Pumi festivals

In the past, the Pumis believed in many gods and worshipped their ancestors. Most of their festivals such as the Spring Festival, Tomb-sweeping Day, the Beginning of Summer, Dragon Boat Festival, Firebrand Festival, Food Festival and so on, have something to do with the worship activity. On the day of the Spring Festival, the families of the same clan will have the family reunion dinner.

During the festival, it is a custom to send gifts, which mostly are fried sticky rice cakes, preserved ham and so on. In other festivals, besides the traditional special foods such as sticky rice cakes, wine and meat, other appropriate foods will be added, such as cold dish on the Tomb-Sweeping Day, preserved ham in the festival to celebrate the Beginning of Summer, pastry in the Firebrand Festival and fresh rice and buckwheat cakes in the Firebrand Festival.

In the past, the Pumis held a large worship to the Heaven and Terra Gods on March 2 or October 8 of the lunar calendar every year. The worship was organized by the whole ethnic minority or by the whole village. On the occasion, every two families would offer one cattle and a sheep (the best one is a white sheep).

On the daybreak of the worship day, people began to worship the Heaven God with the heads, hooves, hearts and livers of the cattle and sheep. At the sunrise, people started chanting the scripture. The ritual of the worship sometimes lasted three months. The Pumis seldom observe the festival nowadays.