The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is a nine-day Taoist festival for the Nine Emperor Gods, held in the ninth Chinese lunar month. In 2026 it runs from Saturday 10 to Sunday 18 October. You will see white-clad devotees, street processions led by entranced spirit mediums with pierced cheeks, deafening firecrackers and streets full of yellow-flagged stalls selling meat-free food.
For the people taking part, the festival is a period of purification. They eat no meat, poultry, seafood or dairy, avoid pungent vegetables such as garlic and onion, keep away from alcohol and gambling, dress in white and make merit at the island's Chinese shrines. For visitors, it is one of the most striking religious events in Southeast Asia, and also one of the easiest to watch badly. This page explains what happens, when and where to see it, and how to behave.
The festival is not a public holiday, and the beaches and resorts run as normal. For the island as a whole, start with our Phuket guide.
Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2026
- Dates
- Saturday 10 – Sunday 18 October 2026 (days 1–9 of the 9th Chinese lunar month)
- Also called
- Nine Emperor Gods Festival; in Thai, thue sin kin phak; locally, jia chai
- Opening
- Go Teng pole-raising at the shrines, Friday 9 October 2026 from 17:00
- Where
- More than 40 Chinese shrines across Phuket, with the biggest events in and around Phuket Town
- Signs to look for
- Yellow flags with red characters mark jay (festival vegetarian) food
- Cost
- Free to watch; food at street prices
- Public holiday?
- No
Hokkien roots: why the festival is so big in Phuket
Phuket's Chinese community grew in the 19th century around tin mining, and most families came from Hokkien-speaking parts of Fujian, often by way of Penang and the Malay Peninsula. They brought the Nine Emperor Gods festival with them. According to the government Public Relations Department, the tradition began around 1825 at Ban Ket Ho, today Kathu district, then a tin-mining settlement. A visiting Chinese opera troupe fell sick during an epidemic, realized it had not honored the Nine Emperor Gods as at home, and kept a fast of prayer and meat-free food; the illness ended, and the people of Phuket kept the rite every year since. The festival is registered as part of Thailand's national intangible cultural heritage.
Visitors from Penang, Singapore and Malaysia will recognize a great deal: the Baba (Peranakan) culture of Phuket Town, its food and its shophouses are close cousins of what you know at home, and the Nine Emperor Gods festival is also kept in Penang and other Malaysian towns at the same time of year. What sets Phuket apart is the intensity of the street rituals.
Phuket is not the only place that celebrates. In 2025, TAT listed vegetarian festivals in Bangkok's Yaowarat, Hat Yai, Trang, Ranong, Phang Nga, Narathiwat and other places with Thai-Chinese communities. Trang is known for a more traditional festival and Hat Yai for its food; Phuket is the one known for the mediums.
The ma song: mediums, piercings and fire-walking
The ma song (literally "horse of the gods") are mediums who are believed to be possessed by deities during the festival. In trance, they walk in processions with their cheeks or bodies pierced by skewers, blades and other objects, and some take part in fire-walking or climb ladders of blades. Devotees believe the gods protect the mediums from harm and that the mediums take on misfortune on behalf of the community.
This is the part that draws photographers, and it is graphic. There is blood, there are large crowds, and the firecrackers thrown at passing processions are loud enough to hurt. Decide honestly whether you, and especially any children with you, want to see it. The rest of the festival, from the food streets to the shrines at night, is worth seeing without it.
Firecrackers at the processions are thrown, not just set off nearby. Wear closed shoes, long trousers and earplugs, keep well back from the medium's path and stay out of the space where people are throwing firecrackers. Protect your eyes and your camera. In an emergency, call 1669 for an ambulance or 1155 for the Tourist Police.
Where to watch: the shrines and Phuket Town
More than 40 shrines across the island take part in 2026, according to the province. Each runs its own program: it opens on the evening before the festival, when each shrine raises a tall bamboo pole (the Go Teng) hung with nine lamps to invite the gods down, and it closes on the last night with a send-off ceremony accompanied by huge quantities of firecrackers. In between come the street processions (iu keng), fire-walking (koi hoi) and blade-ladder climbs. The best-known shrines include Jui Tui and Bang Neow in Phuket Town and the shrine at Kathu. We have not found an official day-by-day 2026 program in English, so check times at your hotel or at the shrines once the festival starts.
Processions usually start early in the morning, to avoid the midday heat, and pass along the main streets of the old town. The old town is also where the food stalls cluster. Our guide to Old Phuket Town covers the area, and our guide to getting from the airport to the beaches helps if you are staying on the west coast and coming in for the day.
If you are based in Patong, Kata or Karon, plan to leave early by taxi or Grab and expect road closures in town during processions. Our comparison of Phuket's beaches explains which bases are closest to town.
Jay food: what to eat during the festival
Jay (also written "je" or "che") is stricter than ordinary vegetarian food. It rules out all animal products, including dairy and eggs, and also garlic, onion and other strong-smelling plants. Stalls and restaurants serving it hang yellow flags with the Chinese character for jay in red.
Expect mock meats made from soy, gluten, mushrooms and taro, used in Thai and Chinese dishes: noodle soups, stir-fries, curries, fried rice and Hokkien-style fresh spring rolls (popiah). Prices are street prices.
For vegans and vegetarians this is the easiest time of year to eat in Thailand. Outside the festival, finding food without fish sauce or shrimp paste is harder; our guide to vegetarian, vegan and halal food in Thailand explains how.
The yellow flags make vegetarian eating easy for nine days. Anything sold under a yellow jay flag should be free of meat, fish, eggs, dairy, garlic and onion. Outside the festival period, yellow flags in Chinese districts often mean the same thing, but ask.
How to watch respectfully
- Wear white if you can, and modest clothing in any case. Participants dress in white; visitors are not required to, but it is appreciated near the shrines.
- Do not touch the mediums or block their path. Step aside when a procession comes through, and never stand in front of a medium for a photo.
- Ask before photographing devotees at close range, and keep flash off inside shrines.
- Do not eat meat in front of participants at the shrines, and avoid bringing meat or alcohol into shrine grounds.
- Follow the instructions of shrine volunteers. They control where people can stand during fire-walking and processions.
- Know the participants' own rules. The Public Relations Department's list says people in mourning should not take part, pregnant women should not watch some rituals and menstruating women should not join the rites. These are rules for participants, but they explain why some local families keep away.
- Leave drones at home. Drones must be registered in Thailand and are unwelcome over crowds and rituals.
General temple and shrine manners are in our article on cultural respect in Thailand.
Planning a trip around the festival
October is still the wet season on the Andaman coast, so expect showers and rough sea days; our guide to traveling in the rainy season explains what that means in practice. Hotel prices in Phuket Town rise during the festival, while beach resorts are still in low season.
If you want to compare the Phuket festival with Chinese celebrations elsewhere, Bangkok's Chinatown holds its own vegetarian festival at the same time, and the island's other big Chinese festival is Chinese New Year in January or February.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2026?
From Saturday 10 to Sunday 18 October 2026. The festival follows the Chinese lunar calendar, covering the first nine days of the ninth lunar month, so the Western dates change every year. In 2025 it ran from 21 to 29 October.
Is the Phuket Vegetarian Festival suitable for children?
The food streets and evening shrine visits are fine for children. The processions are not, for most families: the piercings are graphic and the firecrackers are very loud and thrown close to the crowd. Watch from far back, with ear protection, or skip them.
Do I have to eat vegetarian food during the festival?
No. Restaurants and hotels serve their normal menus. Only participants keep the fast. It is polite not to eat meat at the shrines or in front of people in white, and the jay food is good enough to try anyway.
What does the yellow flag mean on food stalls?
A yellow flag with red Chinese characters marks jay food: no meat, fish, eggs or dairy, and no garlic, onion or other pungent vegetables. It is the easiest way to find strictly plant-based food in Thailand.
Sources
- MGR Online – Phuket deputy governor on the 2026 festival, 10–18 October, more than 40 shrines (1 October 2026) (checked October 2026)
- Public Relations Department (Thailand) – Phuket Vegetarian Festival: rites, rules and origins (checked October 2026)
- Tourism Authority of Thailand – Thailand Vegetarian Festival 2025 (checked October 2026)
- Tourism Authority of Thailand – Thailand's Vegetarian Festival: for the spirit and the senses (checked October 2026)
- UK FCDO – Thailand travel advice: safety and security (checked October 2026)