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Posted on Oct 4, 2011

20 Preposterous Photos Of The Phuket Vegetarian Festival

More like, "Fuck It, I'm-Gonna-See-How-Many-Knives-I-Can-Fit-In-My-Mouth Vegetarian Festival." Participants slit openings in their cheeks and insert various items into them, from skewers to umbrellas. It's happening right now, and here's some of the craziest photos from this year and the past. (NSFL.)

by Josh Fjelstad

BuzzFeed Group Creative Director

The festival lasts from Sept. 27-Oct. 5, and most performers refrain from eating meat for at least three days prior to its opening.

The festival began in 1825, when a traveling opera company fell ill while touring in the Kathu district of Phuket, Thailand. The prescribed cure for their severe stomach ailment was a strict vegetarian diet, horning the emperor gods Kiew Ong Tai The and Yok Ong Sone Teh. After they miraculously recovered, the locals began to mimic not just the company's diet, but their act as well.