The country is painted YELLOW!
Double the Delicious Vegan Thai Treats this year, since the famous Thailand Vegetarian Festival will be held Twice this Year- September 24 – October 2, 2014 & Again October 24 – November 1, 2014!
For the first time in its history, the world famous Vegetarian Festival Thailand will occur twice in one year! According to the Chinese lunar calendar there are two 9th lunar months this year, so twice the number of visits from the gods. It’s special as this happens about 1 time every 100 years. The full-on festival will run from September 24 to October 2, followed by the unique nine days, which will span from October 24 to November 1 this year.
The Vegetarian Festival is a colorful event held over a nine-day period in October, celebrating the Chinese community’s belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind.
The vegetarian dishes are not easily distinguished from regular dishes – soybean and protein substitute products are used to replace meat in standard Thai dishes which look and taste uncannily like meat! Look for the yellow flags with red Chinese or Thai characters to find vegetarian food stalls – and keep your camera handy!!
Though the origins of the festival are unclear, it is commonly believed that the festival was brought to Phuket by a wandering Chinese opera group who fell ill with malaria while performing on the island. They decided to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet and pray to the Nine Emperor Gods to ensure purification of the mind and body. To everyone’s amazement the opera group made an absolute recovery. The people thus celebrated by holding a festival that was meant to honor the gods as well as express their gratitude at surviving something that was, in the 19th century, a fatal illness. Subsequently, the festival has grown and developed into a spectacular yearly event that is attended by thousands with participants flying in from China and other Asian destinations.