Date: April or May

Place: Nayun Town, Menglian County

Originating from the soul-evoking ceremony for the God of Rice, the Holy Fish Festival is yearly held by the Dai people in Nayun Town (Menglian County). Referred to as "Kanghao" in the Dai language, the God of Rice (Guhun) enjoys a wider popularity than the Buddha among the Dai people. Legends has it that Kanghao was once offended, making the Dai People suffer from severe famine. In order to have favorable weather conditions and bumper harvests, the Dais would always hold yearly the soul-evoking ceremony for Kanghao.   

Fish is a necessity for the ceremony because Kanghao is mythically said to hide inside the fish; so fishing in Nanlei River is inseparable during the soul-evoking ceremony, even for the majestic king of Dai. In old times, the king of Dai used to have special priests to organize extravagant soul-evoking ceremonies; the sacrificial fish must be the biggest one from Nanlei River. On the day of the ceremony, people of different ethnic groups in Menglian swarmed into Nanlei River for fishing; but they had to offer the biggest fish they caught to the king as a tribute.  

The Dai People in Nayun have kept as a tradition fishing activities on the soul-evoking ceremony for the God of Rice.