Phuket Old Town

Candle-lit ceremonies, lion dances, street food and an old town bathed in red make Phuket’s Por Tor Hungry Ghost Festival one of the island’s most atmospheric cultural events. Rooted in the local Hokkien-Chinese community rather than staged for tourists, the annual festival welcomes respectful visitors. Por Tor, or universal salvation, centres on the belief that the gates of hell open and spirits return to the human world. It is also a time to remember ancestors who died far from home, especially those without descendants to make offerings for them. Head to Seng Tek Bel Shrine and Ranong Road Fresh Market for Hokkien-Chinese merit-making, with incense, burnt paper money and food offerings including red turtle cakes. Visitors may also get to try the blessed hand-sized cakes – or see giant versions weighing up to 100kg, later cut up and shared once the rituals are complete. Aug 19-Sep 6. Free. Por Tor Hungry Ghost Festival, Phuket Old Town shrines and Ranong Road Fresh Market. noon-midnight

The opening ceremony’s live jazz, Khon dance and cultural workshops may be over, but the Illuminating Peranakan Festival still has plenty to see. At its centre is a projection-mapping show that washes Phuket Old Town’s bright yellow, Sino-Portuguese Charter Bank in light, colour and sound, bringing the island’s Chinese-Thai traditions and identity to life every 20 minutes from 7pm. If you’re lucky, you may also find a street vendor selling kanom tao daeng (red tortoise cake), an auspicious rice flour dessert with a mung bean coconut milk filling.  Aug 23-29. Free. Feel all the Feelings @ Phuket: Illuminating Peranakan Festival, Charter Bank Intersection, Phuket Old Town. 7pm-10pm