Zoulu Festival (Winter Festival)
- Celebrated: Dec. 2013
- Location: Xinjiang
Zoulu Festival, also known as “winter festival”, is a unique festival for Tuwa minority people. The festival sees pastoralists who feed their domestic animals outside the village throughout the summer and autumn return to commemorate the anniversary of Buddha Maheka’s death. According to the folklore, Buddha Maheka died at his exact 125-year-old day. Every herdsman will bring some branches of pine trees back to the village from the hills nearby on this day and pile them up. As darkness comes, the pile of branches will be lit and Tuwa people sit around and pray. After the ceremony, people back their home will light oil lamps for the whole night. So this festival is also known as the “lighting festival”.
