Vegetarians and piercings in Phuket

The Phuket vegetarian festival has come and gone. Finally. Firstly, this is a local festival and I do respect it. Now most people think that I would like the festival considering I'm vegetarian. Well, I suppose that it is a good thing in the respect that many animals are saved during that time. However, its easy to question the point of being vegetarian and following certain precepts for 9 days and then returning to your life of "sin" for the rest of the year. Personally, I live the life everyday and don't find it particularly difficult. But we are not all made the same and I understand my lifestyle is one of a minority.
So from a practical point of view after the first few days eating just becomes more or less of a hassle with loads of people at the vegetarian restaurants where I normally eat. These days I cook at home sometimes so that allowed me some options. I reckon the restaurant owners would prefer to close but that would look bad and this year they stayed open after the festival where in previous years they would close for a week after.
So if one does good every day then there is no need to cleanse yourself on the inside. That is what this festival is about. Eating vegetarian is a form of personal sacrifice to cleanse yourself of all the bad you've been doing the rest of the year. It leads itself to say that you can imagine the types of people that attend this festival. Basically, if you're a good person everyday than there's no need to do such things. But who knows, maybe some percentage of the people continue on eating veg... Its possible but unlikely haha. The upside is that I do get to meet many full time vegetarians that come to town from other parts of Thailand to cook for the festival.
Truthfully, the only part of the festival I find interesting are the processions. The food is mainly fried meat substitutes and rice and veggies isn't easy to find.
The locals pierce themselves through the cheeks with various objects. Its real and sometimes there is some blood. They have scaled down the black magic side of it as in the past they would use guns and other fairly outrageous items. As well they get possessed by ghosts which I find funny and interesting. One can easily doubt the ghost possession but I've seen them become possessed in the temple years ago and it looked quite real to me. As well the locals line the streets to receive blessings from the possessed people. The belief and interaction is very interesting and elderly and ill locals come for the blessings.
I live just next to where the closing fireworks happened. A bit like a war scene but ok you know there's an end to it and just have to be patient. .
By the end of the festival I'm sure everyone except for the kids lighting fireworks off are glad its over. They can go back to living their normal lifestyle and I'll do the same. In peace and quiet