Torch festival in Liangshan
The Torch Festival is an old traditional festival of Yi, Bai, Naxi, Jinuo and Lahu ethnic groups and is called the “Oriental Carnival.” The festival usually falls between June 24 and 26 on the lunar calendar. It consists of a wide arrange of activities, including bull fight, goat fight, chicken fight, horse race, wrestling contest, singing and dancing performance and beauty pageant. The Torch Festival is to the Yi people what the Spring Festival is to the Han people. During the festival, torches are erected in front of every household and when night falls, people of all ages ignite the torches amid the cheerful sound of gongs and horns. The Yi ethnic group used to celebrate the festival as a way to pray for good harvest and later to expel evils from their home and farmland. Today it has become a social and match-making event, as well as a commodity fair. Yi people are known as excellent singers and dancers and they have created plenty of tunes to sing during festive celebrations. The Yi Torch Festival was inscribed on the list of national intangible cultural relics on May 20, 2006. Liangshan Prefecture in Sichuan Province has the largest Yi ethnic community in China. [Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of CPC Liangshan Committee]
