🕯️ Ghost Festival
A seventh-lunar-month remembrance complex blending ancestor rites, Daoist Zhongyuan, Buddhist Ullambana, and local salvation offerings.
Open in the 3D map- China · Fujian Pudu · Fujian
- China · Chaoshan Ghost Festival · Chaoshan
- Hong Kong · Hong Kong Yu Lan Festival · Hong Kong
- Taiwan · Taiwan Zhongyuan Pudu · Keelung
- China · Guangdong Ullambana Festival · Guangdong
- Japan · Gozan Okuribi · Kyoto
- Japan · Shoro Nagashi · Nagasaki
- South Korea · Korean Chuseok · Gyeonggi-do
- Vietnam · Hùng Kings Festival · Hanoi and North
- Cambodia · Khmer Ancestors' Day · Phnom Penh
- Cambodia · Siem Reap Pchum Ben · Siem Reap
- Cambodia · Battambang Pchum Ben · Battambang
Traditions and customs
- local festival custom
- offering
- lanterns water
- worship
- opera
- ancestor worship
- welcoming and sending spirits
- lamp offerings
Food and symbols
- cake
- offering
- local festival food
- water
- offering fruit
- rice cakes
- family feast
When it is celebrated
Ghost Festival is usually organized around Around the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month; some regions observe it throughout the month. Month: Aug / Sep
Shared roots and regional differences
Shared roots: ancestor remembrance, chanting, family feast, offering fruit, rice cakes, ritual drumming, welcoming and sending spirits, ancestor rites
China regional differences
- Fujian Pudu (China · Fujian): offering, cake, nanyin music, drums temple fair, offerings
- Chaoshan Ghost Festival (China · Chaoshan): drums, offerings
- Hong Kong Yu Lan Festival (Hong Kong · Hong Kong): opera, drums, offerings
- Taiwan Zhongyuan Pudu (Taiwan · Keelung): lanterns water, offering, cake, music drums temple fair, offerings
- Guangdong Ullambana Festival (China · Guangdong): ancestor worship, cake, music, offerings
Cross-cultural versions
- Gozan Okuribi (Japan · Kyoto): welcoming and sending spirits, lamp offerings, offering fruit, rice cakes, chanting, ritual drumming
- Shoro Nagashi (Japan · Nagasaki): welcoming and sending spirits, lamp offerings, offering fruit, rice cakes, chanting, ritual drumming
- Korean Chuseok (South Korea · Gyeonggi-do): welcoming and sending spirits, lamp offerings, offering fruit, rice cakes, chanting, ritual drumming
- Hùng Kings Festival (Vietnam · Hanoi and North): ancestor rites, offering distribution, offering fruit, rice cakes, chanting, ritual drumming
Ghost Festival
Ghost Festival matters because it turns memory, respect, and shared cultural continuity into a visible cultural system of time, place, family, and public ritual.
Customs
- local festival custom
- offering
- lanterns water
- worship
- opera
- ancestor worship
- welcoming and sending spirits
- lamp offerings
Food
- cake
- offering
- local festival food
- water
- offering fruit
- rice cakes
- family feast
Music / Dance
- nanyin music
- drums temple fair
- drums
- local music and dance
- opera
- music drums temple fair
- music
- chanting
FAQ
What is Ghost Festival?
A seventh-lunar-month remembrance complex blending ancestor rites, Daoist Zhongyuan, Buddhist Ullambana, and local salvation offerings.
When is Ghost Festival celebrated?
Ghost Festival is usually organized around Around the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month; some regions observe it throughout the month. Month: Aug / Sep.
What traditions are associated with Ghost Festival?
Common traditions include local festival custom, offering, lanterns water, worship, opera, ancestor worship.