Phuket Vegetarian Festival - 28th Sep to 7th Oct

The Vegetarian Festival takes place at the start of the ninth Chinese lunar month, which falls in late September or early October. This is Phuket's most famous and spectacular festival. The rituals, which last for nine days, are performed to purify both body and mind. During this time, participants go on a strict diet, which is technically vegan as no animal products are allowed to be consumed.

There are processions through the streets and tests of devotion where supplicants perform acts of self-mortification including piercing of the cheeks and tongues with knives and various objects. The more impressive events include ascetic devotees walking on burning coals and climbing ladders with knife-edged rungs. Definitely not for the faint hearted.