PHUKET FESTIVALS
The festivals of Phuket are very exciting and amazing such as the island's most distinctive event is the annual Vegetarian Festival which is held annually over nine days in the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. Other lively festivals and colorful events unique to Phuket include the Phuket King's Cup Regatta and Phuket Bike Week, while others, such as Loy Kratong and Songkran are part of nationwide celebrations. The island usually gets busy during festival times so please make sure for booking a hotel in advance.
Chinese New Year in Phuket
The Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket office (TAT) and Phuket City will combine the Chinese New Year celebrations with the annual Old Phuket Festival in the city of Phuket next to the TAT offices on Phuket Road, the activity with many colorful shows including a dragon dance and traditional dances on the 4 old Phuket town streets will be closed to motorized traffic for three evenings of pedestrian celebrations.
On the period of Chinese New Year, Chinese houses decorate with vases of flowers and a tray with eight varieties of dried sweet fruit. The entrances of many shops and houses will be decorated with festoons and red banners for encourage luck and happiness during the coming year.
In order to join this activity, you need to be at the TAT office by 18:00 at any evening during the period of event as there will be a demonstration on how to make some popular local traditional desserts as well as free samples to savor, please contact its office as reservation in advance is needed. The community event is free and open to all travelers.
(Credit: http://www.phuket.com/festival/chinese-new-year.htm)
Songkran Festival in Phuket
Going to Phuket on April you will find a big surprise, especially, on April 13 – 15. Because of this is the time of the Thai New Year celebration or “Songkran”.
Actually, this is a period of carrying out of respect to elders in family, and also it’s a good time to throw water to anyone who walk out street. Traditionally speaking, Songkran tradition was the time of year when the rice harvest was in and farmers had to wait for the rains to begin in order to plant their rice. This would be the hottest time of each year. Gradually over the years Songkran has developed into a soaked festival of water throwing using buckets and water guns.
(Credit: https://www.klook.com/blog/songkran-2018-thailand/)
