Festival of the Hungry Ghosts

24 August 2010

Today is the celebration of the Chinese Festival of the Hungry Ghosts, the culmination of a lunar month in which the gates of hell are opened and the spirits are allowed to roam. On this festival people burn offerings for the spirits to keep them happy.


To placate the spirits, people of Chinese descent burn offerings of paper money. These photos show various individuals and a family burning offerings in a variety of containers along the road side. The last photo shows a food offering that has been prepared, also to please the hungry ghosts and make them more comfortable and less likely to disturb their living relatives. This festival is observed on the new moon of the seventh lunar month.