The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will hold its annual Cantonese Temple Fair from Feb 19 to 25 to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

The event has been held in Guangzhou for eight consecutive years, and previous fairs, hosted at Chenghuang Temple and other nearby areas including Beijing Road, have attracted millions of participants, making the fair the most influential folk culture activity in South China. 

Dancers dressed in ancient costumes perform at a Cantonese Fair in Guangzhou. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

The 2019 Cantonese Temple Fair will be held in Yuexiu district, and will feature a variety of intangible cultural heritage items, such as olive kernel carvings, Guangcai ceramics, and pith paper paintings. The fair will also promote Chinese temple fairs by inviting artists and cultural heritage inheritors from the Tianjin Temple Fair, Huaiyang Fuxi Temple Fair, and Luyi Lao Tzu Temple Fair in Henan province. 

National intangible cultural heritage items, such as Tianjin woodcut New Year pictures, Hunan multicolored porcelain firing techniques, Shaanxi clay sculptures, and embroidery will also be showcased at the temple fair. Cantonese Opera masters from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao will treat visitors to opera shows. 

The organizing committee will invite the consuls of the nine foreign consulates located in Yuexiu district, Guangzhou to participate in the folk culture tour. They will also invite a team from Gwangju, South Korea to give a performance, according to insiders.

Creative cultural products will be on sale at the Cantonese Temple Fair. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

The 2019 Cantonese Temple Fair will use a 5G network for VR live broadcasts for the first time, providing a live broadcast of the folk culture tour for those who cannot attend the event.

A piaose performance (a type of performance that integrates acting, magic tricks, acrobatics, music, and dance) will be a highlight of the Cantonese Temple Fair. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]