Time To Celebrate!
|
|
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and/or the event.
There is no better way of appreciating a new culture than by taking part in one of its festivals. Some festivals are celebrated by an entire country, while others are unique to a single city or region, but either way festivals play an important role in a culture's identity.
Lobster love-in, garlic galore or a good ole tomato fight? You decide. |
Mark your diaries and prepare your stomach, festivals for the next 12 months are waiting for you. From rolling cheese in Gloucestershire to wife carrying in Scandinavia, the world is quirky, colourful and downright bizarre.
For example, a great fire festival should be on everybody’s bucket list. These festivals may not be to everyone's taste but they are what they are. |
Paying tribute to some of the more unique and outrageous reasons people celebrate life around the world,
please find below our pick of popular festivals...
please find below our pick of popular festivals...
Rio Carnival, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro boasts some of the world's nicest beaches and finest ladies. Carnival week is second-to-none when it comes to partying. Some would even argue that their laws encourage boozing. Any way you look at it, like Mecca, every able-bodied person must make a trip to Rio at one point or another in his life. A week in the world's party capital and you'll come back with as many new dance moves as photos. |
Songkran, Pattaya
Starting April, the country engages in a nationwide water fight. Folks pile into pickup trucks and gather on roadsides to splash & smear powder on each other's faces. Pattaya's Songkran dates from 17th - 19th of April. On the last day, the entire beach road is cordoned for traffic and swarms of locals and tourist emerge to an extravaganza of performances, promotions, even a beauty contest. |
Oktoberfest, Munich
One word: beer. By far the most celebrated and duplicated drinkfest, the annual beer fest starts midday as Munich's mayor pulls the first pint after a huge parade through the city's streets. The local breweries fight for bragging rights by showcasing their massive arsenal. The Hofbrauhaus attracts the rowdiest (i.e. drunkest) masses and hottest party. Get there early and grab a seat, waiters only serve those seated. |
La Tomatina, Spain
The whole point of this festival is to throw tomatoes at people. Yeah. Its awesome. It's the world's most famous food fight. But surplus has to be put to some use. La Tomatina hails back to the 1940s, where it kicked off as a food fight in a local eatery. The food fight grew and grew, and now around 30,000 visitors home in on the village Bunol each year to lob kilos of squishy fruit at each other. |
Queensday, Amsterdam
Although their Queen’s birthday is really during winter, she celebrates it on April 30th, the country’s official “Queen’s Day” since 1949. Orange is the national color, and the streets become a sea of fluorescent wigs, feather boas, and body paint, as crowds gather in the plazas and on boats in the canals. Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, with many live music acts, but nearly every town is alive with orange. |
Boryeong Mud Festival, Seoul
Let the mudslinging begin! Nearly 3 million people come to splashed with mud each year at Daecheon Beach. The Festival began to popularise Boryeong Mud health products, and has been held every July ever since. If you don’t want to leave soaked with mud caked on every inch of your body. Wrestle and slide in the mud, swim in it, get a mud massage, go nuts. You might even be crowned “mud king.” |
Calle Ocho, Miami
The largest street party in the world, it's the grand finale to Carnival celebration. Started in 1978, it sees the closure for a day of more than 20 blocks along Calle Ocho through Little Havana, the Cuban pulse of Miami, for a party attended by around one million people. The sounds of salsa and merengue fill the street from 30 stages. Hundreds of food stalls and kiosks offering a Caribbean Sea of tastes. |
Las Fallas, Spain
You like fire? Well, the locals of Valencia sure do, as 500,000 people cram the city to watch huge puppets get torched and burn in flames. The fallas are actually huge sculptures of papiermâché on wood, built by teams of local artists. Reaching up to 15m in height, with the most expensive costing more than €350,000 to build, these grotesque, colourful effigies satirise celebrities, current affairs and local customs. |
Carnival of Venice
An annual festival, the Carnival ends with Lent, "Dov'e il gabinetto!" or "At a carnival, every joke is disgraced!" Masks have always been a main feature of the annual Venetian carnival. It is the most internationally known festival as well as one of the oldest. This congregation of masked people, called Venice Carnival, began in the 15th century, but the tradition can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th Century. |
The Nice Carnival
This 15 day winter event has unforgettable spectacles and lots of activities. Carnival parades of magnificent giant decors on large floats across Place Masséna. Lively, colourful parades, day and night involving over 1,000 musicians and dancers from the four corners of the world. In a uniquely exquisite setting, the Promenade des Anglais, elegant battles of the flowers are a feature not to be missed. |
Batalla Del Vino, Spain
June 29th is a good day to visit Haro, Spain. Bring a bottle of vino and prepare to be drenched in red wine. After mass, crowds flock to the hills for the battle, where white shirts are stained bright purple by the end of the morning. Hundreds of Spaniards celebrate by soaking each other with wine, using any means possible. Squirt guns, sprayers, boxed wine and bottles are used to wet everyone within range. |
Canal Parade, Amsterdam
Amsterdam hosts the only water-borne gay-pride parade in the world, known as the Canal Pride, it is a procession of up to a hundred decorated boats that make their way down the city’s waterways. The canal parade is the festival's centrepiece, with lavishly decorated barges. Plenty of cultural events, museums and art galleries offer special gay themes. Also reading sessions, concerts and debates. |
Grape Harvest Festival, Prague
14-15 September The Grape Harvest Festival ranks among the most popular social events for wine experts and wine lovers. Celebrations take place in numerous Czech and Moravian towns and they commence the most beautiful activity on vineyards – collecting grapes, pressing, making of “burčák”/new wine and wine. For the rest of us, it is a great celebration of tasteful drink. Many Czech music stars, folklore companies and fencers perform. |
Game Show, Tokyo
Sept 21-22 The Tokyo Game Show is an annual trade show for video game developers. Held since 1996, it is one of the world's biggest game shows, which companies use as a venue to launch new products and show off their latest innovations and technology. The show is held over four days. Throughout the trade show you can see the latest game debuts and trailers, as well as try out the newest demos from top developers around the world. |
Motor Show, Tokyo
Nov 23 - Dec 1 One of the world's top motor shows, taking place every two years. It features the latest production vehicles of domestic and international brands, including many concept cars. Many of the featured vehicles have their world debut here, and that, combined with the show's demonstrations and hands on events, offers visitors a chance to see and experience some of the latest in vehicle engineering, passenger safety and green technology. |
Chocolate Festival, Stockholm
All about quality and indulgence. Spread the word on top quality chocolate, and the people who work with it. The annual Chocolate Festival is one of the big highlights of the fall. Enjoy the best gourmet chocolate and meet bakers and other experts. There are demonstrations, shows and competitions including a chocolate sculpture competition and the prestigious "Cake Maker of the Year" |
Keukenhof, Netherlands
World's greatest flower show, gets around 800,000 visitors yearly. Selling flowers and plants nets around 1.5€ billion a year at Bloemenveiling (Flower Auction). In the 79 acres of wooded green burst forth in Spring, producing millions of varied varieties of tulips, narcissi, daffodils, hyacinths, bluebells, crocuses, and many others. The color blaze is everywhere, in parks, along paths, etc. |
|