Guiyang Festivals and Events

Guizhou is a place famous for the numerous festivals of ethnic minorities. Guiyang, as the capital of Guizhou Province, is a multi-ethnic city. There are more than 20 ethnic groups living in Guiyang, among them, Buyi and Miao have the largest minority population of all minorities in Guiyang. During the festival, the locals wear their festival clothes, which are very exquisite and beautiful. 

Festivals in Guiyang

Besides some Chinese traditional festivals, like New Year's Day(January 1), Spring Festival(The first day of the first lunar month; February 5, 2019), Lantern Festival(The fifteenth day of the first lunar month), Tomb Sweeping Day(15 days after the Spring equinox; April 5, 2019), Dragon Boat Festival(The fifth day of the fifth lunar month; June 7, 2019) and Mid-Autumn Day(The fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month; September 13, 2019), Guiyang is rich in ethnic minority festivals. 

Bullfighting Festival(斗牛节)

Celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month(March 1, 2019), Pingzhai bullfighting festival is the most characteristic festival of Miao minority in Kaiyang County of Guiyang City. At the day of the bullfight, people of various ethnic groups wear their exquisite festival costumes and gather at Pingzhai Bullring. Dozens of bull fights for the bull king, the scene is quite spectacular and interesting.

San Yue San(三月三)

It is celebrated on April 7, 2019. San Yue San(The Third Day of the Third Lunar Month), also called Cutworms Meeting(地蚕会) or Double Third Day, is a traditional festival of Buyi people. It is said that the cutworms are going to destroy the crop every spring. In order to protect and pray for harvest, the Buyi people will spray some fried corn in the farmland to feed these pests, meantime, they will sing and dance. Today, it seems that the festival has become a singing feast for the Buyi people. Every year at this time, Buyi people in Guiyang will gather together at the Xinbao Township of Wudang District to Celebrate the festival. 

Si Yue Ba(四月八)

Si Yue Ba, also known as "Yanu Festival(亚努节)", celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month(May 12, 2019), is the traditional festival of Miao people in Guizhou. It is said that this festival is for the Miao people to commemorate their heroes Yanu(亚努). Main celebration activities include playing the Lusheng and flute, singing antiphonal songs and dancing, playing the dragon lantern and lion dance, etc. Nowadays, it is a public carnival for the Han and the other ethnic minorities living in Guiyang.

Liu Yue Liu(六月六)

Celebrated on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, it is an important traditional festival for Buyi people to worship the kitchen god and the mountain god. The Buyi people living in or around Guiyang will wear their festival costumes and come to the Huxi Lake in the Huaxi District of the Guiyang City. A series of celebrations are held there, such as singing and dancing performances as well as playing Lusheng and flute, etc. 

First Harvest of the Year(吃新节)

First Harvest of the Year is celebrated by the Gelao people in the lunar calendar of July and August, when the rice is ripening. At this time, Gelao people will choose a lucky day to taste the new rice of the year, and get some new matured rice, melon and fruit to sacrifice their ancestors and celebrate the harvest.

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

Every year the autumn equinox(September 23) has been set up as "Chinese Farmer's Harvest Festival" since 2018. It is a festival for hundreds of millions of Chinese farmers to celebrate the harvest and enjoy the harvest. It is also a vivid manifestation of the Bumper harvest, peace and prosperity of the country.

Activities in Guiyang

Di Xi(地戏)

Di Xi is a form of local drama, held at Huaxi by Buyi people and other minority groups. Every year, on the 15th day of the first lunar month(February 19, 2019), Buyi and other minorities in and around Guiyang gather in Huaxi district of Guiyang, wearing masks and dancing while singing. The content of Di Xi integrates the drama, song and dance, as well as dance drama as a whole. Its material is basically from the story of a war or the loyalty between friends in the ancient times, and mixed into mythology and legend. 

Huadeng Opera(花灯戏)

Huadeng opera is a kind of traditional song art, which is widely popular all over China. Its prominent feature is that the performers hold the fans or handkerchief, singing and dancing. Huadeng opera originated from folk lanterns song and dance, is a form of local opera formed in the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. In the popular process, because of the influence of local dialect, folk songs, customs and so on, different singing and performing styles are formed.

Lusheng Dance(芦笙舞)

The Miao minority not only regards Lusheng as the representative of their own nation, but also integrates it into dance, music, and Shui, Buyi, Yao, Yi and other ethnic dances. So the Lusheng dance is also very popular. Lusheng dance has a hundred songs, more than 100 kinds of dance steps, among which the most commonly used are more than 10 kinds.

Hougu Dance(猴鼓舞)

Hougu dance is one of the traditional sports activities loved by ethnic minorities in Guiyang city. The number of dancers is determined according to the size of the venue, usually between 9 and 13.