da fang yi zu huo ba jie

Torch Festival (Yi Torch Festival), a traditional festival popular in Yi areas such as Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, is one of the national intangible cultural heritages. The origin of the Torch Festival is related to people's worship of fire, and its purpose is to use fire to drive away insects and protect the growth of crops. During the Torch Festival, each village uses dry pine wood and pine torches to make large torches and erect them in the village. Small torches are erected in front of each house and lit at night, making the village bright; at the same time, people hold small torches and walk around the fields and houses for a week, inserting torches and pine torches in the corners of the fields. Young men and women sing and dance around the large torches in the village all night long. During the festival, there are also entertainment activities such as horse racing, bullfighting, archery, wrestling, tug-of-war, swinging, and a trade fair is opened. The 2022 Torch Festival will be held on July 22, 2022, and the venue will be in Xuanweifu Square.