The village Spring Festival gala is a cultural symbol of Lishui. [Photo/Tide News]

The first China Mass Cultural Brand Development Conference recently unveiled 69 national outstanding cases of mass culture brands. Among them, the Lishui Village Spring Festival Gala, a rural cultural event in East China's Zhejiang province, was selected as a model for mass cultural activities.

The Lishui Village Spring Festival Gala started at Yueshan village in Qingyuan county, Lishui city, where local villagers put on various shows to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

The Yueshan model of rural cultural celebrations has since been widely promoted, enriched, innovated and upgraded in Lishui. More than 100 distinctive village galas, such as the Jingning She autonomous county's "Hundred Villages" gala, Yunhe county's intangible cultural heritage-themed gala and Jinyun county's Wuju Opera-themed gala, have blossomed in Lishui.

At present, 65 percent of the village galas in Lishui are self-organized by the villagers. The number of village galas had increased from 113 in 2013 to 1,190 in 2022. More than 1,000 farmer directors, over 300,000 villager performers, nearly 800,000 spectators and more than 200,000 tourists have participated in these events.

The village galas are indispensable cultural events for Lishui villagers and a source of income for them. Leveraging the brand effect of the Yueshan Village Spring Festival Gala, the total revenue of rural tourism in Qingyuan county grew at average annual rate of 7.9 percent from 306 million yuan ($41.94 million) to 415 million yuan over the past five years.