Phuket Vegetarian Festival Closes Tonight With Farewell Procession to Saphan Hin
Thailand's Phuket Vegetarian Festival — the Nine Emperor Gods festival — closes tonight, Sunday, October 18, as temple processions converge on Saphan Hin by the sea to send the deities off, ending nine days of observance.
Rooted in the island's 19th-century Chinese immigrant community, the festival is one of Thailand's largest Chinese celebrations. Chinese shrines in Phuket Town, led by Jui Tui Shrine, hold daily rites while devotees keep a vegetarian diet and wear white; street stalls across the old town switch to vegetarian menus for the nine days.
The farewell night is the festival's final major rite, with palanquin processions moving through the old town streets to Saphan Hin as households set out offering tables along the route. This year's closing night falls on the Double Ninth Festival.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand lists the festival on its national events calendar, and Phuket Town hotels and old-town businesses see visibly heavier traffic during the nine days.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：普吉老城区街道（资料照片）。图片来源：CEphoto, Uwe Aranas，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。Photo: A street in Phuket Old Town (file photo). Source: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
