Festivals are parties put on by communities to celebrate special
events or aspects of their culture and heritage. Yet out of all the
international festivals, these definitely top the list!
Here's a jaw-dropping look at these celebrations! Enjoy! :)
Snow & Ice Festival in Harbin, China.
This annual festival has been held in Harbin, a city in northeast China
that is not far from cold and wintry Siberia, since 1963. The average winter
temperature in Harbin is -16.8 degrees Celsius, what creates the perfect
climate for the wondrous ice and snow sculptures.
The highlight of the festival are the life-size buildings created out
of 2-3 feet thick blocks and lit up at night in a rainbow of colors.
The Hindu Holi Festival. Holi is the Hindu festival of colors that is celebrated
throughout the world in the months of February and March.
Holi celebrates the coming of spring and its abundant colors and for many Hindu's
it marks the beginning of a New Year. Children and youth spray the colored powders,
known as gulal, all over each other to celebrate new beginnings, or just to
experience becoming a human tie-dye.
Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. In Spanish the 'encierro' festival occurs
every July to celebrate a 14th century Spanish tradition. The bulls would be
transferred from their pens to the bullring, where they would participate in
a fight the next evening. Today, about a dozen bulls are let loose on the streets,
while thousands of on-lookers in red and white risk their lives to get close to the
fierce bulls.
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico is a
yearly festival displaying some of the world's greatest hot air balloons that
takes place in the month of October. The festival began in 1972 to mark the
50th birthday celebration of a popular New Mexico radio station. Then, only
13 balloons went on display, while today over 600 balloons fly high in what
is the largest balloon convention in the world.
Songkran Water Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand is a huge water fight that marks
the New Year on the 13-15 of April, known as songkran. During the celebration,
Thais roam the streets with hoses, buckets and water guns that they spray on
their friends and family, or innocent by-passers. The water is meant to cleanse
the soul and spirit for the New Year to come, and sometimes the buckets are even
filled with fragrant herbs.
The Mexican Day of the Dead. The Mexican holiday, Dia de Muertos, is celebrated
in Mexico and all around the world, and as its name suggests, its purpose is to
remember the dead. Friends and family gather together on October 31-November 2 to
visit the graves of their deceased loved ones, and along the way dress up in
spooky skeleton costumes. Some scholars believe that the origins of the holiday
may trace back to an ancient Aztec festival that celebrated the spirits of the
dead.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana. The day before the Christian celebration of
Ash Wednesday, the crazy carnival of Mardi Gras begins to take over the city of
New Orleans. Also known as Fat Tuesday, this is the last opportunity for
Christians refraining from meats and fatty foods during the Lent season to get in
their final binge. Millions of tourists from around the world flock to the
jazz-filled and parade ridden streets of New Orleans to bathe in green, yellow
and purple, the holiday's traditional colors.
La Tomatina in Bunol, Spain. If you ever dreamt of being smeared with tomatoes,
then this Spanish festival is your chance! Every August in this small Spanish
town a huge tomato fight occurs of which the origins are unknown. A crowd of
people gathers in the town square with their tomatoes ready for a whole lot of
red fun!
The Carnival of Venice in Venice, Italy. Much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans,
Carnevale marks the beginning of Lent and ends the day before Ash Wednesday. The
style of the Carnevale celebration is thought to have originated in the 12th
century when the people of Venice celebrate the victory of the Republic of
Venice.
For over two centuries Carnevale was banned, until the celebrations
started up again in 1979. The festival, however, hasn't lost any of it's
medieval flavor and the party-goers still wear traditional masks and dress.
Cascamorras in Baza and Guadix, Spain. Every year on September 6, two Spanish towns
of Baza and Guadix in Granada fight for possession of the Virgen de la Piedad
statue. The festival is named for Cascamorras, a man from Guadix that worked in
Baza and found an image of the Virgin Mary. Since then, the battle for possession
of the statue created in her image is celebrated in a three-day reenactment and
festival of the ancient battle.
Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. One of the world's most popular and celebrated
festivals, this 16-day celebration takes place from late September into the first
week of October. This beer-drinking and merry frolicking festival was initiated
by King Ludwig I to celebrate his royal wedding and to promote Bavarian agriculture.
Today, millions of visitors flock to cities all over Germany to celebrate Octoberfest
with pints of beers and old-fashioned merry-go-rounds to wash them down.
Burning Man in Black Rock Desert, Nevada. This iconic event has only been
around since the 1980s, but it's popularity among young people around the world
has spiked its current attendance to over 50,000!
The first burning man was held by Larry Harvey on a beach near San Francisco,
when he burned a 9 foot tall effigy as an act of "radical self-expression".
Today, the festival has been moved to the desert in Nevada and is filled with
music and entertainment of all kinds, but still burns an effigy every year.
Up Helly Aa in Shetland, Scotland. These fire festivals are held every year in
the middle of winter to mark the end of the Christmas season. People dress up
as guizers, or characters from folk plays, and carry torches through their
village.
The first Christmas torch procession of this kind took place in 1876, and today
the festival takes place throughout Scotland. The final touch of the festival
harks back to Scotland's Viking roots, when a torch is thrown into an old ship
and burned.
Lantern Festival in Pingxi, Taiwan. One of the world's most beautiful celebrations,
the Lunar Festival throughout the Asian world marks the last day of the lunar
New Year celebration.
The use of lanterns to mark the end of the festivities traces back to the Chinese
emperors that decided to light the cities up for the celebrations. Today, there are
lanterns in all shapes and forms, some that are even too big and detailed to be
true!
New Years Eve parties in and around Times Square amplifies the intense excitement
of the Times Square Ball Drop. With millions in attendance and billions watching
world wide, this global tradition is one not to miss! Dropping since 1907, the
Times Square Ball is the iconic symbol that lives atop One Times Square.
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