For nine days each autumn, Phuket becomes a different island. The town dresses in white, firecrackers go off from dawn, street kitchens turn entirely meat-free, and processions move through the old town in a haze of smoke. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is the most extraordinary thing that happens here, and also the most misunderstood. Here is what it actually involves, and how to experience it well.
What the festival is
Its proper name is the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, known locally as Kin Jay. It is a Taoist observance brought to Phuket by the island’s Chinese community, and it has been kept here since the early nineteenth century, when it is said to have begun after a visiting opera troupe fell ill and recovered by adopting a strict vegetarian diet and honouring the Nine Emperor Gods.
At its centre the festival is about purification rather than spectacle. For nine days participants abstain from meat, alcohol and other stimulants, dress in white, and observe a period of physical and spiritual cleansing. The processions that visitors come to see are an expression of that, not the purpose of it.
When it happens
The festival runs for nine days, beginning with the first day of the ninth lunar month, which places it in late September or October depending on the year. It opens with the Go Teng ceremony, in which a tall bamboo pole is raised at the shrines to invite the gods to descend, and closes with processions that carry the deities back.
In 2026, the festival runs from October 10 to October 18, with the Go Teng pole-raising on October 9.
The food, and the yellow flags
For many visitors the food is the revelation. Across the island, kitchens and street stalls switch to jay cooking, which excludes not only meat and seafood but also dairy, eggs and pungent vegetables such as garlic and onion. What is left is inventive, cheap and often exceptional: mock meats made from gluten and soy, clay pot noodles, curries, dumplings and sweets.
Look for the yellow flags, printed with red characters, which mark a vendor as serving jay food. In Phuket Town during the festival they are on almost every corner, and the eating is as good a reason to come as anything else.
The processions, honestly described
This is where visitors should know what they are walking into. The street processions feature the ma song, spirit mediums believed to be possessed by the gods, who perform acts of self-mortification including piercing their cheeks with rods, blades and other objects. There is fire-walking, and there are firecrackers thrown in enormous quantity, at close range and at deafening volume.
It is genuinely extraordinary, and it is not for everyone. If you are squeamish, or bringing young children, or sensitive to noise, position yourself away from the front of the crowd or choose a shrine ceremony over a street procession. Ear protection is a sensible idea. Nobody will think less of you for watching from a distance.
Where to go
The main shrines are Jui Tui and Bang Neow in Phuket Town, and Kathu shrine, where the festival is said to have begun. Processions set out from a different shrine each morning and move through the old town, generally starting early. All ceremonies and processions are free to attend.
Go early. The most striking hours are around dawn, when the processions form and the light is still soft, before the day heats up and the crowds build.
Attending respectfully
Dress modestly, and in white if you would like to join in the spirit of it. Ask before photographing individuals, particularly the ma song, who are engaged in something serious rather than performing. Public processions are generally accepted subjects; a devotee preparing or recovering is not. Do not stand in the path of a procession, and follow the crowd’s lead on where to be.
Staying during the festival
Accommodation in and around Phuket Town books out well ahead for the festival, so plan early if you intend to be close to the action. Many visitors prefer a quiet base on the coast and travel in for the mornings, which also gives you somewhere peaceful to return to after a day of firecrackers.
Kata Rocks sits above Kata Beach, around forty minutes from the old town, with oceanfront villas and our oceanfront restaurant for the evenings. Our team can arrange transport and advise on which mornings are worth the early start. What we are marking across the year is listed with our events and celebrations.