The festival, to be held until February 22 as part of the island’s Chinese New Year festivities, will get underway at 7:45pm with the official opening ceremony at Surin Circle (Clock Tower Circle) in Phuket Town.
“The Lantern Festival is being held to revive the charm of Chinese New Year and to reintroduce residents and tourists to Phuket’s Thai-Chinese cultural heritage,” said Phuket Governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada.
To mark the festival, selected areas in all three districts in Phuket will be lit up with the traditional lanterns, he added.
“In addition to the Lantern Festival, Phuket will also host a special food festival in Phuket Old Town during Chinese New Year to celebrate the island recently winning recognition as a ‘City of Gastronomy’ from Unesco,” Gov Chamroen said.
“During this food festival, we will take this opportunity to showcase more than 300 dishes of popular Phuket cuisine,” he added.
In January, Phuket was one of 47 cities from 33 countries included as new members of the Unesco Creative Cities Network, categorised in seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.
Launched in 2004 and now comprising 116 Member Cities, the Unesco Creative Cities Network aims to foster international cooperation with and between cities committed to investing in creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development, social inclusion and cultural vibrancy. (See story here.)
Chinese New Year this year will be celebrated around the world on February 8, marking the beginning of the Year of the Monkey.