Phuket Vegetarian Festival wraps up
The Phuket Vegetarian Festival officially wrapped up its last day yesterday. The last day began with street processions in the main city district.
The processions started in the morning at the Lor Rong Shrine and headed toward Saphan Hin Public Park. Later in the afternoon, there was a fire-waking ritual from Kathu Shrine. In the evening, there was another fire-walking ritual from Bang Koo Shrine in Koh Kaew.
The festival closed late last night with farewell rituals at every shrine. The ritual is to send the Nine Emperor Gods or ‘Kiu Ong’ back to heaven.
The Phuket Express noted that the farewell rituals were “a must-see,” particularly around Thalang Road, Phuket Road, Surin Clock Tower and roads leading to Saphan Hin.
The Vegetarian Festival in Thailand is the second largest Thai-Chinese festival of the year, after the Chinese New Year’s holiday of course. Thai-Chinese communities all over the kingdom come together to celebrate this unique festival every year for nine days and nine nights and it falls on different days every single year.
According to Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the festival’s turnout this year was a sign of post-Covid tourism recovery, particularly for one ceremony on Sunday. About 2,200 locals and tourists gathered that day to light fireworks to call upon gods, in accordance with traditional Chinese beliefs. Many of the tourists who took part in the ceremony were from Malaysia and Singapore.
Learn more about the Vegetarian Festival by watching the video below.
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