The Hungry Ghost Festival: keeping traditions alive at carnival for the dead
Carnival with origins in Buddhism and Taoism hopes to bring friends and families together for three-day celebration in city’s Victoria Park
A three-day carnival is being held in Victoria Park this weekend for the Festival of the Hungry Ghost, in a bid by Hong Kong’s Chiu Chow community to revive waning interest from young people.
The annual festival was brought to Hong Kong by the Chiu Chow people, who immigrated from Guangdong’s Chaoshan.
Also known as Yu Lan or Ullambana in the Buddhist tradition, or Zhongyuan in Taoism, the Hungry Ghost Festival originates from a number of religious fables.
What remains constant is its theme of feeding the restless spirits who burst open the gate of hell on the first day of the seventh lunar month of the year, with the party is in full swing on its fifteenth day – known as the Ghost Day.
The festival sees offerings of food, as well as the burning of paper and incense, to appease these restless ancestors. Special sheds are constructed for people to worship the gods in. This year, Ghost Day is on August 16.