The Torch Festival is of the Yi, Bai, Naxi and Lahu ethnic groups.

The Yi Torch Festival is a traditional festival in all Yi regions, popular in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and other Yi regions. The Bai, Naxi, Jinuo and Lahu ethnic groups also celebrate this festival.

The Torch Festival on the 24th day of the 6th lunar month is the grandest, most magnificent and most ethnic festival in Chuxiong and Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. In ancient times, the torch festival was also known as the Star Festival. Some scholars believe that this festival was originally a yearly festival in the October calendar of the Yi people. The Torch Festival is the first half of the New Year's Day, so it is also known as the New Year.

Some scholars believe that the origin of the Torch Festival is related to the people's worship of fire, the purpose of which is to expect fire to drive away insects and pests and protect the growth of crops. During the Torch Festival, villages and cottages to dry pine wood and pine seeds tied into a large torch erected in the cottage, small torches erected in front of each house, lit at night, the village a bright.

At the same time, people holding small torches around the fields, homes for a week, torches, pine seeds inserted in the field corners. Young men and women in the village around the big torch singing, dancing, all night long. During the festival, there are horse racing, bullfighting, archery, wrestling, tug-of-war, swinging and other recreational activities, and the opening of trade fairs.

Significance of the Torch Festival:

The Yi Torch Festival has a long history, a broad mass base, wide coverage and far-reaching influence. The festival fully embodies the national character of the Yi people, which honors the fire and retains the ancient information of the origin and development of the Yi people, and has important historical and scientific value.

The Torch Festival is one of the most iconic symbols in the traditional culture of the Yi people, and it is also the carrier of the traditional music, dance, poetry, food, dress, farming, astronomy, reverence and other cultural elements of the Yi people. The Torch Festival is of great significance in strengthening the Yi ethnic group's sense of national self-identity and promoting social harmony.

At the same time, the Torch Festival has a practical role to play as a means of communication between the Yi people and other ethnic groups, as well as a means of promoting national unity.