January——Spring Festival of Zhuang people 
 
Zhuangnian Festival  Zhuangnian Festival is the New Year’s Day of Zhuang people, coming one month earlier than the New Year’s Day of Ha people. 
 
（1）Drawing Early Spring Water： Also called Carrying Smart Spring Water, Carrying Early Spring Water, or Carrying Clever Spring Water, Drawing Early Spring Water is widespread in western Guangxi. On the early morning of Jan 1st of the Lunar calendar, girls and young wives carry the buckets, take three sticks of incense, and sing songs to the springs and rivers. Then women place the incenses by the bank of the springs or rivers, and put money into red envelopes and throw it into the water as kind of New Year’s gift to the spring, and then carry back the first buckets of spring water.

（2）Welcoming the Spring Ox and Singing Antiphonally：Welcoming the Spring Ox is an old tradition in Jingxi County of Guangxi, dating back to the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. The Spring Ox is  a clay ox. In the  past it was made of mud, and now the Spring Ox is made of paper. Welcoming the Spring Ox means to drives people to do farm work, and it also features the beginning of the new spring.

（3）Grabbing the First Duck：This is a traditional custom for Zhuang people living in Sicheng of Linyun County in Guangxi during the Spring Festival. On January 1st, after 12 o’clock in the evening, people slay chickens and ducks, cook zongzi, and display them as offerings to the ancestors. People all do these tasks quickly and try to be the first to finish, in order showing the worship to ancestors and Gods. Sacrifice is offered to the ancestors, and then to the Kitchen’s God, the Door’s God, the hogpen, and the bullpen. After the sacrificial ceremony, people  light firecrackers to celebrate.

（4）Carrying the Paper Dog to Pay a New Year Call ： On January1st of the Lunar calendar, young boys carry the paper dog to different villages to pay the New year call, and people welcome them with burning firecrackers. It is a relique to have a dog worship by ancient Zhuang people.

（5）Knocking on Spring’s Door：This is a folk entertaining activity on Spring Festival for Zhuang people living in Pingguo. Knocking on Spring’s Door usually means to knock the wooden trough with the pestle, while in some districts it means to hit the wooden stool with a shoulder pole, which is also called Knocking Shoulder pole, or Knocking Fu-lie. (Fu-lie is the sound of knocking when using the shoulder pole to knock the wooden stool.)

（6）Eating Big Zongzi：This is  a custom on Lantern Day in western Guangxi. Every year on New Year’s Eve, people would make a big zongzi that contains five to ten kilograms of sticky rice, called mu-zong, and put it on display with other smaller zongzi as offerings to the ancestors.  On Lantern Day people would again offer sacrifice to their ancestors with a celebrating ceremony, and after that the offerings are taken away. This ceremony is called San-nian (End of the New Year Celebration).

（7）Frog Sacrifice’s Day: Frog Sacrifice Day is also called Frog’s Festival, or Frog Sacrifice. It is the most celebrated, venerable, and featured traditional festival for Zhuang people living in Donglan, Tiane, Nandan, and Fengshan districts of the upriver and middle reaches of Hongshui River.


February——Gnome God and Goddess’s Day & Lord of Flower’s Day & Children’s Day & Dog’s Birthday & Spring Sacrifice Day

（1）Gnome God and Goddess’s Day： Gnome God and Goddess’s Day is held annually on February 2nd of theLunar calendar. Zhuang people have a long history of farming and agriculture, and its people worship the Gnome God. February 2nd of the Lunar calendar is said to be the birthday of the Gnome God, so people go to the temple of the Gnome God to offer sacrifice with chickens and meat, and pray for the Gnome God’s blessing of a fruitful harvest and a better living. In Daxin, February 2nd of the Lunar calendar is called Gnome Goddess’s Day, and on that day people from different villages get together to offer sacrifice with pork to the Temple of Gnome God, and ask the wise wizard to  chant scriptures.

（2）Lord of Flower’s Day：Lord of Flower’s Day is also called Flower’s Day, Flower Fairy’s Day, or Flower Lady’s Day. It is a folk feast day for Zhuang people, and is celebrated annually on February 2nd or February 29th of the lunar calendar. During the festival, sisters and sisters-in-laws would gather together from different villages to offer sacrifice to the Lord of Flower with chickens, and pray to the Lord to bless the children for a healthy growth.

（3）Children’s Day： Children’s Day is also called Children’s Fair. It is a folk children festival for Zhuang people living in Debao and Jingxi Counties, and is celebrated annually on February 2nd or March 28th of the Lunar calendar.

（4）Dog’s Birthday： Dog’s Birthday is a folk festival for Zhuang people living in Jingxi, Longlin, and Debao. It is celebrated annually on February 22nd of the lunar calendar. According to legend, February 22nd of the Lunar calendar is said to be the birthday of the royal dog in heaven. People believe that eating dog’s meat on that day could help to prolong their lives, so this day dog meat is a preferred dish.

（5）Spring Sacrifice Day:  On February 2nd, peasants living in the suburb would slay chickens and ducks to celebrate the Spring Sacrifice Day, and pray for a fruitful and favorable year.


March——Song Fair Festival & Pure Brightness Festival

（1）Song Fair Festival in March： March 3rd of the lunar calendar is also called Song Festival on March 3rd, or Song Fair Festival in March. It is a traditional folk song festival for Zhuang people. During the year there are several regular folk song fairs for Zhuang people, such as the song fair on January 15th, March 3rd, April 8th, and August 15th, and among all these, the song fair on March 3rd is the most celebrated one. The Song Fair usually lasts two or three days, and the antiphonal singing  is sung mainly by single young men and  women. Boys and girls get to know each other by singing songs together, and if they find each other congenial, they will exchange keepsakes as a sign of promise. Also, there are other interesting activities like throwing embroidered ball, and colliding colored eggs.

（2）Pure Brightness Festival： Pure Brightness Festival is the day to sweep graves of the ancestor. Zhuang people worship their ancestors, and on the sweeping-grave ceremony there should be pig, ox, and sheep displayed as offerings to the ancestors. Some big families would carry on the ceremony together with the relatives, and would feast by the grave, invite all the passers-by to share the food and drink. The sweeping-grave ceremony is usually carried out within fifteen days before or after the Pure Brightness Festival.


April——Ox’s Spirit Day & Starting Farming Day & Mud Sprinkling Festival

（1）Ox’s Spirit Day： Ox’s Spirit Day is also called King of Ox’s Day,or Off-Yoke Day. It is a festival for Zhuang people to offer sacrifice to the Ox God. The festival is usually celebrated annually on April 8th of the Lunar calendar, while in some places it is celebrated on June 6th or August 8th. According to legend, April 8th is said to be the birthday of the King of the Ox. 
 
（2）Starting Farming Day： Starting Farming Day is also called Starting Harrowing Day, Starting Transplanting Seedling Day, or Transplanting Seedling Day. It is a folk festival for agricultural sacrifice for Zhuang people living in Southern Guangxi, and it is celebrated annually on April 4th or April 8th of the Lunar calendar. During the festival, people should ask some wise wizard to exorcise the devils away, and then start to plough the field and transplant the seedling into the crop fields. 
 
（3）Mud Sprinkling Festival： Mud Sprinkling Festival is a folk festival for Zhuang people living in Xilin, Napo, and Jingxi County. It is celebrated in April, when it is time for seedling transplantation. Girls and young wives sprinkle the mud and slurry from the crop fields to the men passing by the fields, in order to admonish men to do the farm work.


May——Lord of Medicine’s Day & Monkey’s Day & Jide Festival & Sworn Brother’s Day & Dragon Boat Festival

（1）Lord of Medicine’s Day：Lord of Medicine’s Day is also called Master of Medcine’s Day. It is a folk festival for Zhuang people, and is celebrated annually on May 5th of the Lunar calendar. The activities and ceremonies of the festival vary in different districts. In Longsheng Autonomous County, Zhuang people go and fetch herbal medicines like Wubai, Tianjihuang, Hulucha, and Yuanbaocao from the mountain, and shower with the decoction of these herbal medicines.

（2）Monkey’s Day： Monkey’s Day is a folk festival for agricultural sacrifice for Zhuang people living in Huaihan Village of YueXu, Jingxi County in Guangxi. It is celebrated annually on May 5th of the Lunar calendar. On that day, people take fruits and food to the mountains or the fields to feed the monkeys.

（3）Jide Festival：In the language of Zhuang people, Jide means baby cock, and Jide Festival is Children’s Day. It is a traditional folk festival for Zhuang people living in Debao, Jingxi and Napo Counties in Guangxi, and is celebrated annually on May 5th of the lunar calendar.

（4）Sworn Brother’s Day：Sworn Brother’s Day is a traditional folk festival for Zhuang people, and is celebrated annually on May 13th of the lunar calendar. On that day, two good friends might ask the elders to moderate the ceremony of becoming sworn brothers. During the ceremony the two people would tell each other of their own age, drink the blood of cock, pray to their ancestor, and swear to God that they would not betray the sworn brother. After all is done, they have become sworn brothers.

（5）Dragon Boat Festival： On the day of May 5th of the lunar calendar, people make zongzi with sticky rice into the shape of a horn, and seal it with  reed leaves. This kind of zongzi is called liangzong. There would also be dragon-boat racing on the Yong River. There are dragon-boat racings with men’s and women’s teams, and thousands of people go to watch the racing game. The winner of the racing would be awarded with a baked pig. 


June——Liulang Festival & Dengna Festival & Mona Festival

（1）Liulang Festival：Liulang Festival is also called June Festival, Qilang Festival , or Sub-New Year. It is a traditional folk festival for Zhuang people, and is celebrated annually on June 6th of the lunar calendar. On the festival, people slay chickens and ducks and cook colorful sticky rice as the offerings to the ancestors.

（2）Dengna Festival： Dengna Festival is a traditional festival for Zhuang people living in western Guangxi.it is celebrated annually on June 6th of the lunar calendar. On that day, people slay chickens and ducks, cook rice and cakes, and in the evening people would periodically go to the fields and light up lanterns and lamps that would be shining all night long, and the light from the lamps could help  rid the crop fields of pests. 

（3）Mona Festival： Mona Festival is a feast day for Zhuang people living in Xialei of Daxin County in Guangxi to offer sacrifice to the Forest God pishe and the Farming God. It is celebrated annually in  late June of the lunar calendar. On the festival, a pig would be killed as the offering from a group of people, and each family would offer a quarter kilogram of rice and a quarter kilogram or wine, together with vegetables and candles as offerings. Each family would have one representative to take these offerings to take part in the sacrifice ceremony, and pray to the Forest God and the Farming God for a fruitful harvest. 


July——Water-storing Day & Green Grain Day & Ancestor Feast & Green Seedling Feast

（1）Water-storing Day：Water-storing Day is a traditional folk festival in Jingxi County and Debao County of Guangxi, held annually on July 7th of the lunar calendar. People clean their pots and jars, and then fetch fresh water from springs and rivers to fill their cleaned water-containers. The fresh water stored on that day is called celestial spring. 

（2）Green Grain Day：Green Grain Day is one of the traditional folk festivals. It is held during July or August of the lunar calendar, when the green grain grows ripe. Usually it is celebrated within one family, but sometimes the friends and relatives living nearby are also invited to celebrate the festival together.

（3）Ancestor Feast：July 14th of the lunar calendar is a feast day for sacrifice for Zhuang people. The major activitiy in Ancestor Feast is to offer sacrifice to the ancestors and the Holy Ghosts. In the folk legend, it is said that Buluotuo, the primogenitor of Zhuang people, passed away on July 14th, so generations after generations, Zhuang people memorialize and offer sacrifice to their primogenitor on that day. 

（4）Green Seedling Feast： Green Seedling Feast is a folk festival for agricultural sacrifice for Zhuang people living in western Guangxi. It is celebrated annually on some selected days in July of the lunar calendar.  During the festival, pork and rice are displayed by the cropland outside the village as offerings to the Seedling God, and roads are closed in order not to interrupt the Seedling God  when enjoying the offerings.


August——Birthday of the Gods、Praying to Moon God’s Day

（1）Birthday of the Gods：Birthday of the Gods is a folk feast day for Zhuang people, held annually in  early August of the lunar calendar. Zhuang people are polytheistic, and believe that August 2nd is the general feast day for all the Gods. Every year on that day, people display  offerings to worship the Gods. 
 
（2）Praying to Moon God’s Day： Praying to Moon God’s Day is generally called Mid Autumn Day, or Reunion day. On that day Zhuang people eat moon cakes, make rice cakes, kill chickens and ducks to celebrate the festival and to appreciate the beautiful full moon.


September——Double Ninth Festival & Bailing Festival & New Grain Day
 
（1）Double Ninth Festival：In the language of Zhuang people, it is said that ninety-nine leads to a hundred, and a hundred leads to immortality. So on Double Ninth Festival(9th of the ninth Lunar month), the major activity is to celebrate the long lives of the elders, as a continuing activity of celebrating their birthdays. 
 
（2）Bailing Festival：Bailing Festival is a traditional folk festival for Zhuang people living in Tiandeng County of Guangxi. Celebrated on September 9th of the lunar calendar, Bailing Festival is said to be held to remember the young warrior Bailing who has killed the evil dragon and protected people’s lives. 
 
（3）New Grain Day：New Grain Day is a folk festival for agricultural sacrifice. On the first day after the harvest in October of the leap years of the lunar calendar, people pestle the newly reaped sticky rice to make ciba, and slay chickens and ducks to offer sacrifice to the Gods and ancestors to celebrate the harvest.


October——Pre-frost’s Decent Day

Pre-frost’s Decent Day is a traditional festival activity in Xialei Village of Daxin County, with the meaning of going to a market before Frost Decent Day. Every year before Frost Decent Day, people from miles away would bring ciba and other food and product, take incense and offerings, and gather together to Xialei Village to join the marketing in their best clothes. It is also called Singing Ceremony on Pre-frost’s Decent Day, and will last for three days before the marketing ends.


November——Winter Solstice Day

In Nanning, Winter Solstice Day is a general festival that most people would celebrate, even more ceremoniously than New Year. People cook sweet dumplings, make zongzi with meat, and prepare dishes and drinks for the whole family to enjoy.


December——Sending off the Kitchen God’s Day & New Year’s Eve

（1）Sending off the Kitchen God’s Day：December 23rd of the lunar calendar is the traditional festival for Zhuang people to give sacrifice to the Kitchen God to send him back to  heaven. People let the Kitchen God rest for seven days, displaying the offerings as the farewell foy, and paste little couplets above the hearth, saying, carry fine words up to  heaven, and bring back happiness to the land.

（2）New Year’s Eve：Also called Eve of the Year, New Year’s Eve is on December 30th of the lunar calendar. For Zhuang people, it is the busiest and most vivid festival of the year. People slaughter pigs, make zongzi, cook rice cake, sew new clothes, and paste spring festival scrolls on that day.