Sanyuesan Festival of Buyi Ethnic Minority

Sanyuesan Festival, also called March Third Festival, is an exciting traditional festival of the Buyi people, which held in every 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month of the year. The Buyi people scatter fried corns on the slopes and sing folk songs to pray for a bumper harvest. The festival is full of songs and wonderful folk cultures, which attract flocks of visitors each year.

During the festival, the local young boys and girls come from different parts of the region, singing and dancing together to show their feelings, so the festival is also known as ” Sanyuesan Song Festival”. Some of them like joining in the singing competition, while others like singing in antiphonal style by blowing the tree leaves in the dense forest, or travel in groups along the stream playing with the water and singing cheerfully.

The locals take it as a good chance to find their lovers, and they will present gifts to each other when finding they are congenial. Bamboo Dance is a must during the festival by girls and boys. Some other interesting activities include push-and-pull, wrestling, shooting and swinging and so on.

As a kind of ballad singing, the folk songs of the Buyi ethnic group usually accompanied by eight kinds of musical instruments, the long history can be traced back more than two thousand years ago. The tune and lyrics of the songs were passed down orally from generation to generation. It is usually sung during holidays and weddings. The art form has been recognized as part of China’s intangible cultural heritage.