Casuarina MLA Khoda Patel has joined local Chinese-Australian families in marking the Hungry Ghost Festival, taking part in an evening of rituals and remembrance on 5 September.
Mr Patel, elected in August 2024 as the Member for Casuarina, described the experience as an important opportunity to share in a tradition that has been preserved for generations.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to attend and witness such a significant and sacred tradition,” he said. “It was a true honour to be welcomed into this special event and to observe the Elders as they performed rituals that have been respectfully passed down for over a century. Thank you to the community for allowing us to share in this meaningful occasion—it was a privilege to be part of such an important night.”
The Hungry Ghost Festival, observed across Asia, is rooted in Buddhist and Taoist practices. It falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, which this year was 6 September. Families prepare offerings of food and incense to honour ancestors and to comfort wandering spirits, with paper lanterns and symbolic joss paper burned to guide them back to the other world.
Darwin has a long Chinese history dating back to the 19th century gold rushes and pearling days, and local associations continue to maintain traditions such as the Hungry Ghost Festival. The festival is considered a time for reflection on family, gratitude, and respect for those who came before, values shared across many cultures in the Territory’s diverse population.
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