Phuket: Phuket Vegetarian Festival - The Nine Emperor Gods Festival
The Phuket Vegetarian Festival (Nine Emperor Gods Festival) is an annual event, during the ninth lunar month, and is one of the most auspicious events on Phuket. For this unique festival, a crowd of devotees assemble in every Chinese shrine around the island, followed by an even bigger horde of photographers eager to get the shot of their life. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is an internationally known event, and while it also happens modestly in Bangkok around the same dates, it is mostly a Phuket event.
THAILAND: PHUKET
The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is a colourful annual event held on the 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, usually in September or October. The Vegetarian Festival celebrates the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants will help them obtain good health and peace of mind.
The Vegetarian Festival is famous for its 'extreme' celebrations. These include acts that invoke the gods, from firewalking to body piercing. Acts of self-mortification are undertaken by participants who act as mediums of the gods. These have become more spectacular and daring as each year goes by.
Phuket Vegetarian Festival is one of the highlights of the many Phuket Festivals & Events.
The 2024 Phuket Vegetarian Festival (aka Nine Emperor Gods Festival) is taking place this year from 2 - 12 October 2024.
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When the main festival starts, a crowd of worshippers, all dressed in white or yellow, gather at Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket Town for the first event marking the ceremony’s opening: a giant bamboo pole rising to invite divinities to come down to earth. The devotees wear bright and very ornamented outfits, and then you are set for a full week of firecrackers, street processions, piercings, and vegetarian food.
For the next few days, the local Chinese/Thai community brings their household gods to the shrines, along with offerings of food and drink. It is assumed that the household gods will benefit from an annual injection of spiritual energy that fills the shrines. You can observe and even participate in the lighting of joss sticks and candles, before placing them around the various gods.
Street processions often involve participants walking in a trance, running across a bed of burning coals, and climbing an 8-metre ladder of sharp blades. Apart from the visual spectacle of this festival, you can partake in vegetarian dishes, which are sold at street stalls and markets around the island.
Many of these vegetarian dishes aren't easily distinguishable from regular Thai dishes. Soybean and protein substitute products are used to replace pork, chicken or fish – they even look and taste exactly like meat. Look for yellow flags with red Chinese or Thai characters to find vegetarian food stalls.
Each day of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, street processions start from one of the leading shrines around Phuket. Thousands of people will pay respect to their ancestors. During this week, everyone follows strict principles, mostly wear white, do not eat meat, drink alcohol, do not have sexual activities, etc.
A street procession is to be seen once in your life, they attract a crowd of photographers who want their share of weird photos to take back home with such eerie views.
From early morning, worshippers enter a trance at their favourite shrine and pierce their cheeks with the most extreme objects possible: from a gas nozzle to a scale warship model or a car shock absorber.
Anything goes; the more extreme, the better.
Along the way, local Thai and Chinese residents prepare food offerings on small tables and receive blessings.
The processions usually pass through Phuket Old Town and end at Saphan Hin Park or back at their 'home' shrines.
The street processions are extremely noisy as firecrackers are let off almost constantly. We recommend long trousers for the firecrackers and a face covering as the smoke can get quite thick!
History Of Phuket Vegetarian Festival
While the origins of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival are unclear, it is commonly thought that it was brought to the island by a wandering Chinese opera group that fell ill from a malaria epidemic. One of the performers was sent to China to invite the Nine Emperor Gods (known as the Kiu Ong Iah) to Phuket.
The Chinese followed the tradition of refraining from eating meat, drinking alcoholic drinks, engaging in sex, quarrelling, telling lies or killing. This was to ensure the purification of the mind and body. The opera group made a complete recovery and the epidemic ceased. Since then, the people of Phuket have continued to celebrate the festival.
The festival was meant to honour the gods and express the people's happiness at surviving what was, in the 19th century, a fatal illness. Subsequently, the festival has grown and developed into a spectacular yearly event in Phuket. It draws thousands of visitors each year, many of whom come from China and Asian destinations.
Chinese Shrines In Phuket
There are more than 40 Chinese shrines around Phuket. Many of them are just small buildings but all participate in the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. If you want to experience the most of this event, make your way to the island's major shrines.
Five of the oldest shrines in Phuket are Put Cho, Jui Tui, Bang Neow, Tha Ruea, and Kathu Shrine.
Commitments of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival
The festival always starts on the first day of the 9th Chinese lunar month (though the pole-raising ceremony is the night before). For 9 days, participants observe the following commitments:
Cleanliness of the body during the festival
Clean kitchen utensils not to be used by others who do not participate in the festival
Wear white during the festival
Behave correctly, both physically and mentally
Avoid eating meat
Avoid sex
Avoid alcohol
People in mourning should not participate
Pregnant women and menstruating women should not attend ceremonies
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