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Standing in respectful silence in front of a painting, hands behind your back, is one way to spend an afternoon with art. Wandering a riverside with a cold drink while somebody paints a canvas a few feet away is another – and the L’On Bangkok team is fairly sure you’ll go for the second.
L’On Art Festival is the crew’s debut festival, and it takes over Yodpiman River Walk from September 10 to 13. You might already know the name. These are the people behind Bangkok Art Walk, the roving art day out that has run more than seven times and steadily built a loyal following. This is the supersized version, bringing art, music and live performance together on one patch of ground by the Chao Phraya, right next door to the flower market at Pak Khlong Talat.
Across four days, that stretch of riverside becomes a loose, unhurried hangout. Food booths cover the eating, and a decent range of Thai drinks brands turn up too, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Graze between the stalls, grab a local craft beer or a fruit mocktail and settle in for a full evening rather than a quick lap. With the lighting, the colour, the sound systems and a busy line-up of performers, something is always going on from the 3pm start until things wind down at midnight.
The whole point isn’t to look and leave. L’On wants you to actually meet the Thai artists behind the work, chat to them, buy a piece if one grabs you and head home with fresh ideas. It’s a warmer, more human way to spend time with art than most white-walled galleries manage.
Your ticket does some good, as well. Part of every sale goes to The Children’s Hospital Foundation, which supports premature babies, children with cancer and children with cerebral disabilities. So you get a proper night out, and a bit of your money quietly goes to kids who need it more.
If your ideal weekend sits somewhere between a gig and a gallery, with the river right in front of you and something cold in hand, this is the one to pencil in now.
L’On Art Festival is on at Yodpiman River Walk, September 10-13, 3pm-midnight. Tickets are B105.