Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival is listed as one of the world’s three major folk festivals
Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/03
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
(Photo courtesy of the Tourism Bureau of Tainan City Government)
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Tourism Bureau of Tainan City Government teams up with six travel agencies to offer package tours for attending this year’s Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival as well as the Yuejin Lantern Festival, the bureau said on Friday.
“Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival is listed as one of the world’s three major folk festivals, and is also one of the most significant religious activities in Taiwan,” the bureau said.
CNN called the festival “undeniably one of the world’s most dangerous celebrations” as thousands of soaring firecrackers are launched into the crowd. Therefore, festival-goers must wear protection gear to avoid getting hurt.
Legend has it that the tradition of setting off beehive fireworks originated in 1885 as a cholera epidemic raged in the streets of Yanshui. As the society was medically underdeveloped at the time, victims of the disease multiplied daily and the local population lived in fear. They prayed to Guan Di, the god of war, to bring an end to this calamity and save them. [FULL STORY]
