Individuals participate in the yearly Water Dragon Festival in Dejiang County, southwest Chinas Guizhou Province, on June 30, 2025./ Photo supplied to CGTNDejiang County in southwest Chinas Guizhou Province ushered in the yearly Water Dragon Festival on Monday, where tens of countless people sprinkle water on each other as part of a routine to wish favorable weather condition and a great harvest.Following tradition, the Water Dragon Festival includes 3 centerpieces: water initiation, sacrifice, and water splashing.
After the 36 straw dragon groups held a sacrificial ceremony according to local custom, the dragon dancers waved the straw dragons and paraded through the streets along a designated route.
Individuals participate in the annual Water Dragon Festival in Dejiang County, southwest Chinas Guizhou Province, on June 30, 2025./ Photo supplied to CGTNPeople participate in the yearly Water Dragon Festival in Dejiang County, southwest Chinas Guizhou Province, on June 30, 2025./ Photo supplied to CGTNThe straw dragons rolled and leaped, injury, and coiled.
Wherever they went, the locals and travelers waiting along the streets eagerly sprayed clear water onto the dragons and the crowd with water weapons, basins, ladles, and even buckets.
Everyone, from the dragons and dragon dancers to passersby, was drenched –-- but no one dodged the water.
Just bursts of joyful laughter echoed through the streets.Originating from the folk tradition of straw dragon dancing, the Water Dragon Festival has a history of over a century in Dejiang, and was included in the 5th batch of representative projects of intangible cultural heritage in Guizhou Province.
Every year, locals dance with straw dragons and splash water on one another in hopes of beneficial weather condition, a bountiful harvest, and nationwide peace.People attend the yearly Water Dragon Festival in Dejiang County, southwest Chinas Guizhou Province, on June 30, 2025./ Photo offered to CGTNPeople attend the annual Water Dragon Festival in Dejiang County, southwest Chinas Guizhou Province, on June 30, 2025./ Photo supplied to CGTNPeople participate in the yearly Water Dragon Festival in Dejiang County, southwest Chinas Guizhou Province, on June 30, 2025./ Photo supplied to CGTNThis years Water Dragon Festival in Dejiang was more varied.
In addition to the straw dragon parades and water-splashing carnivals, it likewise featured exhibits and sales of agricultural specializeds, regional specials, and cultural and imaginative items.
Traditional Nuo dance parades and Nuo Opera efficiencies brought in crowds of tourists.Taking one of the most fundamental element of water as its bond, the Dejiang Water Dragon Festival connects custom with modernity and prayers with laughter.
The timeless long for health and a plentiful harvest has been given through generations of water-splashing events, remaining fresh and lively to this day.