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The Ghost Festival

is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday, which is celebrated by Chinese in many countries.

In the Chinese calendar (a lunisolar calendar), the Ghost Festival is on the 14th night of the seventh lunar month.

In the Chinese tradition, the seventh month in the Chinese calendar is called the Ghost Month (鬼月), in which ghosts and spirits come out from the lower world to visit earth. The Ghost Festival is the climax of a series of the Ghost Month celebrations. Activities at the festival include preparing ritualistic offering food, and burning hell money to please the visiting ghosts and spirits, as well as deities and ancestors. Other activities include, burying and releasing miniature paper boats and lanterns on water, which signifies "giving directions to the lost ghosts." A very solemn festival, the festival nevertheless represents a connection between the living and the dead, earth and heaven, as well as body and soul.

The Ghost Festival shares some similarities with the predominantly Mexican observance of El Día de los Muertos.

Buddhist Ghost Festival: Ullambana

The Ghost Festival has roots in the Buddhist festival Ullambana and also in Daoist culture. In the Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist festival Ullambana and traditional festivities were mixed and celebrated on one day. Thus, the Ghost Festival has special meaning for all Buddhists.

Ullambana Origin

The Buddha"s happy day

To Buddhists, the seventh lunar month is a month of joy. This is because the fifteen day of the seventh month is the Buddha"s joyful day and the day of rejoice for monks.

The origins of the Buddha"s joyful day can be found in the scriptures. When the Buddha was alive, his disciples meditated in the forests of India during the rainy season of summer. Three months later, on the fifteen day of the seventh month, they would emerge from the forests to celebrate the completion of their meditation and report their progress to the Buddha. Because the number of monks who attained enlightenment during that period was high, the Buddha was very pleased.

For one long lunar month during the Hungry Ghost Festival, ghosts are said to roam the earth. In some areas of Hong Kong, visitors can see small roadside fires, where believers burn paper money and other offerings to appease the restless spirits.
Local festivals feature Chinese opera. Popular venues are King George V Memorial Park in Kowloon and Moreton Terrace Playground in Causeway Bay.