The water-sprinkling festival is the most important festival for Dai people. This is the festival which celebrate the Dai new year.

It is usually celebrated from April 13th to April 15th.

1. Version one

A long time ago, there was a fire demon who ruled where Dai people lived, resulting in no wind and rain so crops could not grow and people's lives were very painful.

The fire demon had took seven Dai girls away from their homes to be his wives. They saw how cruel and vicious the fire demon was, and they were very sympathetic to the sufferings of the people.

One day, they set up a sumptuous feast for the demon and they made the demon drunk. After the demon fell asleep, the seven girls pulled a hair from his head, and quickly tightened his neck. The head of the fire demon immediately fell to the ground and burned wherever it rolled.

As the fire continued to expand and seeing that it was about to burn to nearby houses, the eldest girl was anxious and quickly picked up the demon head. The raging fire on the ground immediately extinguished.

In order to prevent the people from being persecuted by the fire of demon's head, the seven girls took turns holding the demon's head, and washed the dirt on their body with water when they were not holding the head.

Later, to commemorate the heroic spirit of the seven girls, people poured water on each other on the day of the water sprinkling festival every year.

2.Version two

The festival is actually adapted from the Songkran Festival, which is originated in India and still celebrated in Thai.

With the deepening of the influence of Buddhism in the Dai region, the Songkran Festival has been passed down as a national custom for hundreds of years. The clean water was used to wash the Buddha's statues and pray for the blessing of the Buddha.

As The Water-Sprinkling Festival is the most important festival for the Dai people and it is the festival celebrated by largest number of people of the Yunnan, there are many fun activities involved in the festival.

The Festival usually lasts three to four days, and in places where most Dai people live, the government would actually give a break to celebrate the festival.

• The first day is "Mai Day", which is similar to the Lunar New Year's Eve, this day means to send the old things away.

At this time, people need to clean up their houses, prepare for the annual meal and prepare various activities for the festival.

• The second day is called "empty day", and "annoying" means "empty". According to custom, this day is neither belong to the previous year nor to the following year, so it is "empty day."
• the third day is called "Maya Pajama" are accustomed to seeing this day as "the king of the day."
• the fourth day is the New Year, called "Pangma," the first day of the new year. People regard this day as the most beautiful and the most auspicious day.

In the early morning of this day, the Dais would wear their festive costumes and carry clear water to the Buddhist temple to bathe the Buddha.

Then, they would begin to pour water on each other, a way of wishing each other auspiciousness, happiness, and health. As people dancing in the water, the sound of drums and gongs would ring through the sky. The scene is really spectacular.

• Dancing and Singing would not be absent in such an important festival.

I would introduce about Dai dance more specifically in the section of Dai art.

• Dragon boat racing is one of the most exciting events of the Festival.

It is often held in the Day three of the Festival. On that day, people in holiday costumes would gather on the banks of the Lancang River and Ruili River to watch the dragon boat race.

As the order is sounded, and the dragon boats would be ready to fly forward like an arrow. On the bank, people would play drums and gongs, people cheers and applauses for the winner. The atmosphere of the festival would reach its climax here