The Bathing Festival of Huayaodai Ethnic People in Xinping County, Yuxi

The Bathing Festival 新平县花腰傣沐浴节 is an annual traditional festival of the Huayaodai people. During the festival, people wear festive attire, with young men looking tidy and young women dressing beautifully. After paying respects to the village god, friends invite each other, couples meet, and people of all ages gather to specific rivers, streams, or pools for collective bathing, playful splashing, singing, and bestowing blessings with water.

Festival Culture
The Bathing Festival is an annual traditional event of the Huayaodai people. Every year, the tourist town of Gasa in Xinping County, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province, known as the “Hometown of Huayaodai,” holds this festival. Visiting Gasa to experience the Huayaodai Bathing Festival while enjoying their signature beef soup pot is a great choice for leisure travel in Yunnan during the May Day holiday. During the festival, people don their festive costumes; young men appear smartly dressed, and young women look beautiful. After honoring the village god, friends invite each other, couples meet, and people of all ages gather to designated rivers, streams, or pools to wash, splash, sing, and bless one another with water.

Huayaodai People
The Huayaodai are a branch of the Dai ethnic group, known for their elegant and luxurious attire, vibrant and exquisite patterns, and a plethora of decorative accessories. Their distinctive waistbands are characterized by colorful ribbons that form layers. The Huayaodai people inhabit the area under the famous Ailao Mountain in Yunnan, living by the banks of the Red River. Their unique geographical and climatic conditions, along with the beautiful landscapes, have fostered their affinity for water, leading to a culture that values water and playful interactions with it, as well as a gentle and tender disposition.

Festival Activities
The main traditional activities of the Huayaodai Bathing Festival include water splashing celebrations, exhibitions of traditional Huayaodai folk culture, cultural performances, large-scale square dancing, the Huayaodai banquet dance, and the mysterious romantic journey through Ailao Mountain and the Red River Valley.

Event Highlights
On May 1st, the 2024 “May Day” and Huayaodai Bathing Festival in Xinping County kicked off in Gasa Town with the theme “Splashing in Joyful Bathing, Fully Enjoying Huayaodai Charm.” Visitors from various places gathered to join in the water splashing festivities and experience the rich culture of the Huayaodai.

Around 10 a.m., tourists gathered in front of the statue on the high platform at Phoenix Square to watch the blessing ceremony. After the Huayaodai elders recited prayers, the Huayaodai shamans sprinkled auspicious water sourced from Ailao Mountain, wishing for the prosperity of the nation and the happiness and health of its people.

After the blessing ceremony, the welcoming ritual at the square entrance officially began: shamans lined up in two rows, holding colorful ribbons to form a “Rainbow Gate.” As visitors walked through the “Rainbow Gate,” the shamans sprinkled them with blessed water from fresh bamboo branches, while Huayaodai elders tied red threads around the visitors’ wrists, wishing them smooth sailing and good fortune.

Subsequently, the hospitable Huayaodai invited tourists to the central fountain pool of the square for a water splashing celebration, allowing everyone to feel the passion and joy of the Bathing Festival. Armed with water guns, basins, and buckets, tourists splashed each other with blessings, filling the air with laughter and transforming the scene into a joyful sea.

Around the square, food stalls were bustling with people, offering various local delicacies such as rice cakes, yellow flower rice, and dried beef. Visitors eagerly stopped to sample and purchase these unique treats.