Aug 21, 2023 - Culture

San Francisco Chinatown hosts inaugural Hungry Ghost Festival

Shawna Chen

Photo of people standing in a Chinatown street lit up with red lanterns and traditional lion costumes — A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrates the restoration of the iconic Grant Avenue lanterns in San Francisco's Chinatown on Aug. 8. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Chinatown's inaugural Hungry Ghost Festival this month honors and celebrates the 15th day of the seventh month of the Lunar calendar, when the veil between the realm of ancestral spirits and the realm of the living thins.

Why it matters: "In a diasporic immigrant context, this holiday gives ghosts release and reclaim space amidst the injustice, generational traumas, and marginalization that they have experienced," the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, which is hosting the event, explains on its website.

Details: There will be free art workshops, Taoist rituals and games throughout the remainder of "Ghost Month," but the highlight of the festival — the Ghost King Parade — will take place Aug. 26 at 4pm.

People of all ages and backgrounds are invited to come in their "ghostly costume" and participate in the parade, organized by the Lotus Taoism Institute.
It will be led by the 15-foot-tall Ghost King, which the SF Standard reports was made in Hong Kong.

The big picture: The festival is part of a larger bid to invite people back into Chinatown, which struggled during the pandemic.

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San Francisco Chinatown hosts inaugural Hungry Ghost Festival

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