Phuket Events, Festivals & Events in Phuket, Thailand

This year’s event will be the 13th anniversary of the popular Old Phuket Town Festival which is held in collaboration with the Chinese New Year. The festival is held at the heart of the Old Town on Thalang, Krabi, and Phuket Roads and along the famous Soi Rommanee. Thalang Road and Soi Rommanee will be converted into walking streets during the festival. Expect many colourful entertainment options including a Phuket Baba Light Show, a rickshaw tour around the streets, cultural parades, Chinese opera performances, Chinese folk dancing troupes and more. The activities start from about 15:00 and last until midnight each day. If coming by car, please make sure to park away from the centre as things get extremely congested, traffic wise.

The Chinese New Year is a huge celebration for Thai-Chinese in Phuket, as well as the Thais themselves who like to celebrate too – who doesn’t! Especially for Chinese people, it’s the time of year where families and loved ones come together, celebrating together with big meals and gifts to one another. The best place in Phuket to celebrate this annual festival is probably Phuket Town, where the lively Chinatown parties until the early hours on the Sino-Portuguese Road. There are many public displays and parades, including dragon and lion dances, and naturally for a Chinese festival, plenty of fireworks. Stalls are everywhere, selling traditional foods and beverages that help complete the Chinese New Year celebration experience.

This year’s event will be the 13th anniversary of the popular Old Phuket Town Festival which is held in collaboration with the Chinese New Year. The festival is held at the heart of the Old Town on Thalang, Krabi, and Phuket Roads and along the famous Soi Rommanee. Thalang Road and Soi Rommanee will be converted into walking streets during the festival. Expect many colourful entertainment options including a Phuket Baba Light Show, a rickshaw tour around the streets, cultural parades, Chinese opera performances, Chinese folk dancing troupes and more. The activities start from about 15:00 and last until midnight each day. If coming by car, please make sure to park away from the centre as things get extremely congested, traffic wise.

Now coming into its 15th year, the annual Bay Regatta - Phuket-Phang Nga-Krabi (formerly Phang Nga Bay Regatta) has become a popular event for many sailors around the world. The 2012 event will take place from January 30th till February 6th and is organized by Ao Chalong Yacht Club. In the past the event would attract some 40 yachts and feature crew members from all over the world including Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, The Philippines, the UK, Turkey, USA, USSR and Thailand. This year’s event has drawn about 50 yachts. In contrast with the hard-fought King’s Cup, this regatta is noted for its easy-going, fun-filled atmosphere.

The first Phuket Punchline Comedy of 2011 sees three of the UK comedy circuit’s finest comedians treading the boards on 23rd February. Nick Doody hails from Yorkshire and has been blessed with a very sharp mind, a mind which he puts to outstanding use in comedy; Josh Howie has been likened to a young Woody Allen, having a challenging, intelligent wit, and a gaggle of TV producers wanting his signature; and holding it all together is the very likeable and charming Michael Legge who is regarded as being one of the best comperes in the business. It is sure to be an energy-packed gigglefest full of fun, frolics, and laughter. Tickets 960 baht until 22nd February or 1,200 baht on the day. Doors open at 20:00.

Wat Chalong (or Chalong Temple) Fair is probably the biggest of all temple fairs on the island. It was first started in 1933 by local farmers who lived near and around Wat Chalong. After a long period of hard work and when the harvest was complete, they would get together and create a kind of fun fair on the temple’s grounds. In later years, they set up the fair during the Chinese New Year because they wanted to make sure that Thais with Chinese heritage would join in, too. The fair lasts seven days each year and is a colourful, crowded, aromatic, noisy but fascinating spectacle. Claustrophobic people stay away…

The 12th Old Phuket Town Festival will include activities such as a Phuket Baba Light Show, a rickshaw tour around the streets, cultural parades, Chinese opera performances, Chinese folk dancing troupes and more. The event, which is held in collaboration with the Chinese New Year, will be held at the heart of the Old Town on Thalang, Krabi, and Phuket Roads and along Soi Rommanee. Thalang Road and Soi Rommanee will be converted into walking streets during the festival. Contact: Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket Office.

Who says Phuket lacks good musical events? Check out the annual Blues and Rock music event in Karon Beach. Starting in 2005, the Phuket International Blues Festival has gained popularity and fans over the years. The festival grows bigger in terms of the number of artists that rock the stage as well as in audience numbers every year. Many well-known musicians and bands have been coming to the event year after year. The main artists for 2011 will include Curtis Salgado the man who inspired and mentored John Belushi for his role in ‘The Blues Brothers’ - and who won the highly coveted Male Artist of the Year 2010 at the Blues Foundation Awards in Memphis. This music festival is a charity event and donates proceedings to local organizations such as the ‘Phuket Has Been Good To Us’ foundation and the Rotary Club of Patong.

Don’t forget to buy your loved one a gift and perhaps a special treat or dinner on this most romantic of days.

The seventh year of Phuket International Marine Expo (PIMEX 2011), with around 100 national and international exhibitors, including at least 20 on-water displays. The last show hosted more than 80 exhibiting companies and featured 45 yachts in the water - by far the biggest boat show in the region.

This two-week event is one of the island’s major festivals and covers many cultural and sporting activities in one go. The festival features bicycle racing, a takraw (volleyball played with the feet) tournament, tug-o’-war, a mini-marathon as well as an uppasombot moo (Buddhist ordination) ceremony. The highlight of the festival is a spectacular historical show about the history of Phuket. Back over 200 years ago, two heroic sisters Thao Thep Krasatri and Thao Sri Suntorn rallied the islanders to defend Phuket from Burmese troops. The open-air play with a cast of 700 actors usually runs three nights from 13 – 15 March, starting at 19:00. The event caters mainly for locals but foreign visitors are encouraged to go along. The organizers invite nearby hotels to bring their guests to this free-entrance festival but an interpreter might be necessary to help you appreciate it better. Some are quite unique and rare that even new-generation Thais might never have experienced them before. Such activities include Thai boxing’s wai kru ceremony (a demonstration of respect and gratitude of boxers to their teachers), a sword dancing show, shadow puppet shows and traditional lullaby singing. Lots of local cuisine and ‘OTOP’ products (such as batik, silk and wooden decorative items) are on display and for sale at the fair, too.

Now in its 17th year, the annual Phuket Bike Week is one of the biggest motorcycle events in Southeast Asia. Get to see an amazing collection of Harleys, Hondas and superbikes at this annual event. There is live music, contests, parties and charity rides around the island. Fun for bikers and hangers-on alike.

To release baby turtles into the sea is an amazing experience to watch and maybe you can do it too, if you are lucky enough. Phuket used to be home of many precious turtles including green sea turtle and leatherback turtles (which is the world’s largest living reptile.) But nowadays with lack of care and nature awareness, these turtles are in danger and need help to protect them from disappearing from Phuket forever. Join the annual Songkran Turtle Release Fair at Mai Khao Beach if you are in Phuket during the Thai New Year period (Songkran Water Festival). It is held on April 13 early in the morning starting with a Buddhist ceremony and followed by the turtle release. Afterwards you might want to visit the Turtle Awareness Centre to learn more about sea turtles in Andaman region. The centre is located on the second floor of the Turtle Village Mall next to Anantara Resort and JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Mai Khao Beach and is open daily from 10:00 – 19:00.

The Phuket International Academy Sports & Leisure Club's (PIASLC) partnership with IronKids will include four events each year on the island with a number of training camps run throughout the year, and will be known as PIASLC IronKids Phuket. The inaugural PIASLC IronKids Phuket event in April 2011 is for children ranging in ages from 6 to 15. Those in the 6 to 8 age group will undertake a 50-metre swim, 3-kilometre bike ride and 500-metre run. Those in the 9 to 11 age group compete in a 150-metre swim, 6-kilometre bike ride and 1-kilometre run while those aged 12 to 15 participate in a 300-metre swim, 12-kilometre bike ride and 2-kilometre run. Cost per individual entrant is 750 baht or 500 baht per person for teams entering the race. An early bird discount of 15% is being offered to all registrations before February 28.

As one of the pioneer private sectors that has been supporting Phuket with local sea turtle conservation research programs, Laguna Phuket has fundraised more than one million baht over the past 15 years. In 2010 the Annual Sea Turtle Release Ceremony saw 100 young turtles released into the sea at the Sheraton Grande Laguna, with a send-off that includes fund-raising and games for families and onlookers who gather to witness the spectacle. The batch of turtles released into the sea included two fitted with satellite tracking devices, enabling data on their migration patterns to be collected as part of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre’s turtle research programme. The dates of the 2011fair are to be announced as they change every year.

Songkran is one of Thailand’s best loved festivals, and it’s no different here in Phuket. While there are a number of religious parades for the large local Buddhist population, the thing that will strike most visitors to Phuket during Songkran is the water – lots of it! Thai people have a reputation for loving to have fun, and Songkran is a great example – adults and children alike take to the streets in perhaps the world’s biggest water battle. Water guns are available everywhere, allowing you to join in with the fun. You will get soaked, but it’s actually very refreshing at this warm time of year, and people are particularly welcoming toward non-Thais.

2011 will mark the eighth annual Phuket Cricket Sixes Tournament. Participants have had an absolute 'ball' in previous years, and 2011 promises to bring even more top international players to the island. Some of the big names from the past years are: former Test cricket player Trevor Chappell (Aus) and greats Adam Hollioake (Aus) and Alan Mullally (England). The Phuket Sixes is fast becoming a major stop on the Asian cricket circuit.

A three-day rugby tournament organized by long-term Phuket resident Patrick Cotter, of the Phuket Vagabonds FC has been growing in popularity in recent years. It attracts teams from both Asia and Europe.

The sixth Laguna Phuket International Marathon promises to be nothing but great fun. The complete event features a full 42km marathon, a 21km half marathon, a 10.5km run, 5km walk and a 2km children’s race. Last year’s Laguna Phuket International Marathon brought more than 4,600 entrants from 40 countries. Among them were two famous faces from Asia’s Biggest Losers Garry Holden and Suthat (Tony) Charnvises. Thai movie star Ananda Everingham also led the 5km Charity Walk.

This comprises a week of exciting, international-standard yacht racing off Phuket’s East Coast with plenty of social activities throughout the week. Started in 2004 with just 19 boats, the Six Senses Phuket Raceweek had 40 boats competing in 2010 with hundreds of participants, as entrants from around the world help maintain Six Senses Phuket Raceweek’s reputation as the most exciting and fastest-growing Regatta in Asia.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Phuket Office (TAT) together with Phuket Peranakan Association, Phuket City Municipality, and Phuket Old Town Community, hosted a Phuket traditional Baba wedding. This traditional wedding event was used as other selling point for Phuket cultural tourism. Formerly, Phuket had been a great choice for couples from many countries to be a location of their weddings and their honeymoon trips. A Baba style wedding was a new choice for them and it could help to stimulate the tourism market on the island.

This Chinese ancestor worship festival takes place in the seventh Chinese lunar month, which is when the Chinese believe that the spirits of the dead are released from the underworld. The Chinese communities in Phuket make food offerings to appease the hungry spirits and to pay their respects. Turtle-shaped cakes are a popular offering as turtles represent longevity. The worshippers believe that these turtle cakes will help prolong their own life. Events take place around Phuket's Chinese shrines at different times over a 15-day period. Like most other festivals Chinese Phuket, there is a lot of food, as well as stage performances.

A colourful event held over a nine-day period in late September/early October, this celebrates the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help obtain good health and peace of mind. Though the origins of the festival are unclear, it is thought that perhaps the festival was bought to Phuket by a wandering Chinese opera group who fell ill with malaria while performing on the island and who were miraculously healed through a strictly vegetarian diet.

A festival of quiet celebration, the origins of Loy Kratong are unclear, but it is believed that it started in Sukhothai, (north of Bangkok) one of the most powerful cities in Asia, around 800 years ago. On this particular night, on nearly every expanse of water, be it a river, lake or the ocean, you'll notice thousands of lights drifting across the water like fairy dreams. Gently flickering, dipping and dancing in the breeze as they go, they make a spectacular sight. All of Phuket's major west coast beaches take part in Loy Kratong festivities, with a mix of locals and tourists. Nai Harn (on the large lake) and Patong usually have the most activity with locals visiting beaches like Kata and Karon.

Southeast Asia's premier multi-sport event, the Laguna Phuket Triathlon 2011, is scheduled for November with date to be announced later. The event comprises a 1.8km swim, 55km cycle and 12km run.

The Phuket King's Cup Regatta is Asia's biggest and most popular regatta. More than a regatta, the week-long event consists of great parties, great sailing and lots of fun. Inaugurated in 1987 to celebrate the 60th birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand, the event has been held every year since during the first week of December.

Tourist season in Phuket officially opens on the first of November and there are several events around the island to welcome visitors. The biggest is the Phuket Carnival in Patong; a lively and colourful affair held in the main tourist area of Phuket. The festival changes slightly every year but always includes concerts, parades, games and food stalls centred on Soi Bangla. Other areas of the island also hold concerts and smaller carnivals of their own. Phuket Carnival 2011 dates: early November