A once-in-ten-years-festival that last drew a hundred outsiders, made over thousands thanks to the record-breaking bamboo theatre. I admit being one of them, not knowing its existence should the bamboo theatre hadn't made into the news. It was Tuesday the 16th.
>>>>LINK TO THE ALBUM<<<<
I hastily looked up the program to see what to expect for 17th. Like an intermediate Chinese learner reading fancy dish names in a proper Chinese restaurant menu, I had no idea what the terms actually mean, except maybe the noon one where the troupe would tour from Kam Tin Heung to Yuen Long and return by the evening. So I assumed the place would be rather empty and I could stroll freely to wait for the 7pm event, which I assumed to be some fire-y ceremony. Two wrong assumptions somehow made a day right.
Getting there could be painful just by reading Google Map, luckily there is a group on Facebook dedicated to this festival and people were nice to share all sorts of things including transportation if you don't want to walk for 20 minutes (it was fine, just I had quite some gear with me). 2-3 minutes walk from Kam Sheung Road Exit C will lead you to the public transport interchange with handful minibus lanes and a taxi lane. Seeing 50+ waiting for the minibus, my first instinct was to take a green cab, just that driver claimed the road nearby was so congested and the drop off point would be 10 mins walk, then I joined the 50 people.
After 15-20 minutes' wait, it's my turn for 601B. The road was totally fine, just slower inside Shui Tau Village due to its one-lane structure and extra demand. No need to know which stop to get off, the driver understood the sudden demand. As expected, the get-off point is just in front of the bridge to the festival. The festival venue was temporary built on an empty lot, surrounded by a thin stream (hence the bridge).
The bamboo bridge to the festival
(L) Into the village even more; (R) The space outside Kam Tin Tin Hau Temple, in festive banners and flags
Wanting to do some drone work first, I turned back and walked past the smelly latrine at the get off point, along the one-lane road into the village for an open space. Maybe I was too confident, I dropped Google Map and walked past my target to the point near Tin Hau Temple - Kam Tin. Next to it was a pond and an empty space, there I unleashed my drone, quickly, and got back to the road for return.
Picturesque, even with that plastic scarecrows, as they remind me of Robot Dreams (*sheds a tear*)
On my way I discovered this picturesque scene from a nearby farm. They'd be the winners of the remaining 2020s if they can be self-sustained. That was a nice surprise from my extra route.
There were many people, some eye-catching displays and some stalls selling vegetarian food. I felt bad that I couldn't bring myself to the stalls as I was so burdened to a point that sitting down was difficult. Didn't know what to do, I hanged around and walked towards the main stage. "Please make way! Please make way!" Seeing few flagbearers and drummers approaching, that was the opening of the highlight.
Here comes the highlight. Each participating villager wears a t-shirt with their village name on.
The first dragons approached, dancing, swirling around the crowd, and the crowd (esp. those near the centre of the road) had to move around to make space for the dragon from time to time. After the dragons, here came the lions.
(Just at this very moment, I realised I could distinguish them by their body length.) Under these lions on the right were some youngsters, impressive.
After that a few more dragons arrived and danced together, I decided to follow the crowd to enter the bamboo theatre.
Grandeur.
(No woman was harmed during this photo)
The altar at the back of the theatre
It was indeed a large theatre, inside were different booths, sections etc. There was even a large altar at the back for ritual (the 7pm one I mentioned) from there I knew the festival was Taoism. I drew to the lion dance near me, the lion was approaching to small altar representing their village for paying respect.
Soon the dragons entered and performed another dance. Here watching under the bamboo theatre, it felt special, watching the dancers ran across in front of you is extra special. The passion, the teamwork, the pride in them. It's really something else.
Shoutout to this dragon dance team from Shui Mei Tsuen that I witnessed so near
That means you are not tall enough
It was great, so many things happened here, just I was so tired so I left before 7:30pm. This is a question so many asked after the festival: "Will I be here for the next one?" No one knows.
Carpe diem.
The Jiao festival is over on Dec 19, but the bamboo theatre isn't by the time I'm writing this (early January 2026). On the weekend of Jan 17-18, there will be dragon dance competition and Cantonese Opera performance at the theatre. More details should be available on that Facebook group so go check that out.
I tried to include all my photos here but I can't, so go look up the album, link at the top of this post.
Some of my photos of Jiao Festival 2025 are available as stock on Shutterstock, more on Alamy later.
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