On March 3, the 15th day of the first lunar month, Deqing County in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, celebrated the 2026 Lantern Festival with a series of cultural and folk events that drew over 200,000 residents and visitors.
The program featured a grand folk art parade, firecracker lion dances, a spring Confucius memorial ceremony, a Lion King competition, a lantern riddle parade, the "Guangdong Goods, Global Pick" New Year Carnival, and an evening gala with a fireworks display. Lion dances and drum performances opened the festivities, launching a procession staged by three major parade groups.
This year's parade included guest performances by the Liannan Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe and the Liantan Piaose Team. As the procession moved through the county’s main streets, crowds lined the route, cheering and interacting with performers.
A highlight of the celebrations was the "firecracker lion dance," a distinctive folk tradition of the Xijiang River region. Participants set off firecrackers and tossed them toward the lions, as local lore holds that the more intense the "bombardment," the greater the prosperity and good fortune in the year ahead.
Reporter ｜Liu Shunxin
Stringer｜Liang Jie
Photo｜Deqing Converged Media Center, Liu Shunxin
