Foshan Qiuse Parade,Getting to Know a Colourful Non-Heritage Guangdong in China
Foshan Qiuse Parade is a national intangible cultural heritage protection list item, which has been inherited for more than 500 years. It is a comprehensive large-scale mass cultural and entertainment activity of the people of Foshan with the theme of celebrating the harvest, and it is an excellent demonstration of Foshan's vernacular and customary arts, which is watched by hundreds of thousands of people on the spot every year.
Two routes have been set up for this year's Foshan Qiuse Parade.
The first route of the parade was held in the central city of Chancheng on 4 November. At about 7:40 p.m. that evening, with the sound of cheerful music, four large lanterns with ancient colours written with "Foshan Qiuse" came slowly, accompanied by the sound of gongs and drums, 51 performances and 11 colourful vehicles from the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area, and Foshan's counterparts and cities of friendship and cooperation took part in the activity, and more than 2,000 performers dressed in different traditional costumes, holding Fruit Basket -shaped lamps, holding torches high, singing and dancing all the way from the Ancestral Temple to Wenhua Park, a total length of 4.3 kilometres, with a total of 8 performance points on the way, to provide people with a wonderful Foshan Qiuse Parade.
In nearly 150 minutes of parade time, the parade team took turns to stage four chapters of the programme, the sound of drums and gongs, "Foshan Qiuse" signal lights to open the way, exquisite floats, lovely and dynamic lion, up and down the golden dragon, beautiful female warrior role appeared in the parade team, and with the audience along the way to carry out a wonderful interaction, attracting a large number of people to the scene to watch the scene, the scene cheers and applause constantly.
The second route of the parade was held on November 5 in Nanhai district under the Xiqiao Mountain, this is the first time the Foshan Autumn Colour Parade left the central city to the town streets to set up the parade branch, the scope of activities and influence to further expand.The event not only featured performances by teams representing the five districts of Foshan, but also brought together parades from sister cities in the Greater Bay Area, such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as teams from outside the province, such as Qiandongnan Prefecture in Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province, Fujian Province and Hunan Province.
The parade was 3.2 kilometres in length, with 5 performance points, 43 parade programmes and 7 gorgeous colourful cars to offer the public a wonderful autumn colour parade, welcoming Chinese and foreign guests from all over the world with the grandest and most enthusiastic etiquette.The programme incorporates elements of Cantonese Opera, Wushu, Lion Dance, Dragon Dance, Folk Dance, Puppetry, Puning Ying Song and Dance, Foshan Shifan, Miao and Dong Dance, Hani Dance, etc., making it a festive gathering of all people with songs and dances.
CCTV Chinese International Channel's domestic and overseas fusion media programme "China Opinion Forum", which aired at 7:30pm on November 5, featured a three-minute long news report on Foshan Qiuse Parade, with a big headline praising the event for fully showcasing a different kind of Chinese culture to the world. The report added that this most lively autumn parade in the Greater Bay Area embodies the inheritance and innovation of outstanding traditional Chinese culture.