Bo Sang Umbrella Village

Bo Sang Umbrella Village, just outside Chiang Mai, is where artisans still hand-paint paper umbrellas using techniques passed down for generations. Watch the process at small family workshops, or time a visit for the annual Bo Sang Umbrella and San Kamphaeng Handicraft Festival, held on the third weekend of January with parades and craft displays.

Tourists can engage in an interaction with the villagers here to understand their lifestyles and their work. There are also workshops to learn the art of making these colorful little canopies. Through the years, the designs of these parasols have evolved with time. The floral patterns are often now replaced with scenes from the rural and local lives of the people. The other products sold at the Bo Sang Umbrella Village include handmade products made with sa paper (produced from the barks of mulberry trees) and cotton. In fact, the Bo Sang Umbrella Village is now seen as a cultural symbol of Chiang Mai because of this craft. Be it hand-painted umbrellas, florally designed ones, or tiny cocktail parasols, they are all available here.