Devotees light firecrackers as they join parade at Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Devotees lit firecrackers and carrier deities on palanquins as they joined a parade at the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand, this morning.

The Taoist ritual is best known fow followers piercing their cheeks with swords in the belief that the intense pain will cleanse their spirits of sins from the previous year and prove their religious devotion - bringing good luck in the days ahead.