Weishan Torch Festival 2023 started on August 5th.
Every year on the 24th day of the 6th month of the lunar calendar, all towns and villages in Weishan County hold grand celebrations, including welcoming fires, lighting torches, marching around villages, fields and ancestral halls, worshipping ancestors, exorcising evil plagues, praying for a good harvest, singing and dancing, wrestling competitions, cockfighting and bullfighting, etc. The Dali Weishan Yi Tribe Torch Festival in 2023 will be held on August 10th, 2023 by Chinese calendar. Thursday, the 24th day of the 6th lunar month.
Weishan County is a county under the jurisdiction of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, located in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province, with longitude between 99°30′ and 100°30′ east and latitude between 25°30′ and 26°30′ north. On the day of the festival, every family kills chickens and slaughters sheep, prepares delicacies, dyes nails red with fenghuangxian flowers, dresses up pine trees with colorful flags and fruits, and inserts torch heads that burn red, praying for a bountiful harvest of all grains and prosperity of all six animals in the coming year.
As night falls, the largest torches are lit in a ceremony at the Sacred Fire Square by dozens of people, while hundreds of torches on the ancient streets and side streets are lit one after another after the lighting ceremony begins.
What are the entertaining activities of the Weishan Torch Festival
August 10th, 2023, the year of the Torch Festival. The celebration of the Torch Festival is very lively and grand. During the festival, the Yi people will wear traditional Yi costumes, headdresses with Yi characteristics, hold torches and dance the traditional torch dance. The torch dance is one of the most important forms of performance in the torch festival. The dancers hold torches, jumping and circling around the fire or on the mountain, with vigorous and powerful dance moves, creating a spectacular scene.
In addition to the torch dance, there are other rich and varied celebrations of the Torch Festival, such as traditional Yi music performances, folkloric performances, sports competitions and so on. People will also hold bonfire parties, sitting around the bonfire, singing, dancing and enjoying food. The Torch Festival is an important way for the Yi people to pass on and promote their culture, as well as an important festival for them to unite, celebrate and pray for blessings. Nowadays, the torch festival has become a cultural tourism program that attracts many tourists, allowing more people to understand and experience the unique charm of the Yi people.
Refer to Baidu Encyclopedia-Torch Festival for the above content