---

Welcome to Thailand's most shocking festival, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2022 also known at the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. This was filmed over a couple of days and we had an absolute blast, super interesting piece of culture and we would recommend checking it out when you are in Phuket at the same time.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival (or Nine Emperor Gods Festival) happens once a year, during the ninth lunar month, and is one of the most auspicious events on Phuket island. For this unique occasion, a crowd of devotees assemble in every Chinese shrine around the island, followed by an even bigger horde of photographers avid to get the shot of their life.

The Vegetarian Festival is an internationally known event, and while it also happens modestly in Bangkok around the same dates, it is mostly a Phuket event.



This film follows devotees as they undergo acts of body piercing with swords, knives and skewers during Phuket Vegetarian Festival to shift evil spirits away from individuals onto themselves, and bring good luck to the community.
The annual event in Phuket, Thailand lasts 9 days, during which entranced devotees undergo these sacred rituals. Ritual Vegetarianism in Phuket dates back to 1825 and the tradition involves abstaining from meat, alcohol and sex to purify the mind and body.