What is the festival on August 18 of the lunar calendar

August 18 of the lunar calendar is the Tide Watching Festival.

Tide Watching Festival, folk festival. Popular in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province and Jiaxing area. Every year on the eighteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the Qiantang River in Zhejiang Province, there is a big tide, high tide, the waves of the mountains, the momentum is very spectacular.

The Southern Song Dynasty has this festival. Hangzhou people from the eleventh day of the tide, sixteen, eighteen pouring out of the city, from the head of the temple to the six and the tower, buildings along the river are rented as a place to watch the tide. Since the early Qing Dynasty, due to the river diversion, tide watching has been moved to Jiaxing Haining.

Expanded Information:

Old Customs, Tide Watching Festival is also " The old custom of the tide festival is also the "tide god festival", every time this day in the past, the sand everywhere to collect donations to worship the tide god, called "tide god will head" or "tide will", Zhang Shen Hall, Zhenhai Hall, Jinghai Hall, Jingjiang Hall, etc., the incense is very prosperous. This custom, and the Qiantang River estuary section of the "collapsed river" frequently related.

Then people could not understand the cause of the tides, it is inevitable to divine power to chiseling, so the legend of the tide god. Historically, there were many tide gods in the estuary section of the Qiantang River, but the one commonly worshipped by the people of Shadi was Zhang Laoshanggong, that is, Zhang Xia, a shipping official in the Northern Song Dynasty. The festival of the tide god, "slump river" and the birthday of Zhang Lao Xianggong on the sixth day of the third month of the lunar calendar, must be worshipped.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Tide Watching Festival