1, Folk Festival
Yao Folk Song Festival is one of the most important festivals of Yao nationality. In this festival, Yao people will sing folk songs, sing and dance to express their love for life and praise for the motherland. The folk song festival usually begins on the third day of the third lunar month and lasts for three days. Held in the square at the foot of Yaoshan Mountain.
In folk song festivals, people will put on holiday costumes and play all kinds of games, such as beating drums, offering sacrifices, dragon boat races, duck races and flying stones. In addition, there are some folk performances, such as puppet shows, dragon boat dances and acrobatic performances.
2. Canteen Festival
October 16th of the lunar calendar is the Song and Tang Festival of Yao nationality every year, mainly to commemorate ancestors and promote Yao culture. In this festival, the Yao people will sing and dance in their own karaoke bars to celebrate this festival.
During Songtang Festival, Yao people will pray for health and good luck to their ancestors. While enjoying food and drinks, people will also hold various cultural performances, such as singing, dancing, songs and dramas.
3. Laundry Festival
The washing festival of Yao nationality usually falls on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month every year. On that day, Yao people put on holiday clothes, hung them on ladders and dried them in the sun. In the process of drying clothes, people sing folk songs, worship their ancestors and taste delicious food and wine.
Laundry Festival has a very interesting traditional myth. It is said that a young girl asked God for clothes because her family was poor and she had no clothes to wear. God heard her prayer and gave her clothes. Since then, the Yao people have dried their clothes on this festival every year.
4. Gamba Festival
Ganba Festival of Yao nationality falls on the third day of the third lunar month every year, which is an important day for Yao people to pray. On this festival, people will slaughter livestock, make dried meat and sausages, and celebrate and bless their families and friends.
There is also a traditional folk custom called "overlord boat" in the Gamba Festival. People made a big boat out of bamboo and rattan, which was full of food, drinks and other things. Pray for peace to come to another new world and bring good luck and happiness.
5. Wang Pan Festival
Every year, October 16th of the lunar calendar is the Wang Pan Festival of Yao people, which is a day for Yao people to celebrate the harvest and worship their ancestors. In this festival, people will prepare all kinds of food and drinks, and then hold sacrificial activities outside Yaozhai or in public squares.
Wang Pan Festival also has a traditional folk custom called "Wang Pan Opera". During the festival, people will teach the audience the culture and history of Yao nationality with the help of live actors.