The most famous festival in Phuket is the Vegetarian Festival. This year the festival was in late October, and (like previous years) I tried to see as much as possible (see links below). Phuket is also a great place to be for Songkran (the "water throwing" festival / Thai New Year). Another popular festival is Loy Krathong, where people give thanks for water, and cast adrift their bad luck. The dates for the vegetarian festival and Loy Krathong change every year as they are based on the lunar calendar. October and November are good months to come to Phuket :)
The vegetarian festival is my No.1 favourite thing in Phuket! 2010 festival was October 7th - 17th. Were you there? See latest links below or check my Flickr photos....
Other Recent events:
• Baba (Peranakan) Weddings in Phuket
• Kathu Village Culture Festival June 2010
• Phuket Heroines Festival March 2010
• Old Phuket Town Street Festival
• Cultural Street Festival in Kathu Village
• OTOP Fair in Phuket Town
• Phuket Halal Expo
• Phuket Flower Fair
• Phuket Bike Week - 3 days of big bikes and beachside concerts, April every year just before Songkran.
Phuket Vegetarian Festival - My favourite thing in Phuket!
• Phuket Vegetarian Festival Introduction
• At Kathu Shrine 15th October 2010
• Bang Neow Shrine Street Procession 2010
• First Days of the 2010 Vegetarian Festival
• Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2009 Photos
• Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2008 Photos
• Vegetarian Festival 2008 Part 2
• Phuket Vegetarian festival Videos
• 2007 Vegetarian Festival Photos
Since 2006 during the festival, I always go to see some of the ceremonies, take a lot of photos, and eat plenty of the great food on offer. I am not normally a veggie, but it can't hurt for a week or so!?
• Vegetarian Festival Photos 2006
• Photos of Kathu Shrine - More Photos of Kathu Shrine
• Photos of Sam Kong Shrine and Vegetarian Food Stalls
My "local" is Kathu shrine, located in Baan Kathu. Sam Kong shrine is not too far from Tesco Lotus - loads of veggie food stalls in the Kathu/Sam Kong area during the festival. In Phuket town you find big shrines such as Jui Tui and Bang Neow which are very much the center of festivities.
Songkran Festival (Thai New Year)
Songkran is the Thai New Year, a real mix of quiet prayer and water throwing mayhem. We tend to mix it up - a bit of quiet at the temple, a bit of water... on April 13th 2007 (apart from the water fights) we went to a turtle release ceremony at Mai Khao beach.
• Songkran 2009 - Patong Beach Phuket for Songkran photos! (2010 I was too busy throwing water and drinking beer to take photos :))
• Songkran 2008 Photos
• Songkran - April 13th 2007
• Songkran 2006 in Phuket
• My Songkran 2008 Blog
• About Songkran
Loy Krathong
Every year, but dates vary according to the full moon. The date in 2009 was November 2nd, in 2008 Loy Krathong was on November 12th. 2010 will be 21st November. The main element of Loy Krathong is giving thanks to the goddess of water.
• Loy Krathong 2008 Photos
• Loy Krathong 2007 - Part 1 - Making our Kratong
• Loy Krathong 2007 Photos
• Loy Krathong 2006 in Phuket
More Local Phuket Life
• Local Markets
• Local Street Fair in Kathu District
• Baba (Peranakan) Wedding in Phuket Town
• Phuket Butterfly Release July 2010
• Chalong Temple Fair
• Weekend Market
• A Walk around Old Phuket Town
• Local temples in Kathu
• Buddha Shelf & Shrine in our house
• A Funeral in our village
• Caged bird singing contest in Kathu Village
• Buying a House in Phuket
Phuket Food Festival
The Phuket Food Festival is held at Saphan Hin in the south of Phuket City. Find a great variety of local food every day from 4:30pm until 11pm - fresh seafood, a demonstration of local delicacies, sales of OTOP products, cultural and contemporary performances and more.
I took a visit to the Food Festival in March 2008 - lots of photos here:
• Phuket Food Festival
Other Phuket Festivals
There are a number of small local festivals in Phuket such as the Phuket Heroines Festival (celebrating the famous battle against the Burmese in 1785 - NEW! Just blogged!), Chinese New Year, the Old Phuket festival, the Por Tor Festival (the Chinese "hungry ghost" festival), there's Patong Carnival, the Phuket Gay Festival... Well, I hope over the next couple of years I'll have more time to visit some of these celebrations and get some photos.
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