Hungry Ghost Festival

The Hungry Ghost Festival, held in Singapore during the seventh month of the lunar calendar, is a religiously significant festival. It is a month-long celebration during which Buddhist and Taoist devotees perform rituals and offer prayers and food to wandering spirits. During this month, the living pay their respects to the dead, and the entire Lion City comes alive with entertainment shows and traditional events.

This festival, also known as the Yulan Festival, Gui Jie, or Zhongyuan Jie, attests to the fact that the hyper-modern city is still in touch with its rituals and traditions. This festival is sure to please both devotees and curious visitors. There are numerous ways in which the Hungry Ghost Festival provides a unique experience to all visitors, from joss sticks filling the air with fragrance to papier-mâché items burning all over Chinatown. In addition, the ritualistic food offerings and entertainment shows are worth seeing. Locals follow a set of rules during this festival because there are many taboos associated with this traditional festival.

Takes place: between the last week of August and the first week of September