"Ghost Festival" River Lantern Song Festival

"Ghost Festival" River Lantern Song Festival

The "Ghost Festival" River Lantern Song Festival is a traditional ethnic and folk celebration in Ziyuan County. In the past, every year from the 12th to the 14th of the seventh lunar month (commonly known as the "Ghost Festival"), after finishing their work, locals would spontaneously gather by the riverside and in pavilions to sing folk songs to each other, expressing their emotions, and in the evening, they would release variously shaped river lanterns onto the river to honor their ancestors and express their longing. Starting in 1995, the county government capitalized on the tradition and organized the first River Lantern Song Festival, which was an unprecedented success. Since then, the "Ghost Festival" has been marked each year with a River Lantern Song Festival held in the county town, with the 14th day of the seventh lunar month being the most lively. By day, the banks of the Zijiang River become a world of song, with mountain tunes echoing back and forth in melodious succession. By night, fireworks light up the sky above the river, and tens of thousands of river lanterns float on the water. During the festival, a wide array of local specialties and tasty snacks are on display; economic and trade negotiations take various forms; traditional sports and recreational activities are quaint and fun; and large-scale variety shows with distinctive local features add even more festive cheer to the occasion. Each year, the festival attracts a large number of tourists for sightseeing and cultural exploration, making it one of Guangxi’s renowned folk tourism events. Due to its strong local characteristics and wide influence, in 2004 it was listed by the National Tourism Administration as one of the "Top Ten Themes of Chinese People's Life Tourism."