Thailand's Vegetarian Festival

PHUKET TOWN, PHUKET, THAILAND - 1996/10/01: Devotees carry sedan chairs with urns "containing" Taoist Gods. They are walking in a parade through the streets of Phuket Town while braving a maelstrom of firecrackers hurled at them by worshippers who line the parade route. In this final ceremony, the Gods are about to be returned to the Heavens from their brief nine day visit to Earth. This takes place in the holiday resort of Phuket during the annual vegetarian festival which is an observance of Taoist Lent. It is so called because devotees must abstain from all worldly vices such as eating meat along with alcohol and sex.. (Photo by Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images)