Water-Sprinkling Festival

The Water Splashing Festival of the Dai ethnic minority in Xishuangbanna Prefecture, in Yunnan Province, is a joyous occasion, and an opportunity that should not be missed if you are visiting Yunnan in mid-April. The festival takes place at the New Year of the Dai calendar.

The Water Splashing Festival, or Water Sprinkling Festival, consists of three days of joyful celebrations and spiritual rituals. The highlight of the festival is when everyone gets splashed and drenched with water.

The festival lasts three days. The first two days' activities take place along the banks of the Lancang River. After a grand opening ceremony, a market is set up, with merchandise, food and various other enjoyments. Artists exhibit sand sculptures near the market. In the afternoon there is a dragon boat race on the Lancang River. At nightfall, the banks of the river are lit up with colored lights and bright lanterns floating on the river to attract good luck in the coming year.

The Dai people don their finest clothes for the occasion and gather at the Buddhist temple, while monks chant Buddhist scriptures. Then comes the water splashing ritual. It begins with moving a statue of Buddha into the courtyard and splashing it with water, or "Bathing the Buddha." 

The closing of the ritual of Bathing the Buddha signals the beginning of the water-splashing ritual, which everyone is invited to participate in. People flow out onto the streets with pots and bottles or anything they can use for the purpose of splashing and spraying one another in a wild free-for-all of splashing water.

In the Dai culture, water is a sacred element, a symbol of spiritual purification and the sharing of good will among neighbors. Splashing another villager is a gesture of good will and a wish for good luck.

For visitors, there is no better time to become acquainted with the Dai people than during their most joyous and hopeful celebration of the year.