The Torch Festival is a traditional festival of the Yi, Bai, Naxi, Jinuo and Lahu ethnic groups.

The Torch Festival has a deep folk cultural connotation and is called the "Carnival of the East". Different ethnic groups hold the Torch Festival at different times, mostly on the 24th day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, and the main activities include bullfighting, sheep fighting, cockfighting, horse racing, wrestling, song and dance performances, beauty contests, etc. In the new era, the Torch Festival has been recognized as the most important festival in the world. In the new era, the torch festival has been given new folklore functions and produced new forms.

The Yi, Naxi and Jinuo hold it on the 24th day of the 6th lunar month, the Bai on the 25th day of the 6th lunar month, and the Lahu on the 20th day of the 6th lunar month, and the festival lasts for two or three days. The Yi believe that the torch festival is to grow the ears of grain as thick as a torch. The later generations sacrificed fire to drive away the ghosts and evil spirits in the fields to keep people and animals safe.

Today, people also use the gathering to socialize or meet lovers, and carry out trade activities during the festival. "Torch Festival" is also a grand festival of the Bai people, every year on the 25th day of the sixth month of the summer calendar, the Bai people will be held to wish for a bumper harvest, people and animals thriving activities.

The origin of the Torch Festival

1, the Bai people: in the Bai people's torch festival legend, there is also the famous legend of Anan, the storyline and the female characters of the legend of the Man Aman and the burning of the Songming building, is the result of the cross-diffraction between the character legend and the torch festival legend.

2. Lahu: There is a good man and an evil man living on the mountain, and the evil man specializes in eating human eyes. On June 24th, the good man wrapped a goat's horn in beeswax, lit the beeswax and told the goat to find the evil man.

When the evil man saw the sparks, he thought that people were coming to fight him with muskets, so he hurriedly hid in a cave and blocked the entrance with stones, and was drowned by the water coming out of the cave. From then on, people no longer worry about the evil person to eat their eyes, and they can engage in production in peace and quiet. Therefore, the Lahu people have designated this day as the Torch Festival.