Guangzhou Festivals and Events

Guangzhou Festivals and Events introduce a brief introduction of festivals and activities and tell travelers Top Things to Do for Guangzhou festivals Tours and the festivals and activities including traditional festivals, local festivals, important events, performances in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou is a city full of folk customs and leisure with many famous festivals and activities. There are two important temple fairs during spring time—Guangfu Temple Fair and Polo Birth Temple Fair. It is a pleasing choice for visitors to join in and experience the local customs. 

Traditional Festivals in Guangzhou

Local Festivals in Guangzhou

Panyu Lianhua Mountain Lotus Flower Festival(番禺莲花山荷花节)

Location: Lianhua Mountain Tourist Area
Date: June-August every year
Panyu Lianhua Mountain Lotus Flower Festival has been gaining in notoriety each year. At present, there are 300,000 tourists to visit Lianhua Mountain and enjoy the view as thousands of beautiful lotus flowers begin to bloom throughout the grounds. Panyu District is the ideal location for this picturesque outdoor even, with its many waterways, ponds and lakes. The Lotus Flower Festival will show over 280 different varieties of lotuses, with a total of around 15,000 individual flowers on display.

Zengcheng Litchi Festival(增城荔枝节)

Location: Zengcheng District and Conghua District, Guangzhou
Date: End June-early July every year
In the end of June-early July, it is the best time when cicadas are singing and litchis are ripe, and it is also the time when Litchi Festival is hosted in Zengcheng and Conghua. In this period, visitors  view and savor these unique fruits in Lingnan. Moreover, various kinds of activities are held, such as sing and dance show, gymnastic show, artistic photography, book exhibition, commodity sales exhibition, trade discrimination, etc.

Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival(中国农民丰收节)

Location: Guangzhou
Date: Every year the Autumn Equinox
Since 2018, the annual autumnal equinox has been established as the "Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival". This festival is a festival for hundreds of millions of peasants to celebrate and enjoy the harvest, and it is also a reflection of an abundant harvest of all crops and a contented people living in a country at peace.

Lingnan Ancestral Hall Cultural Festival(岭南祠堂文化节)

Location: Huangpu Village, Haizhu District
Date: October every year
Every October, the Lingnan Ancestral Hall Cultural Festival is held in Huangpu Village, Haizhu District, which aims to promote the Lingnan ancestral hall culture. In addition, there are hundreds of villages and thousands of ancestral hall photography exhibition, traditional Hanfu Chongyang etiquette display, Chaoyangying songs and dances, autumn ceremony of the sacrifice, New Year wood-block print cultural experience camp and other projects with Lingnan characteristics.

Yangjiang Kite Festival(阳江风筝节)

Location: Guangzhou
Date: Oct. 17
Yangjiang has been enjoyed the fame of “Hometown to the Chinese Kites” for long time, whose kite is the most popular of its kind in Southern China, and it’s equally famous as Weifang Kite in North China. Kite-Flying Festival has been held in Yangjiang, Guangzhou on Double Ninth Day since 1992, attracting over 10,000 kite-lovers from allover the world to participate each year.

Christmas(圣诞节)

Location: Guangzhou
Date: December 25
Christmas is an important festival in Guangzhou. The local Chinese generally enjoy the festivities and commercial aspects. Christmas isn't a Mainland China holiday, and most people will work on December 25 because it doesn't fall on a weekend. Some foreign embassies, consulates and Western companies have several days off to celebrate Christmas.

More about Festivals in Guangzhou

Activities in Guangzhou

Impressions of business fairs may pop up in people’s minds when they hear of events in Guangzhou. Guangzhou is a old and cultural city, in which old tradition has been well preserved and followed. The fact is that its booming industry shadows its historical glory. many important events and activities are held in Guangzhou.

Important Events in Guangzhou

Chinese Export Commodities Fair(also known as Canton Fair)

Location: Guangzhou
Date:  Every spring and autumn
Canton Fair(China Import and Export Fair) is the largest trade fair with the largest scale, the most complete exhibit variety, the broadest distribution of overseas buyers and the greatest business turnover held in Guangzhou China. More than 25,000 exhibitors, about 200,000 buyers will attend the fair twice a year, each is divided into three phases.

Guangfu Temple Fair(广府庙会)

Location: Guangzhou
Date: January 15-21 of the lunar calendar 
A popular fair for those seeking Cantonese culture and customs, the Guangfu Temple Fair takes place over several days in January, February, or March; the exact dates depend on the lunar calendar. A large parade through various streets in Guangzhou is a highlight of the fair, with hundreds of participants in traditional Chinese costumes performing for the crowds along the route. Restarted in 2011 after an absence of more than 100 years, this fair has entertainment for kids and adults alike, with puppet shows, bright lanterns and traditional foods all on display.

Tianhe Flower Carnival(天河花市嘉年华)

Location: Tianhe Sports Center, No.299 Tianhe Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou
Date: During Chinese Festival
In order to celebrate the Spring Festival (Chinese Lunar New Year), thousands of people come to buy flowers and mini orange trees/shrubs. It is customary to give these as gifts, especially the mini Mandarin orange and kumquat or small orange trees/ shrubs are given in Guangzhou and other areas of Southern China.

Keep Reading

• Huangpu Flower Fair
• Lizhiwan Flower Fair
• Haizhu Flower Fair
• Cultural Park Flower Fair
• Xihu Road Flower Fair
• Guangzhou Flower Exposition
• Baiyun Culture Exhibition

South China International Print Expo(华南国际印刷展)

Location:N o. 380, Xingang East Road, Guangzhou
Date: Every spring(March 4-6, 2020)
Printing South China is an international exhibition on printing technology and the largest and most influential trade fair of its kind in Southern China. It is an ideal one-stop platform for technological and business exchange in China’s printing industry with exhibitors of printing machinery and other printing related solutions.

Polo Birth Temple Fair(波罗诞庙会)

Location: Nanhai God Temple
Date: February 11-13 of the lunar calendar
Polo Birth Festival Temple Fair in Nanhai Temple is a kind of ancient Han custom and folk religious and cultural activities. It kicks off on the eleventh day to the thirteenth day of the second month of Lunar Year, where the thirteenth day of the second month of Lunar Year is called the Birth or Polo Birth, namely Birth of South China Sea God. A number of folk art troupes from more than 50 countries and regions will perform with 20 Chinese troupes in the next year's international folk art gathering, Zhang said.

Huacheng Square Light Show(花城广场灯光音乐会)

Location: South of Huangpu Avenue, Huacheng Square, Guangzhou 
Date: During the Spring Festival
Every year, Guangzhou will have a free Light show for certain nights during the Spring Festival. It is a very popular New Year event among locals. Setting Guangzhou Tower as the center, the two sides of Pearl River and new central axis line as the background, the show also combined with the live performances at Huacheng Square. Here, you will not only enjoy the modern lighting design, but also experience the traditional Chinese Culture of Lingnan area.

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Performances in Guangzhou

Chimelong International Circus

Location: Yingbin Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou
Chimelong International Circus, as one of the subsidiary companies of Guangzhou Chimelong Group, is the world's largest permanent circus, founded in 2000, with more than 8,000 seats in the circus stadium. Combining the best international circus acts, Chimelong International Circus aims to thrill visitors with the most amazing show imaginable.

Maksim

Location: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Guangzhou, China
Date: Saturday, December 21st, 2019 7:30 PM
Genres: Classical Crossover
Band Members: Maksim Mrvica
Hometown: Sibenik, Croatia
Croatian born pianist Maksim Mrvica started to play piano when he was nine and by the age of 11 he held his first concert as a soloist with an orchestra. It wasn’t always easy to harbour his dream of becoming a concert pianist. His charisma and immense talent has attracted some of the worlds biggest brands such as BMW, Mercedes, Buick, etc.