Friday.

Hmm, also just got back a couple of hours ago. Got some nice plants, but saw no one. The directions were a little short! If anyone is going, go past the airport and go straight for maybe 15k and then you will see a sign saying to take a left for 13k. Parking is limited except for bikes. A good guess is about 40k from Udon (or maybe Harrys Bar). Yes, they is a left involved, but its noways near the airport, but its maybe 15k from the airport road! If I was alone I would have been lost, even TW had to stop ( let me count) three times to ask, and the last time was after the sign that it was 13k away. Go figure!

whoops...... maybe the wrong place

Dakoda wrote:whoops...... maybe the wrong place

Think it must have been somewhere else Dakoda, can't think where though. The parking is a 10 rai sports field just in front of the police station, and lots of security men on the main road directing you in.
Anyway, sorry I missed you and your wife, as Jingjai said, a great social day, for me a bit like the UK agricultural shows, on a smaller scale.If you wish to try again, I will more than likely be found in either the beer tent near the big stage, or the massage tent.( its going to be a hard 3 days )

same place. whoa, "beer tent" must have missed it. Can you explain all the tables that were setup in front of stage.

We parked in the gas station across from police. But when we left the gates were in place. Could not figure out other parking. Down from gas, was bikes only, they told us, although none there at the time. So we asked man behind gas station, said ok, no charge. Made it too easy to get plants back to car.



<look like this web site is going thru a face lift, bye-bye strips>

Dakoda wrote:same place. whoa, "beer tent" must have missed it. Can you explain all the tables that were setup in front of stage.

Beer tent wasn't huge but was combined with a barbecue stall, so it was bottles and fish all round.Thai style
The tables were for a party in the evening, food , drinks and a VIP view of the entertainment. The tables were paid for by the bosses of various govt offices spread around the local villages as a means of thanking their staff for the work throughout the year.Invitation only.Not there tonight though.
For the motorcycle fans, the big man from Udon came to open the proceedings escorted by about 20 or so Harleys etc as outriders.Took some photos will put them up when my headache subsides.Chang and mekong, really not a good combination

Well the festival is all over now, except the cleaning up. tons and tons of mangos were sold and eaten. Judging by the number of young trees sold there will be a lot more next year. I am sorry I didn't get to meet many forumites but those that came, I hope you had a good time.
As promised for the fans of big bikes I attache a few photos, and for those that just love "an individual of Thai fruits" some pictures of an individual of Kings, yes the winners in their class.






And Mr Yorkman, I didn't walk away with a big prize. I got a Thai style cushion, don't know how much I spent to get it, but it was all for a good cause, The Thai Red Cross.