What are the traditional festivals in North Korea?

The Korean nation has a long history and culture, and also has beautiful holiday customs.

"January Festival" refers to the first day of the first lunar month, which is a grand festival to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. On the eve of the festival, people clean the courtyard, clean the house, make new year's eve dinner and new year's clothes, and make various preparations to celebrate the festival.

In the early morning of January, men, women and children put on new clothes and held a "tea ceremony" (that is, a "sacrificial ceremony") to worship their ancestors. Then the younger generation paid a New Year call to their elders, and the elders thanked them with a New Year call. Friends meet and wish each other well.

There is a custom of "burning hair" at night. Both men and women put the hair that fell out when combing their hair last year in a dressing box. In the evening of January, they will have a fever outside the door to ward off evil spirits.

"Shangyuan" refers to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Shangyuan Festival usually begins on the 14th day of the first month, so it is also called "Little Shangyuan" on the 14th and "Big Shangyuan" on the 15th.

14 has the custom of making "nest notes" The so-called "saving grain for a rainy day" is to tie crop straws into sticks on long poles, insert millet, grains and ears of rice outside, hang cotton on them, and stand by the house to pray for a bumper harvest.

There is a custom of welcoming the moon on the fifteenth day. In the evening, people climb to meet the rising of the first full moon in the new year, with foresight as good luck. After the moon rises, people should observe the moonlight and judge the quality of a year according to the color of the moon on this day. The red moon means drought, and Bai Yue means flood disaster. A poem says: "If you burn vegetation, you will be afraid of rising the river. Only when the full moon is yellow will you know that there will be a good year."

"Medicinal Meal" is a good meal for Shangyuan Festival. It is not only eaten at home, but also used for entertaining guests and offering sacrifices to ancestors. "Medicinal rice" is a kind of rice that is cooked by steaming glutinous rice, then adding honey, chestnuts, jujube, oil and sauce, and then steaming cooked food. Because honey was regarded as medicine at that time, this kind of rice mixed with honey was called "medicinal rice".

The Dragon Boat Festival is on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. On the morning of the festival, people are used to washing their faces with the soup made of calamus, and women also like to put the hairpins made of calamus roots in the bun. According to legend, this can avoid the plague.

There is a custom of eating "wheel cakes" on this day. People cooked and mashed fresh Folium Artemisiae Argyi, mixed it with japonica rice flour, and made it into a wheel-shaped cake after the flour showed grass green, so it was called "wheel-shaped cake". Because this day eats "wheel cakes", it is also called "wheel day". On this day, people also happily engage in various recreational activities, among which wrestling and swinging are the most popular.

August 15th of the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Jianuo Festival. According to records, the Autumn Festival began in Silla, Korea (around the 2nd century AD). Because the crops are ripe and the harvest is about to begin, this is the most important festival of the year.

Sacrifice is a traditional custom of Mid-Autumn Festival. On this day, people bring all kinds of food made of new rice to their ancestors' graves and offer them sacrifices in order to let the innate spirit enjoy the newly harvested fruits of labor first.

Women's collective knitting competition is a unique folk activity in Mid-Autumn Festival. From the 16th day of the seventh lunar month, women began to knit in groups. In autumn, the outcome will be decided according to the quantity and quality of knitting. The loser will hold a banquet to congratulate the winner.

In addition to the festivals mentioned above, there are many folk festivals in North Korea, such as Liutou Festival, Baijie Festival, Winter Solstice Festival and Cold Food Festival.