潑水節是傣族人最重要的節日,一般是在傣歷六月或七月的某一天舉行(大約是漢族清明節后的十天左右)。潑水節標志著傣族新年的開始。他們相互潑水,通過潑水傳遞問候。潑水節當晚,每一個村寨都會組織聚會來唱歌和跳舞。在竹笛、蘆笙(一種風管樂器)、铓鑼和象腳鼓(一種置于基座上的形狀像象腳的鼓)的伴奏下,人們跳起當地的孔雀舞。
As the most important festival of the Dai people in China, the Water Splashing Festival generally falls on a day in June or July in the Dai calendar (about ten days after the Han People’s Qingming Festival). It marks the beginning of the New Year to the Dai people. They splash water on each other to exchange greetings. When night falls, every village organizes a get-together to sing songs and dance. People perform the native peacock dance to the accompaniment of the bamboo flute, lusheng (a reed-pipe wind instrument) and gong of local type and elephant-foot drum (a drum on a pedestal, shaped like an elephant’s foot).