Vegetarian Festival. Why the blood?

I am getting myself prepared to see the annual vegetarian festival that commences in about 10 days. In our naivitee, we thought this would be a celebration of the vegetarian community. Lots of interesting foods and products all began based. Apparently this is not the case. It is instead a 10 period of time where people practice self mutilation, in an effort to release demons. I am all set to go to do the photography, as I think it will be of real unique interest and spectacle. Clive was looking forward to the evening festivals, where they would have great tables laden with food. Apparently, there is not vegetarian food, but with all Thai events there will be plenty to eat. It looks like Gary and I will go to see the body mutilations and Clive and Deb will go for the evening events. Stay tuned for my coverage of this event. In the meantime, this is a link to the events site. http://www.phuketvegetarian.com/index_eg.htm