Phuket Vegetarian Festival is back

One of Phuket’s holiest ceremony, nurtured through generations of Chinese heritage, thePhuket Vegetarian Festival will hit the streets of Phuket from September 29 to October 7, 2019.

Once a year during the ninth lunar month, Phuket organizes its very own Vegetarian Festival, a week-long celebration held to pay respect to the nine Chinese Emperor Gods.

The festival itself has gained worldwide reputation not only for its delicious, authentic vegetarian food but also for its long parades, which usually require a lot of firecrackers and is lead by a Masong, a person who is possessed by the deities and capable of inflicting himself with physical mutilation, more often than not in the form of piercing his cheeks with a sharp object, like a blade or a sword.

Surprisingly, the amount of blood you will see throughout the festival is kept to a minimum!

It is quite common for the devouts and the people participating in the vegetarian festival to wear white clothes, as a symbol of purity, while they also obey to a set of nine rules from the start to the end of the celebrations.

The island of Phuket counts more than 40 different Chinese shrines and temples, and while most of them will organize some events during the week, the main ones to visit are Jui Tui, Bang Niew, Put Jaw, Cherng Talay and the Kathu shrines.

As tempting as it is to jump right into the action, it is recommended to take some extra precautionary measures before joining the event as a first timer; remember that it is going to be hot, not just from the regular Phuket’s weather but also from the sheer amount of people combined with the smoke of firecrackers, and that you will experience a high decibel level for a prolonged period of time, so it is best to come prepared with some noisecanceling devices.

During the festival, most restaurants will adapt their menu to the vegetarian trend, removing their meat and seafood proteins altogether. Some restaurants also decide to close down their venues for a few days, as the volume of visitors tends to go down. You should look for the yellow flags with red Chinese characters that are placed in front of participating restaurants to satisfy your veggies cravings. We would recommend you to try Phad Tohu Priaw Waan, or stir-fried tofu in a sweet and sour curry, Phad Phak Ruam, a stir-fried mix of fresh vegetables, and the classic

Por Pia Tod, or crispy veggie spring rolls. If we had to recommend one venue to try out all those specialties, it would certainly be the series of restaurants located on Ranong Road, in Phuket Town, right next to the Jui Tui Shrine.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a steak and can’t seem to find a restaurant to serve you, try to visit the places that tourists tend to visit, such as Patong and Rawai; you will most likely find a venue to serve you a regular menu.