Por Tor Festival 2014 - the start

The origins of the Por Tor Festival for the Chinese Community in Phuket can be found. I found a description of it on youtube this year...

Phuket is rich in tradition and this is another lovely example of this. During this period some of the descendants of the Chinese took any number of traditions - many have continued to exist.

It is believed by some that the spirits of our dead ancestors will visit us  for this particular part of the year. Specifically some Chinese homes will set a table with food for their dead ancestors to eat. When the Joss sticks have run down it is then time that the family can have their share of the food.

Then at the specific Chinese Temples around Phuket red turtle shaped cakes will be taken to the shrine and then placed around the shrine. The cakes are turtle shaped because in the Chinese culture a turtle represents longevity and the red represents good luck.

The Parade started outside the TAT offices and the Golden Dragon statue - Hai Leng Ong.

Many children simply gathered whilst they waited.

Jemma and I met Richard Barrow and his drone whilst we were there, I was glad that Jemma was taken with it but did not ask whether we could have one - looked fun though?

The Governess of Phuket was there soon and she began the parade.

The parade started swiftly and the parade began to walk past. 

The parade snaked around the corner and then came for a stop adjacent to Mellow Yellow - meanwhile I gave up waiting and walked into the heart of Phuket Town and the new building 'housing the old Market'.

Upstairs was a complete change - the parking bays were full.

There were a plethora of rows of foods being offered to the gods as indicated.

Heat and noise all became a lot for me so I wandered back, met Richard and pointed him towards the carpark.  And it was at that point I found a coffee shop and prepared myself for the trip to work.

I will certainly be visiting in the evening one day this week.