The 16th Doumen District Folk Art Parade will put on an extravaganza of local and out-of-town intangible cultural heritages to celebrate the Lantern Festival on Feb 8.

Taking a different route from the previous year, 19 units will set off from the Hefang-Hejing intersection in Jing'an Town (井岸镇河坊路与河景路交叉口), march down Hefang Road to Xidi Road (西堤路), and continue on down Xidi Road along the southwest bank of Huangyang River to the terminus 200 m (219 yd) south of the Jianfeng Bridge (尖峰桥). 

Highlighted will be local State-level intangible cultural heritage items Catching Mudfish and On-Water Wedding. 

On-Water Wedding float [Photo courtesy meilidoumen]

The newly added On-Ground Dragon Boat Race will see dozens of paddlers stroke the oars to the roar drumbeats and whistles. Furthermore, the Hui Drum (bronze drum) Performance of the Zhuang ethnic group, Helou Dance of Guangdong's Yunan County, and Portuguese-styled shows will enhance the entertainment.

Others cultural heritages in store include Fire Dragon Dance, Chinese Martial Arts, and Piaose Street Procession, in which children aged 7 to 9 dress up as characters from folklore or fairytales and are held aloft on hidden poles to create the illusion of floating in air.

Training of the many local students who will take part in the performance is well underway at the Xintang and Jing'an 1 Primary, and Jing'an 4 and Experimental Middle schools.

Xintang Primary School students, for instance, will star in Fire Dragon and Lion dances, boxing, and stick-fighting.