Macau’s Yu Hang Drunken Dragon Festival

Folk beliefs and customs (Yu Hang Drunken Dragon Festival) is a traditional folk activity popular in[...]

Folk beliefs and customs (Yu Hang Drunken Dragon Festival) is a traditional folk activity popular in the Fresh Fish Market of the Macau Special Administrative Region and one of the national intangible cultural heritages.

The Macau Yu Hang Drunken Dragon Festival, also known as the Macau Yu Hang Drunken Dragon and Awakening Lion Conference, is held annually on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. The main activities of the festival include the parade of the Drunken Dragon dance and the free distribution of the Dragon Boat Head Rice. As a sacrificial ceremony, the Drunken Dragon dance expresses the gratitude and repayment of the people to the heavenly deities.

On the evening of the seventh day of the fourth lunar month each year, residents of Macau engaged in fishery wholesale or retail gather in the vegetable market, sit on the ground, and dine together, forming the tradition of eating ‘Dragon Boat Head Longevity Rice’. The next day, members of the Macau Fresh Fish Market will take to the streets to participate in the parade, performing dragon and lion dances.

Those who dance the Drunken Dragon must drink a large amount of alcohol, and only when they are tipsy do they perform the dance. The Drunken Dragon dance only has a wooden dragon head without a dragon body. The ‘Five Fragrance Water’ made from five types of spices is used to bathe the dragon body, followed by Taoist priests chanting scriptures and performing rituals. After a solemn and grand opening ceremony, the Drunken Dragon dance team begins to perform and parade through the main vegetable markets of Macau.Unlike traditional dragon dances, Macau’s ‘Drunken Dragon’ only consists of the dragon head and tail, made from solid pomelo wood. The dancers are drunk and staggering. People accompany them along the way to pour them more drinks, creating a humorous scene. The dragon head is filled with burning incense sticks. One person holds a bundle of lit sacred incense and leads the way with drums and gongs, followed by the awakening lions, making it very lively. In front of the Three Streets Market Association Hall on Ying Di Street, Dragon Boat Head Longevity Rice is distributed. Anyone can go to receive it. It is said that those who eat this ‘Dragon Head Rice’ can live a long life and be prosperous in both family and wealth. The festival is open on the 15th day of the fifth lunar month, annually on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month.