I stumbled upon it last year–it was May 29, 2009 in Danshui. Definitely the COOLEST festival I’ve ever seen (on par with ghost festival in Keelung). They had people dressed up as gods, those asian bagpipes, people parading around their temple’s shrines, and the most firecrackers I’ve ever seen in my life, people shooting off fireworks in the middle of crowds, left and right, highly dangerous… and it was all night.
What’s confusing is that Matsu’s birthday was on April 18th 2009, but this festival was at the end of May! I think there are multiple parades. But I think I remember a local telling us that the Danshui parade was the biggest and best because Matsu (being the sea goddess watching over the fishermen) is taken very seriously in Danshui. And I believe it–it was incredible!
Does anyone have any info on the exact date for next year (I want to have a friend visit at that time, go together). I can’t find any info for the Danshui festival. And you any of you who haven’t seen it–I highly recommend it!!!
[quote=“lmnop”]I stumbled upon it last year–it was May 29, 2009 in Danshui. Definitely the COOLEST festival I’ve ever seen (on par with ghost festival in Keelung). They had people dressed up as gods, those Asian bagpipes, people parading around their temple’s shrines, and the most firecrackers I’ve ever seen in my life, people shooting off fireworks in the middle of crowds, left and right, highly dangerous… and it was all night.
What’s confusing is that Matsu’s birthday was on April 18th 2009, but this festival was at the end of May! I think there are multiple parades. But I think I remember a local telling us that the Danshui parade was the biggest and best because Mazu (being the sea goddess watching over the fishermen) is taken very seriously in Danshui. And I believe it–it was incredible!
Does anyone have any info on the exact date for next year (I want to have a friend visit at that time, go together). I can’t find any info for the Danshui festival. And you any of you who haven’t seen it–I highly recommend it!!!
Any info? Thanks![/quote]
We stumbled upon a pretty amazing parade with dancing dragons and lions, drummers, firecrackers, gods, etc. in Danshui last year also, but it was during the morning and afternoon on April 15th, about 3 days before Mazu’s actual birthday. Apparently they do festivities at several times during the lunar month of her birth to mark her birthday. This year, her birthday is May 6, so I would imagine they would have a parade to take her around Danshui a few days before that, and then again a few weeks later.
If you want to go to a really big Mazu festival, go down to Dajia in Taichung county. The festival/pilgrimage there lasts 8 days and is the 3rd or 4th biggest religious festival in the world.
Is this festival anything like the Taichung night market? If so, no thanks. It was so crowded, it took us 30 minutes to walk 50 feet. I usually have no problems with crowds, but there was nothing about that which was fun. Have you personally been?
Is the Dajia festival during her birthday–May 6th?
I’ve been a few times. Here’s some pics from 2007 and 2008 part 1 and part 2. They’ll give you an idea of what it’s like. I wasn’t able to go last year.
But I’m thoroughly confused, because you say on your site that April 5th was the start of the 2008 Mazu pilgrimage. It lasts 8 days, and Mazu is carried all around to Jiayi county…
However, Wikipedia lists Mazu’s birthday in 2008 as April 28th!! If this birthday doesn’t occur on her birthday–when? How can I plan to be there on the right date for this year? Does anyone know which days are best in Dajia?
Also, does the festival/parade thing follow Mazu all around? (Otherwise, if it’s not localized around Zhenlan temple, how do we know where to go to find it?)
Her birthday is based on the lunar calendar so of course it changes each year though in general it is around April. The Dajia Mazu temple has a website in English that gives the dates each year. But the dates of the pilgrimage are decided by casting those half moon blocks.
The statue from the Dajia Chenlan temple is taken out on the first day and returned on the 8th day. In the interval it is goes on an eight day pilgrimage so no, activities are not just based at the Chenlan Temple. For the week before the start of the pilgrimage there will be activities at that temple, as at many many others.
The route is pre-planned and each day’s stops are known in advance. You just need to get the schedule but this won’t be announced until Lantern Fesival when the president of the temple organization tosses the moon disks to determine the dates. Stay tuned.
In Dajia itself, either the first or last days are best. My personal preference is for the first because it’s a little easier to move around but there’s still plenty going on. The 7th night going through Changhua city is also worth checking out.