Phuket Festivals

Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Sisunthon Fair
is held on March 13 every year to commemorate the two great heroines who rallied the Thalang people to repel Burmese invaders. Many activities and celebrations are organised.

Seafood Festival
held around May yearly, is designed to publicise the delicious seafood of Phuket and attract visitors during the rainy season. Activities include a Marine Tourism Resources Parade, seafood stalls, demonstrations of regional cuisines and cultural shows.

Vegetarian Festival
is held on the first day of the 9th lunar month (usually October). Phuket islanders of Chinese ancestry commit themselves to a 9-day vegetarian diet, a form of purification believed to help make the forthcoming year “trouble-free”. The festival is marked by several ascetic displays, including fire-walking and ascending sharp-bladed ladders.

Phuket Travel Fair / Patong Beach Carnival
Colorful festival held to celebrate the official opening of the tourist season in Phuket.
Phuket is one of Thailand’s major tourist destinations. Patong Beach is the center of several tourism activities. Every high season, the beach will be crowded with many tourists heading for the tropical paradise. To officially welcome tourists to the beach destination during the beginning of the high season, Phuket Travel Fair is organized at Patong Beach. This colorful festival, commonly known as Patong Beach Carnival after the venue of the event, was first held in 1985 to mark the opening of the tourist season and has been organized annually since then.

At the beginning of the day, visitors can participate in Thai-style merit making, while the rest of the day will celebrate several fun-filled activities. Highlights of the festival include exciting watersport contest, colorful parade, ‘Miss Visitor’ beauty pageant for foreign tourists, as well as other forms of entertainment.

Phuket King ’s Cup Regatta
 is held in December. The Phuket Yacht Club hosts international yachtsmen, largely from neighbouring countries who compete in the Nai Han Beach area for royal trophies.

Laguna Phuket Triathlon
 is held in each December. The triathlon (a 1,000-metre swim, a 5-kilometre bike race and a 12-kilometre run) attracts world-class athletes from all over the world.

Tourist Season Opening Festival
starting from November 1, is usually called the Patong Carnival, from the place where celebrations occur. Colourful parades, sports events, and a beauty competition for foreign tourists are major activities.