Cultural Festivals
Cultural Festivals
48 Cultural Festivals Articles 6 Cultural Festivals Snippets 41 Cultural Festivals Photo Galleries 21 Cultural Festivals Videos 49 Cultural Festivals Websites
Cultural Festivals » 48 Articles
Article Title: Heart and Soul of Amazonas
Festival Name: Boi Bumba
Festival Country: Brazil
Festival Type(s): Music - Traditional, Cultural, Traditional
To really enjoy Manaus, you need to step outside of the typical tourist mode and experience the spirit of the people and possibly a "festa" (festival or party) or three. Outside of "Carnaval", which is a big festival throughout Brazil (not just Rio) just before the start of the Catholic Lenten season, Boi Bumba is the region's largest and most famous festival.
Article Title: Boun Khao Padabdin
Festival Name: Boun Khao Padabdin
Festival Country: Laos
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Religious, Cultural
The monk is up a ladder hanging bunting. "What's the bunting for?" I ask. He explains that August 20th is Boun Khao Padabdin, the day when Laotians honour their ancestors and bring offerings to the temple. "Come along," he says.
Article Title: Vodou (Voodoo) Festival
Festival Name: Vodou Festival
Festival Country: Haiti
Festival Type(s): Religious, Cultural, Traditional
Despite being demonized by many people, Vodou (Voodoo) is not the savage quasi-religion the horror movies would have you believe. It is still widely practiced in the Caribbean nation of Haiti (often alongside Christianity) and is a religion, culture and philosophy encompassing music, dance, language, justice, storytelling, art and ritual.
Article Title: Phimai Festival
Festival Name: Phimai Festival
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Dance - Folk, Family
Each November the town of Phimai, along with the Tourist Authority of Thailand, hosts a magnificent festival in celebration of the region's cultural history. The occasion offers visitors plenty of entertainment and a chance to delve into Northeastern Thailand's cultural roots.
Article Title: Phuket Vegetarian Festival
Festival Name: Phuket Vegetarian Festival
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Cultural, Religious
Deafening fireworks, raucous drums, colorful flags, floats and flowers, the pungent smell of Chinese herbs, and a procession of trance-induced young men and women, bodies and faces punctured by objects as diverse and bizarre as swords, mechanical tools or plant life...welcome to Phuket's Vegetarian Festival!
Article Title: The Holi Festival
Festival Name: Holi
Festival Country: India
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural, Bizarre
Holi is all about colour, namely colour in the hair, colour on the face, colour on your clothes, colour all over the streets and colour just about anywhere else it'll stick.
Article Title: The Dreaming - Australia's International Indigenous Festival
Festival Name: The Dreaming Festival
Festival Country: Australia
Festival Type(s): Indigenous, Cultural, Music - Traditional
Something very special is happening in the hills behind the Sunshine Coast.
Something that turns dreams into reality.
Article Title: Serenading Mariachis - The Heart and Soul of Mexico
Festival Name: Mariachis in Mexico
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): Music - Traditional, Traditional, Cultural
Proudly they stood in matching garb overshadowed by their huge, broad-rimmed and silver-embroidered sombreros. Their traditional silver decorated costumes with short jackets, tight-fitting wool pants, ruffled white shirts and pointed shining boots appeared to emphasize and give colour to their tunes.
Article Title: Sardine Heaven - The Feast of St. Anthony
Festival Name: Feast of St. Anthony
Festival Country: Portugal
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Religious, Cultural
The storeowner told me they were the "brides of St. Anthony," and it was part of the saint's feast day traditions. He said the city hall traditionally hosts the bridal couples for free if they are poor.
Article Title: Budha's Birthday Celebrations in Hong Kong
Festival Name: Budha's Birthday
Festival Country: Hong Kong
Festival Type(s): Religious, Traditional, Cultural
The Lord Buddha's birthday falls in early May on the Chinese calendar, and since 1999 Hong Kong has celebrated it as a public holiday.
Article Title: Summer Festival of El Vendrell
Festival Name: Summer Festival of El Vendrell
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Summer, Traditional, Cultural
There is a really special Catalan destination that combines sun and sand with a twist of magic for four days at the end of July. The Festa Major of Vendrell (Summer Festival) celebrates the day of Saint Anna on and around the 26th July in true Mediterranean style.
Article Title: The Festivals of Valls: Humans Castles and Calçots
Festival Name: The Festivals of Valls
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural, Bizarre
One of the loveliest aspects of Catalonia, or certainly one of the most striking, is its capacity for local celebration. The Catalans are good at blowing their trumpets or more correctly stated the "gralle", an oboe like traditional Catalan instrument used in all the local festivities including Sardanas, Human Castles (Castellers) and the town parades of giants and puppets.
Article Title: The Dance of the Horned Man
Festival Name: The Dance of the Horned Man
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Dance - Folk, Cultural
A world away from the black garbed cross bearers of Barcelona's streets are the ruby red, horned dancers of Cornella del Terri, a small town located 113 kilometres north of Barcelona in the region of Girona.
Article Title: The Sunnet of Hussein Erol
Festival Name: A Turkish Sunnet
Festival Country: Turkey
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural, Community
Hussein's Grandfather drew a nine inch blade from his boot and pulling back the chin with one hand, made a quick, deep cut across the goat's throat. Blood spilled onto the dry olive leaves of the family orchard. Grandfather Erol thanked Allah, thanked the goat, he asked that his grandson Hussein be blessed. Then he flayed it, removed the hide and draped over the stone wall to dry.
Article Title: The Exciting Guelaguetza - The Epitome of Mexican Festivals
Festival Name: Guelaguetza
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural, Religious
"You should be here in July when we hold our annual Guelaguetza. It's the most beautiful festival in the world." My Zapotec Indian taxi driver in Oaxaca, capital of Mexico's most colourful state, exuded pride as he talked about his state's national dance extravaganza.
Article Title: Scarlett Does Québec
Festival Name: New France Festival - Les Fetes de la Nouvelle France
Festival Country: Canada
Festival Type(s): Historical, Cultural
The buildings in the old part of Québec City resembled a collection of
treasured jewels surrounded by ancient walls and crowned by the
beautiful Fairmont Le Château Frontenac Hotel. Looking down on the city
from the top of the funicular, a reasonable alternative from the very
long and straight-up stairway called 'Heart Attack', I was surprised by
the variety of colors of the copper roofs.
Article Title: Thailand's Loy Krathong
Festival Name: Loy Krathong
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Fireworks, Cultural
As with many traditional festivals, the Thai festival of Loy Krathong, known as Yi Peng in the north, has many conflicting explanations of its purposes. Is it a Brahmanic rite honoring the dead? A plea for an end to the rainy season? A celebration of the end of rice planting? An act of repentance for dirtying the river, an act of homage to the River Goddess Mae Khong Kha, or worship of the heavens generally? Is it a way of ridding oneself of bad luck, or the accumulated sins of the year past? Or is it merely another excuse for fun-loving Thais to whoop it up?
Article Title: New France Festival Transports Visitors Back in Time
Festival Name: New France Festival - Les Fetes de la Nouvelle France
Festival Country: Canada
Festival Type(s): Historical, Cultural
As I make my way down a crowded narrow street away from the Place Royale in Old Quebec, a young girl, dressed as a scullery maid, her blouse smeared with dirt, looks up shyly at me from the street corner much as she might have done in 18th-Century Quebec. Not far from her, two couples, dressed in elegant brocades, chat, the husband of second couple gently kissing the hand of the first woman with a hardy 'Enchanté.' If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn I had been transported back in time to the beginnings of this beautiful city. But here I am standing amidst crowds of animated people, many of whom are dressed in 17th and 18th-century costumes. For this is Quebec's renowned Les Fetes de la Nouvelle France, or New France Festival.
Article Title: An Un-Holi Mess
Festival Name: Holi
Festival Country: India
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural
Every visitor to India knows that it is one of the most colourful, noisy, chaotic, beautiful and frustrating countries there is. The festival of Holi encapsulates the intensity and contradictory nature of the country perfectly.
Article Title: Flowers, Floats, and Fun: The Festivals of Thailand
Festival Name: The Festivals of Thailand
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): National, Traditional, Cultural
Hardly a fortnight goes by in Thailand without some kind of celebration, traditional or otherwise. This is not an exaggeration. The Thais celebrate their royal family, flowers, departed kings, their constitution, Buddhism, children, teachers, fruit, and elephants. They celebrate three new years. And, during their most unabashedly gleeful holiday, Song Kran, they even celebrate being soaking wet.
Article Title: Imilchil Festival: Morocco
Festival Name: Imilchil Festival
Festival Country: Morocco
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural
A gathering of tribal folk for the sale of animals, and the exchange of wedding vows - 160 marriages performed over three days was a spectacle not to be missed.
Article Title: A Homage To Sevilla
Festival Name: Semana Santa
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Religious, Traditional
Semana Santa represents a pulsating celebration of Easter and is as much of a sacred tradition to the proud Andalucians, as the rather more barbaric pastime of Bullfighting.
Festival Name: Golden Week
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
Golden Week is one of the happiest times in Okinawa. With four holidays occurring within the week, many businesses are closed and schools are out. Those businesses that have to remain open can count on increased revenues as people celebrate the different holidays.
Article Title: Hamauri - A Cleansing Tradition
Festival Name: Hamauri - Beach Visiting Day
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural
In early April you may be surprised to see more people than usual at the beaches. April 2nd (or March 3rd on the lunar calendar) is the day Hamauri or Beach Visiting is celebrated. This tradition all began with a very strange legend.
Article Title: St. Michael's Carrots - The Feast of St. Michaels
Festival Name: St. Michael's Carrots - The Feast of St. Michaels
Festival Country: Ireland
Festival Type(s): Religious, Traditional, Cultural
On the afternoon of the Sunday preceding Michaelmas, women and girls in the Hebrides gather St. Michael's wild carrots. But they don't just dig them up haphazardly - a very special ritual must be observed.
Article Title: Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day!
Festival Name: Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day
Festival Country: Ireland
Festival Type(s): Religious, Traditional, Cultural
Throughout the British Isles and in many European countries, the day before Ash Wednesday - Shrove Tuesday - is commonly known as Pancake Day. As children, we loved watching the Pancake Races. Usually, the contestants were housewives. Each of them carried a skillet which contained a large, very thin pancake. The idea was for the women to race to the finish line, tossing their pancakes as they ran. It was hilarious - especially when a stray pancake landed where it wasn't supposed to!
Article Title: A Celebration of Culture
Festival Name: Historic Center Festival of Mexico City
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): Historical, Cultural, Traditional
Vying with Tokyo as the largest city in the world, Mexico City offers a myriad of cultural opportunities. But none shows off the city more than the Historic Center Festival held each year in April
Article Title: Doll Festival
Festival Name: Doll Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
Hina Matsuri translates into "doll festival" but this fun holiday is more commonly known as Girls Day and is celebrated every March 3rd.
Festival Name: Borobudur Sunrise
Festival Country: Indonesia
Festival Type(s): Religious, Cultural, Historical
It was more the intricacy than the size of Borobudur that first caught my attention. Although undoubtedly immense, the grand scale of Borobudur cannot truly be appreciated from a distance. Not unlike a pyramid or mountain in its overall appearance it challenges the traditional model of a temple in that it lacks an enclosed structure that is home to a depiction of a deity.
Article Title: Moon Over My Army
Festival Name: Full Moon Party
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Lunar, Traditional, Cultural
A popular legend tells a very sad tale. It seems Gosamaru was the lord of the Village of Yamada in Yomitan. He built Zakimi Castle, took part in foreign trade and became very rich and powerful.
Article Title: The Festivals (Fiestas) of Ecuador
Festival Name: Ecuador Festivals
Festival Country: Ecuador
Festival Type(s): National, Traditional, Cultural
Music, parades, dressing up, beauty contests, dancing in the streets, drinking, feasting, bull fighting, cock fighting, firecrackers - the Ecuadorians love a good party and there's nothing like a fiesta to generate the right mood.
Article Title: Coming of Age Day - Seijin No Hi
Festival Name: Coming of Age Day - Seijin No Hi
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
Seijin No Hi was declared a national holiday in Japan in 1948 and in Okinawa in 1961. It is a day of tradition, but also of fun. In addition, it is a day of advice and wise words and a day to begin exercising the rights of adulthood.
Article Title: Thanksgiving - A Holiday for the Birds?
Festival Name: Thanksgiving
Festival Country: USA
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Historical, Cultural
Thanksgiving. A joyous celebration of the Old World meeting the New World. How exciting it must have been the day the first settlers stepped foot onto this strange and wonderful world and came face to face with the original natives of this exciting new land. (Not unlike the Grand Opening of a Caldor's.)
Article Title: Eisa, Eisa!
Festival Name: Eisa Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
The Eisa festival, held at the conclusion of Obon in late August, marks the end of summer and is the last big festival of the year. It is a time of great celebration and the time to bid farewell to the spirits of ancestors who have come back to earth for Obon.
Article Title: New Braunsfels, Texas: Merry making at the Wurstfest!
Festival Name: Wurstfest
Festival Country: USA
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Multicultural, Party
Recently, while driving into New Braunsfels, Texas, I was impressed by the small-town charm of the locale. It is evident that the city-fathers have managed to maintain the original old-world, Germanic ambiance. Even before you enter the area, the billboards along IH 35 provide amusing reading-my all-time favorite: 'TACOS-GET STUFFED!'
Article Title: Tanabata Festival
Festival Name: Tanabata Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
If you love romance this is the festival for you! On the seventh night of the seventh moon, or July 7th, Tanabata is celebrated. Tanabata is also known as the Star Festival or the Festival of the Star-Crossed Lovers. First celebrated in 755, this festival as well as many others began with a popular legend.
Article Title: In the 'Spirit' of Welcome
Festival Name: Obon
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
The Japanese have long respected their elders who are held in high esteem for their wisdom. They bestow many honors upon them both before and after death. Okinawans return to their family homes for obon, some of them traveling thousands of miles.
Article Title: Nueva Ecija, Philippines: home of Araquio
Festival Name: Araquio Festival
Festival Country: Philippines
Festival Type(s): Religious, Cultural, Performing Art
Araquio festival - one of its kind in the Philippines, and maybe in the world as well. It is Nueva Ecija's very own theatrical-cum-religious presentation likened to that of the zarzuelas during the Spaniards regime in the country.
Article Title: Diwali - Festival of Lights
Festival Name: Diwali - Festival of Lights
Festival Country: India
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Traditional
Diwali - The Festival of Lights - apart from being the most widely celebrated is one of the most colorful Indian festivals. It is a festival of joy, splendour, brightness and happiness.
Article Title: Taxco - Mexico's Silver Fair
Festival Name: Mexico's Silver Fair
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): National, Art, Cultural
Located 185 km southwest of Mexico City, in the northern Guerrero State, the streets of Taxco (Tahs-co) are lined with silver--silver jewelry, that is. In 1953 to honor the silver artisans, Mexico's President declared the last Saturday in November through the first Sunday in December National Silver Day.
Article Title: Cape Town Minstrel Carnival
Festival Name: Cape Town Minstrel Carnival
Festival Country: South Africa
Festival Type(s): Street Parade, Cultural
As the southeast breeze kicks up outside Cape Town's Greenpoint Stadium, the sound of strumming banjos and banging drums reaches a crescendo, and thousands of merry minstrels hold onto their multicolored hats.
Article Title: Baripada Rath Yatra
Festival Name: Rath Yatra
Festival Country: India
Festival Type(s): Religious, Cultural, Traditional
Think Juggernaut. Your mind evokes images of a huge, crushing rolling force that spares nothing in its way. This word springs from Lord Jagannatha, the presiding deity of the state of Orissa, India.
Article Title: Juneteenth!
Festival Name: Juneteenth
Festival Country: USA
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Multicultural, Historical
On the morning of June 19, 1865, the residents of Galveston, Texas awoke to discover the streets filled with soldiers wearing blue uniforms. The Union Army had arrived in force. A crowd quickly gathered as men and women, blacks and whites, rushed from their homes to learn what was happening.
Article Title: Hahoe Folk Village
Festival Name: Andong Mask Dance Festival
Festival Country: South Korea
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Historical, Traditional
The restless spirits wanted appeasing so a plan was struck. One night one of them entered the dream of a young member of the Ho clan and instructed him to make wooden masks to be used in a ritual dance for the spirits' pleasure.
Festival Name: San Marcos Fair
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): Cultural, Fair, Traditional
The San Marcos Fair, held from the second week in April to the first week of May each year, attracts thousands of visitors from all over Mexico and the United States. It dates back to 1604 when a small indigenous Indian settlement, San Marcos, was founded within walking distance of the growing Spanish city of Aguascalientes.
Article Title: Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Festival Name: Dr. Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Cultural Festival
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): Music - Varied, Art, Cultural
For ten days at the end of January, the sleepy town of Alamos, Sonora, wakes up to the lilting strains of guitars, the pounding rhythms of rock bands and the echoing arias of opera stars, all part of the Dr. Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Cultural Festival.
Article Title: The Elephant Round Up in Surin
Festival Name: Surin Elephant Festival
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Animal, Cultural
People come from the far ends of the Kingdom even foreigners pour in bus and train loads from the likes of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. They all come to see what Asia's largest animal - the lovable elephant - can do and they rarely go away disappointed.
Article Title: Legends of Holi
Festival Name: Holi
Festival Country: India
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural
And Holi, the exuberant festival of colour, which is celebrated at this time of the year to rejoice the advent of Spring, is no exception. Holi is celebrated all over India, every region giving this festival its own flavour, zest and colour.
Cultural Festivals » 6 Snippets
Festival Name
Festival Country
Ireland
Czech Republic
Benin
Spain
Australia
Cultural Festivals » 41 Photo Galleries
Festival Name
Festival Country
Australia
Panama
England
Ireland
Mexico
Peru
Peru
India
Malaysia
India
Guatemala
Thailand
Thailand
Mongolia
Thailand
Romania
Spain
Germany
Germany
Singapore
Vietnam
Australia
Australia
Spain
Australia
Haiti
Cultural Festivals » 21 Videos
Festival Name
Festival Country
Mexico
Scotland
Mali
Niger
Scotland
Poland
India
Vanuatu
Turkey
Hong Kong
Libya
Japan
Cook Islands
India
Taiwan
Japan
Bhutan
Turkey
Cultural Festivals » 49 Websites
Festival Name
Festival Country
Australia
Kyrgyzstan
Australia
Mozambique
Turkey
Seychelles
Qatar
Germany
India
Scotland
Mexico
Mali
Canada
Italy
Australia
USA
England
India
Czech Republic
Malaysia
Guatemala
Germany
Botswana
Oman
Germany
Germany
Norway
India
Thailand
India
India
Ireland
Mexico
Australia
Vietnam
Samoa
Australia
Australia
Papua New Guinea
Turks and Caicos Islands
Scotland
Hungary
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