When Is Cold Food Festival? Festival Date, Customs and Origins Explained in One Article

The Cold Food Festival is a traditional festival with a long history in China. By the old calendar, it usually falls about one hundred and five days after the winter solstice, that is, one or two days before Qingming Festival. Converted to the Gregorian calendar, it mostly falls in early April each year, so its exact date is not fixed.

As for its origin, the most widely circulated account is connected with Jie Zitui of the Spring and Autumn period. Legend has it that to commemorate this loyal minister, people did not light fires on this day and ate only cold food prepared in advance, and the name Cold Food comes from this.

In terms of traditional customs, the Cold Food Festival emphasizes banning fire and eating cold food, and in many places people make seasonal foods such as qingtuan, sanzi and cold food porridge. Because the season falls in mid-spring, people also take the opportunity to go out for spring outings, insert and wear willow branches, swing on swings and fly kites, activities closely tied to the spring farming schedule.

Because its date is right next to Qingming Festival, the customs of the two festivals gradually merged over the course of history. Today many places put ancestor worship and tomb sweeping, the remembrance of forebears, together around Qingming, while the old custom of eating cold food is still preserved in some areas.

Overall, the Cold Food Festival carries the cultural meaning of following the rhythms of nature and respectfully remembering the departed. For farming, it is also an important node in the spring phenology, reminding people that temperatures are warming, spring plowing is growing busy, and it is the right time to arrange field work.