The 15th Doumen District Folk Art Parade will kick off at 9:30 am Sunday, Feb 17, from Doumen Stadium Square (斗门区体育馆广场) on Xidi Road (西堤路) and march down to GoTone Square (全球通广场) on South Guangchang St (广场南街), with 1,500 performers of all ages, 13 matrices featuring 37 themes, and more visitors than ever.

Centuries-old local intangible cultural legacies will be presented by 300 marchers on the annual festive day. Leading the lineup will be dances of the Lianzhou Fire Dragon and Gold & Silver dragons. Next are Imperial Kinsmen Sacrificial Rites, a Gong & Drum Cabinet Parade, Piaose Street Procession from Qianwu Town, and Lion Dances. Other local traditions such as Chinese operas and Fut Gar (a Buddhist martial art) will be showcased, with floating fish and shrimp paper lanterns adding atmosphere. On-water Wedding, Catching Mudfish, and Sanzao Crane dances will also demonstrate the charm of Doumen's national-level cultural legacies.

Imperial Kinsmen Sacrificial Rites

Performances by out-of-towners considered to be vital to the folk art and cultural landscape of the region are also scheduled. Chief among them will be the debut of Thatch-Dragon Dance by female performers. The ancient art is unique to Liantan Town, Yunfu City, Guangdong Province. Dragons will gyrate to gong, drum, and suona rhythms.

The 400-year-old Leizhou Centipede Dance from Zhanjiang City will also make its maiden appearance. It is performed to exorcise evil spirits and augur good weather for crops and the safety of villagers.

Ritual dance

Meanwhile, Liannan Yao Autonomous County of Qingyuan City will send its classic Long Drum Dance to the event. In formal festive dress, with red ribbon around their waists and white cloth wrapping their legs, dancers will each hang one of 60 drums more than 1 m (3.3 ft) wide. Its folklore characteristics and high esthetic value have earned the dance national recognition and will add to the distinctive regional flavor of the parade.

The Guangdong Puppet Theater is also ready to contribute its special highlights.

In all, the playbill features six State-level and four provincial-level intangible cultural heritage items. Senior folk-art inheritors are still the pillar of the lineup, but fresh blood is being injected as students begin playing a bigger role. The oldest performer is over 80 and the youngest is only 6, according to Shen Junxiao, director of the Doumen Cultural Center.

Schooled in folk art [Photos by Zeng Yao / Zhuhai Daily]