On April 12th, it was reported from the Propaganda Department of Yuan’an County Party Committee that the 2018 Hubei Yuan’an Lei Zu Cultural Festival was opened at the Lei Zu cultural garden, Lei Zu Town, on April 30.

　　This year’s Lei Zu Cultural Festival, which is subject to the theme of “Loving Lei Zu, Feeling Silk Road, Poetry and Picturesque Yuan’an”, is sponsored by the Yichang Municipal Bureau of Cultural Press Publication and Radio and Television, the Yichang Municipal Tourism Committee and the People's Government of Yuan’an County.The activities will begin on April 28th and end on May 2nd.The opening ceremony will be held in the morning of April 30, and then the folk sacrificial activities will be carried out in accordance with the “Lei Zu Religious Custom”.Besides, the Lei Zu cultural exhibition will be held on the day of the opening ceremony. Many shows with local color, including the flower-drum opera, Wu music, shadow play and folk song and dance, will be performedin turns. Since April 28th, the folk arts and crafts and tourism commodity exhibition (display and sale) and commercial trade activities will continue to be carried out in the Lei Zu cultural garden, the fossil ancient street and the market town of Lei Zu.

　　It is understood that the folk custom of offering sacrifices to Lei Zu in Yuan’an has a history of more than 1400 years. Taking ceremony as the core content,the “Lei Zu Religious Custom”waslisted in the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council. In 2017, Yuan’an was awarded the title of “Lei Zu Cultural Sanctum” by the Chinese Yanhuang Research Association.(Reporter: Liao Quan; Correspondent: Huang Haitao)