Thai Vegetarian Festival must evolve to stay relevant: survey
Thailand’s Vegetarian Festival needs to adapt to modern lifestyle trends to stay relevant to the younger generation, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
The consumer behaviour survey conducted by Japanese advertising agency Hakuhodo found that 79% of Thais were interested in the Vegetarian (“Jae”) Festival.
However, views on the festival differed among generations:
- Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1979) said they liked observing its traditions of refraining from meat and making merit at temples.
- Gen Y (those born from 1980-1997) said the Jae festival was about being open-minded and community-spirited.
- Gen Z (1998-2024) said they wanted the festival to meet their lifestyle.
The survey also outlined the top five ways that all generations celebrated the festival:
- Over 35% of respondents said the purpose of the festival was to calm the mind through vegetarian meals and activities such as spa therapies, merit-making and meditation.
- 28% said they observed the festival to improve their health with a vegetarian diet.
- Over 18% said they looked for beauty institutes offering vegetarian food workshops and beauty packages.
- Others focused on merit-making visits to shrines couped with a vegetarian diet.
- Respondent of all ages mentioned showcasing their vegetarian meals on social media platforms like TikTok to encourage others to take part in the Jae festival.
Hakuhodo suggested promoting the Vegetarian Festival to younger generations by organising talk shows where Gen X can share ideas about practices and meals during the festival.
Events for Gen Y and Z should allow them to enjoy and adapt the Vegetarian Festival to suit their lifestyles, said Duangkaew Chaisurivirat, associate strategic planning director.
She said the festival could also support victims of annual flooding, with events like “buy one, get one free” campaigns to provide assistance and strengthen brand-customer relations.
The 10-day annual festival, held from October 2-11 this year, sees yellow flags fly at markets, food stalls, restaurants and shops to promote the vegetarian lifestyle as a way of cleansing mind, spirit and body.
