Hungry Ghost Festival 2012

เทศกาลพ้อต่อ ภูเก็ต ๒๕๕๕

A year has passed and the Hungry Ghosts are back in town!

See my 2013 update too!

This year Phuket has brought back the Turtle Procession, so I set off to see what was happening. The turtles are the central point of the festival here in Phuket. They are a sign of longevity and the local Chinese population will buy a turtle as an offering. The turtles come in all sizes from about the size of your hand to big enough to cover a car roof. The best place to see the turtles being made is at Kengtin's Cake Shop in Phuket Road. 

I had heard that the procession was to start at 9am, then I heard it was 11am so I chose

10am to arrive at the Golden Dragon Monument where things were to start. I started taking photos of the children sitting around under the trees waiting for thing to start but then I heard the announcement that the procession would actually start at around 11.45! 

Oh! did I feel sorry for the kids they had probably started getting ready since sunrise and here they were waiting for another hour and a half. 



I too had started getting hot and decided to sneak off to the air conditioned Tourist Office just next door for a (free) coffee and to pick up some maps and leaflets. Feeling refreshed I ventured out again not wanting to miss anything. The announcements were now inviting everyone to have free noodles so I went off for my plate and waited for the show to start. 

At around 11am the Mayor of Phuket, Khun Somjai, arrived and so the photo sessions and speeches began. As with all events like this the local Government Officials will dress in either Baba style traditional costumes or the Batik shirts that have become the modern dress code for Phuket, making it a very colourful scene.

 นายกเทศมนตรี, คุณ สมใจ สุวรรณศุภพนา

But for me the highlight of the morning was the Wu Shu drummers, they were excellent!

So the procession finally started, lead by the lion dancers, the procession marched through the Old Town until it finally reached Phuket Fresh Food Market car park which had been converted into a place of worship for the weekend of the festival.

Like every festival it keeps the police and council workers busy organising the traffic and keeps the photographers happy too!

As soon as the procession had passed life continued as if nothing had happened. The ghosts got their feast and we all got our photos!

 A second procession took place one week later from Saphan Hin to Bang Nieow Shrine