Phuket Vegetarian Festival

When it happens

The festival runs for the first nine days of the ninth Chinese lunar month, so it falls in late September or October and moves every year.

It opens with the Go Teng pole raised the evening before. In 2027 the festival runs from 30 September to 8 October, its 202nd year, Phuket City Municipality announced in October 2026.

How the 2026 festival ran

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2026 ran from 10 to 18 October, says TAT News, with more than 40 shrines in the big night procession on the 11th. Use it as the shape of 2027.

Insider tip: Jui Tui's 8am procession starts later than the dawn ones, so it's the one to catch after a night in Patong.

Ask Tanner to hold the Old Town rooms now for 30 September to 8 October 2027.

What is the Phuket Vegetarian Festival?

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is a nine-day festival of Phuket's Chinese community, held to honour the Nine Emperor Gods, with jay food, white clothes and street processions.

TAT says the festival began about 200 years ago, when Chinese settlers in Phuket's tin-mining days honoured the Nine Emperor Gods to end an epidemic. TAT News notes that the Department of Cultural Promotion listed it as intangible cultural heritage in 2018.

Devotees eat jay food and skip alcohol for the nine days. Visitors aren't expected to follow the rules, so do the processions in the morning and the beach after.

What you'll see at dawn

At the processions, mediums in a trance walk the streets with their cheeks pierced by blades and spears, while firecrackers go off around them.

Processions leave the shrines between 6am and 8am, a different shrine each morning.

The firecrackers start before dawn and are very loud, so bring earplugs. Book a base within walking distance, and you skip the morning traffic.

The fire-walks and the send-off

The fire-walks start around 8pm on four evenings near the end of the festival, and Jui Tui holds its bridge-crossing on the second-last night.

On the last day the processions meet at Saphan Hin, on the edge of Phuket Town, to send the Nine Emperor Gods back to heaven. The main rites come after midnight, so pace the evening.

Jay food, and where to find it

Phuket Vegetarian Festival food is jay, and jay is closer to vegan than vegetarian: no meat, dairy, eggs, alcohol, garlic, onion, shallot, chives or leek. Stalls and kitchens serving it fly yellow flags with red Chinese characters.

Look for them around the town shrines, such as Jui Tui and Bang Neow, in Phuket Old Town.

The beach resorts and their restaurants serve as normal, so the group can mix jay breakfasts with ordinary dinners. Ask Tanner for a dinner table after.

Can you drink during the Vegetarian Festival?

Yes. There's no alcohol ban for visitors: devotees give up alcohol, but the beach areas carry on as normal. Patong's bars and clubs open as usual.

The dry days to watch are Buddhist ones, like Ok Phansa around the same time of year. On Buddhist holidays shops stop selling alcohol, but licensed venues in tourist areas can still serve, under the Office of the Prime Minister's 2025 notice.

See our Bangla Road guide for the evening after the procession, and ask Tanner for a VIP section.

What to book first

The rooms near Old Town go first, because the processions start at dawn.

• A base near Phuket Town: for the dawn processions, so you're walking, not driving.
• The car: the processions fill Old Town's streets in the morning, so book the driver and plan the run in.
• The final evening: Saphan Hin; arrive early and leave late.
• The villa: for the days between, a party-friendly Phuket pool villa.

Get the room near Old Town on hold before anything else.

What to wear

Wear white if you can, with long sleeves, long trousers and closed shoes, and skip black.

• Earplugs and a mask: for the firecrackers and the smoke.
• Glasses: sunglasses or clear glasses against the debris.
• Distance: stay back from the front and sides of the procession.
• Respect: don't touch the mediums, and ask before close-up photos.
• Getting out: our driver waits near the route, so the group can leave when it wants.

Pick your first procession the evening before, and be there ahead of the crowd.

The best day for a group

The Jui Tui procession at 8am is the one to see for a group: a later start than the dawn processions, right in Old Town.

• Morning: the procession, then breakfast at the jay stalls in Old Town.
• Afternoon: back to the villa or a beach club.
• Evening: a fire-walk at 8pm, then dinner and Patong.
• The last evening: Saphan Hin, for the send-off.

See our Phuket guide for the rest of the week.

The festival at a glance

• Dates: nine days each autumn; 30 September to 8 October in 2027 (Phuket City Municipality).

• Where: Phuket Town and over 40 shrines; send-off at Saphan Hin.
• See: the Jui Tui procession at 8am; fire-walks around 8pm.
• Food: jay stalls with yellow flags in Old Town.
• Alcohol: no ban for visitors; Patong opens as normal.

Last checked: 4 November 2026. Plan it with Tanner.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival in short

• What it is: a nine-day festival of Phuket's Chinese community for the Nine Emperor Gods, begun in Kathu in 1825.

• When: the first nine days of the ninth Chinese lunar month, late September or October.
• 2026: 10 to 18 October, with the send-off at Saphan Hin on the 18th.
• Heritage: listed as Thai intangible cultural heritage in 2018.
• Processions: leave the shrines between 6am and 8am; fire-walks around 8pm on four evenings near the end.
• Jay food: no meat, dairy, eggs, garlic or onion; look for yellow flags.

Checked November 2026. Ask Tanner to fit your Phuket days around it.