Dongkeng Water Festival is February 2nd.
The Water Splashing Festival, also known as Songkran Festival and Buddha Bathing Festival, is the grandest traditional festival of the Thai-speaking peoples and Southeast Asia, and the first batch of China's national intangible cultural heritage. On that day, the festival is celebrated by the Dai ethnic group of China's Yunnan province and Thailand, Laos, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, etc. The Southeast Asian ethnic groups living abroad have also inherited the relevant customs.
The Water Festival originated in India, is an ancient Brahmin ritual, later absorbed by Buddhism, about the end of the twelfth century to the beginning of the thirteenth century in the twelfth century through Burma with Buddhism into the Dai region of Yunnan Province, China, the entire festival lasted several days, people get up early in the morning will be bathed in rituals, with pure water to splash each other, and prayed for the wash away the past year's bad, the Water Festival before the two days is to go to the old, and the last day is to welcome the new.
The meaning of the festival
Put the high rise and put the lanterns is also unique to the Dai region activities, people in the festival before the set up a good high shooting frame, when the homemade soil rocket ignited, let it whistling flying into the blue sky, the high shooting flying the higher and farther the cottage, the more people feel the light, the more auspicious, the winners will be awarded, the night, the people again! In the square open space will be lighted candles, put into the homemade large balloon, the use of hot air buoyancy, a Kongming lanterns released into the sky, as a way to commemorate the ancient sage Kong Ming, that is, Zhuge Liang.
In addition, put the river boat, jumping elephant foot drum dance and peacock dance, cockfighting, etc., is also the activities during the Water Festival, in recent years, but also increased the folklore inspection, trade talks, etc., so that the activities of the Water Festival is more colorful and colorful, the Water Festival every year in Xishuangbanna Prefecture and Dehong Prefecture at the same time, the two places can be reached directly from Kunming by plane.