Vegetarian Festival
Phuket’s biggest and most exciting annual celebration, the Vegetarian Festival takes place over the first nine days of the 9th lunar month (usually October). It is a time when Phuket islanders of Chinese descent follow a vegetarian diet as a form of purification in order to ensure good fortune in the coming year. It is marked by colourful processions, and by devotees performing amazing acts of self-mortification, including fire walking and piercing the body with skewers.
Thao Thep Krasattri & Thao Sisunthon Fair
Held annually on 13 March, the Fair commemorates the Two Heroines who rallied the people of Thalang to repel Burmese invaders in the 18th century.
Phuket Triathlon
During October and November, the triathlon (consisting of a 1.8 km. swim, a 55 km. bike race and a 12 km. run) attracts topclass athletes from around the world.
Tourist Season Opening Festival
First initiated in 1985 at Hat Patong to welcome the start of the tourism season, the Festival is staged on 1 November and features many colourful and interesting activities, such as merit-making, watersports contests and a “Miss Visitor” contest.
King’s Cup Regatta
Each year in early December, the Phuket Yacht Club hosts international yachtsmen, who compete for royal trophies in a series of races from Mu Ko Phi Phi to Phuket.
Loi Ruea Chao Le Tradition
In the middle of the 6th and 11th lunar months, Chao Le (Sea Gypsies) celebrate a time-honoured tradition in which they float model boats in a symbolic gesture of banishing bad luck.
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