Photo courtesy of the torch festival on Nanping Pedestrian Street
Ethnic village ethnic costumed parade
Yunnan Ethnic Village Torch Festival scene ■ City Times all-media reporter Li Hao
On the 24th day of June in the lunar calendar, Yunnan ushered in the most "red" festival of the year - the Torch Festival. The torches burning all over the country render the most enthusiastic colors for the summer in Yunnan, and many citizens and tourists come to Nanping Pedestrian Street and Ethnic Village to experience this passionate grand national traditional festival.
Nanping Street Martial arts performances boost the atmosphere
On the evening of July 28th, as night fell, Nanping Pedestrian Street in Kunming City ushered in a double feast of visual and spiritual experience. A giant torch slowly rose in the center of the square, and was "lit" under the watchful eye, instantly lighting up the entire night sky, marking the official opening of Kunming's annual torch festival.
At the event site, the performance of traditional Chinese sports became one of the highlights. Wonderful martial arts performances were staged in turn, allowing the audience to feel the breadth and profundity of Chinese martial arts culture.
People danced happily hand in hand around the torches, and every smiling face under the firelight was full of happiness and pride. "The Torch Festival, for us in Kunming, is not only a festival, but also a symbol of emotional release and unity." A citizen said excitedly that every time at this time, whether you are a local or a tourist from afar, you will be infected by this enthusiasm.
On the same day, Kunming's "Three Plans" series of activities and "Pleasant Sound" theme cultural activities were also launched simultaneously.
It is worth mentioning that the signing ceremony of the urban ethnic work demonstration corridor was also held at the scene, which is not only another important achievement of Kunming's ethnic unity and progress, but also lays a solid foundation for the development of urban ethnic work in the future. The promotion of the mini program of the Kunming City Ethnic Comprehensive Service Platform has attracted the attention of many citizens. This mini program aims to provide citizens with more convenient and efficient ethnic services through technological means, and further promote ethnic unity and harmony.
Yunnan Nationalities Village Every activity is exciting
The Torch Festival is an important traditional festival of the Yi, Bai, Naxi and other ethnic groups, with profound folk cultural connotations, and is known as the "Oriental Carnival". After decades of precipitation, the Torch Festival has become one of the large-scale brand festivals in Yunnan Nationalities Village.
In order to allow tourists from afar to experience the carnival in an all-round way, this year, Yunnan Nationalities Village carefully planned several months in advance and held a series of activities with the theme of "Yunnan Nationalities Village 2024 Torch Festival" from July 26 to 30. During the festival, the rich folk customs of the Yi, Bai and Naxi torch festivals will be comprehensively displayed.
Yunnan Nationalities Village, as an important national culture display window on the "Dianchi Lake Tourism Golden Shoreline" and one of the key renovation projects of the "Dianchi Lake Tourism Golden Shoreline" in Dianchi Lake Resort, has built it into a high-quality scenic spot integrating natural scenery, humanities and history, leisure and entertainment in accordance with the idea of "point-line-piece" series and connection. The festival will make every effort to create a warm festival atmosphere, so that tourists from all over the world can gather together to share this grand national unity event, promote the exchanges and integration of various ethnic groups, experience the customs of ethnic minorities, sing and dance to their heart's content, pray for blessings, experience "there is a life called Yunnan", and enjoy the humanistic charm of the diversified tourism scene of Dianchi Tourist Resort.
Entering the Yunnan Nationalities Village, the tourists follow the mighty parade team, you can see the classic folk song and dance performances such as playing fire sticks, fire-breathing dance, dress-up shows, street flash mobs, and a thin moon jumping, the torch welcome is extremely spectacular, the second costume show satisfies the tourists who have not seen enough, the minority brother and sister wear national costumes and walk to the tourists in groups of three or two, the cheerful tune of the moon jumps to the climax, and the brother who plays the fire stick and performs the fire-breathing dance will interpret the thrill to the extreme, winning wave after wave of applause, The atmosphere in the flames was extremely enthusiastic, and the parade team grew stronger with the performance.
The totem of fire appeared under the archway of Dawn Gate, and tourists also followed the ethnic minority brother and sister all the way to the main venue of Unity Square and the Yi village. After the solemn fire ceremony, the huge bonfire in the middle is lit, the tourists light the torches in their hands around the bonfire, and the brothers and sisters around the bonfire carnival and dance, the flames are burning in the night, the national DJ beats and dances, the special guest band performances, fashion skewers and other wonderful activities also come one after another, and the various ethnic minority snacks in the Yi village can also meet the needs of the guests for food.
As night falls, the passionate torch carnival begins, and the torch welcome officially begins as the dazzling fire dragon dances in the night sky. Follow the mighty parade procession, play with fire sticks, breathe fire dance, sprinkle rosin, and send blessings...... The fire parade in costumes with torches in hand will take everyone to the main venue of Unity Square and the Yi village to participate in the festival carnival.
Fire ceremony, lighting ceremony, band performance, national DJ dancing, fashion skewers, iron flower performances, playing with fireballs, costume shows, face painting, street flash mobs, close-up magic, etc., each link is exciting. (City Times all-media reporter Tong Wei, Yang Tao, Liu Jiawen, Liu Qiaohong, Yin Anda)