Thais don ghost masks to summon spirits at annual festival

Hundreds of Thais participated in a grand parade on Saturday at an annual ghost festival in the country's northeast. The streets of Dan Sai District in Loei Province were awash with colour and traditional music at the Phi Ta Khon carnival as participants summoned the spirits before thousands of spectators.

The annual Thai ghost festival's roots lie in Buddhist traditions. Men covered in mud -- a symbol of fertility and the country's rice fields -- also took part in the procession along a narrow one-kilometre road packed with revellers. Tourists described the festival as a one-of-a-kind experience.