Flower Festival in March is a traditional folk
festival of Yi people in Gaofeng, Lufeng County, Yunnan Province. It is
held every year on lunar March 13th. Rhododendron delavayi blossoms at this time, and young men
and women of Yi ethnic group dressed in splendid attire gather on local
mountains to sing and dance until sunset. Some may also communicate with each
other, and hide in the woods for further romance.
There is a legend about this Flower Festival: in this area in ancient
times, Yi people had
internal dissension and even fight because of mischief from foreigners. This
seriously damaged the peaceful
environment of the ethnic group in this area. Later,
they reconciled with each other on March 13th, so people sang and danced to
celebrate this day year after year, forming a folk festival.