The Firebrand Festival is a traditional festival for Chinese ethnic minorities, such as the Lahu, Yi, Bai, Lisu, Naxi, Hani, Va, Blang, Pumi, etc. Except for the Va, Blang and Pumi, the other six ethnic minorities that celebrate the Firebrand Festival belong to the Yi branch of the Tibet-Burma Austronesian under the Han-Tibetan phylum. The event prevails in most parts of the above-mentioned minority regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guanxi provinces.

With exception of the Yi in the west of Guizhou Province, who celebrate the festival on June 6 of the lunar calendar, the remaining nationalities hold the celebration on June 24-25. It lasts from three to seven days to a maximum of 15 days.

The Firebrand Festival is the largest traditional festival of the Yi which takes place on June 24 according to the lunar calendar. For the occasion, cattle and sheep are slain for ancestor worship. In some areas, people also worship Tuzhu (god of the earth). They invite each other to feasts and eat meat together. The Firebrand Festival usually lasts three days. The first day is designated for the family reunion, while the last two days are for wrestling, horse races, bull fighting, boating, push-and-pull games, etc. The large fire evening party is held at the end and lasts all night long.

The festival entertainment programs vary with regions. The similarities basically include the following:

I. Various pine torches and firebrands are prepared prior to the festival; some of them are more than 10m high and lit in the evening. People promenade around villages and houses, as well as the edge of the fields with the firebrands. The beating of gongs and drums, shouting, dancing and singing are aimed at driving away evil and pests, and ask for a good harvest.

II. The worship. In some cases, cows and sheep are slain; in other cases, swine and chooks are slaughtered to worship the Field God and pray for the safety of humans and livestock, as well as for the bumper harvest.

III. The fire party involves jumping over the fire, dancing and antiphonal singing, and the courting of lovers. Horse races, bull-fighting, wrestling, archery, push-and-pull and swinging contests also take place. Local commodities are exchanged among fairs.

Legend has it that people in the past beat the demons by using the fire attack for the purpose of memorizing the struggle. Other tales say the festival originates from the event where the Yi killed pests with fire, sending them to the world by the Heaven King. Some sagas tell of the wife of the Deng Danzhao King, who organized people to make a firebrand on sheep horns and scared away the enemies. Some say the event evolved into the Firebrand Festival in her memory. In fact, the festival's origin is related to fire worship and praying for the bumper harvest of ancient times.