Ghost Festival

traditions · spirits · East Asia · celebrations

Honoring the spirits. The Ghost Festival is a time when people believe the boundary between the living world and the spirit world becomes thin, and ancestors and other spirits can visit. Families prepare special offerings and celebrations to welcome and honor these visiting spirits.

Lunar calendar timing. The festival happens on the 15th night of the seventh month according to the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar, which is different from the calendar most countries use today. This means the date changes each year on the regular calendar.

Multiple names. Different religions and cultures call this festival by different names. In Taoism it's called the Zhongyuan Festival, and in Buddhism it's known as the Yulanpen Festival, but they all celebrate around the same time and honor spirits in their own ways.

Celebrated across Asia. The Ghost Festival is an important tradition in many East and Southeast Asian countries, showing how this beautiful practice has spread and been cherished by millions of people across the region for centuries.