Traditional Festivals
Traditional Festivals
76 Traditional Festivals Articles 12 Traditional Festivals Snippets 75 Traditional Festivals Photo Galleries 40 Traditional Festivals Videos 42 Traditional Festivals Websites
Traditional Festivals » 76 Articles
Article Title: Festival of San Fermin
Festival Name: San Fermin
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Traditional, Party
The Festival of San Fermin, first made famous outside of Spain by Ernest Hemingway in his novel 'The Sun Also Rises' (also known as 'Fiesta')
Article Title: La Tomatina - The World's Biggest Food Fight
Festival Name: La Tomatina
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Party, Traditional
As history spells it out, what began in 1944 as a simple tomato fight between a group of friends in the town's main square - the Plaza del Pueblo - has turned into arguably the worlds largest food fight. Actually, there is very little to argue about.
Article Title: Day of the Dead
Festival Name: Day of the Dead
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Religious, Family
It's early November in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the city and surrounding countryside are dripping flowers in preparation for the Day of the Dead. It sounds mournful, even somewhat ominous, but the atmosphere here is more jovial than funereal.
Article Title: Mexico's Devilishly Dark Side
Festival Name: Day of the Dead
Festival Country: Mexico
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Pagan, Religious
El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) is Mexico's popular two-day holiday honouring the dead. Oaxaca, 550 kilometres southeast of Mexico City, is one region where this strong holiday tradition survives.
Article Title: Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling
Festival Name: Cheese Rolling
Festival Country: England
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Sport - Bizarre, Traditional
I never expected to spend my May Bank Holiday weekend as a participant in one of Europe's wackiest and most dangerous events, but there I was, perched atop a huge, steep, bumpy hill in Gloucestershire as an entrant in the third race of the day, about to throw myself down after a piece of rolling cheese.
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: Naked Men Festival - Hadaka Matsuri
Festival Name: Naked Men Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Nude, Traditional
In the Hadaka Matsuri (the Naked Men Festival) instead of sharing good fortune, for one night, every February, 10,000 tattoo-less men gather at the Buddhist temple to fight for it.
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: Viana do Bolo Flour Festival
Festival Name: Flour Festival
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Bizarre, Community
The whole Latin world celebrates carnival during this time, and Galicia is no different. Different areas celebrate in different ways, all with their own trademark. One such trademark is the orgy of flour throwing which engulfs the town of Viana do Bolo, in Ourense, every year.
Article Title: Songkran
Festival Name: Songkran
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Religious, Bizarre
During Songkran everyone is armed. Old and young, all have buckets, bottles, hoses, urns, water guns and even the fire tender is on hand to add to the total sum of water.
Article Title: The Common Ridings of the Scottish Border
Festival Name: Common Ridings - Hawick
Festival Country: Scotland
Festival Type(s): Traditional, National, Party
For centuries the Scottish border towns of Hawick, Jedburgh, Lauder and Selkirk have been keeping a watchful eye on their southern neighbours, the ever-so-meddlesome English. In years past these Common Ridings of the Scottish border were horseback patrols to ensure those southerners knew where their boundary ended and the Scottish frontier began.
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: Vappu - Finland's Carnival
Festival Name: Vappu
Festival Country: Finland
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Party, National
Finland's Carnival-style celebration of Vappu is one of Europe's best kept party secrets as hundreds of thousands take to the streets of Helsinki to usher in Spring
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: The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival
Festival Name: Colorado Dragon Boat Festival
Festival Country: USA
Festival Type(s): Dragon Boat, Sport - Water, Traditional
The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival is an awesome display of Asian arts, food and of course the main event of dragon boat racing.
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 Festival of Sant Jordi at Montblanc
Festival Name: The Festival of Sant Jordi at Montblanc
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Medieval, Traditional
According to the Catalan historian, Joan Amades, the walls of Montblanc are the origin of Catalonia's most famous legend Sant Jordi, celebrated throughout Catalunya on the 23rd of April.
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 Festival of The Patum
Festival Name: The Patum
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Dance - Folk, Medieval
Barcelona simmers in June day time heat as the refreshing evenings grow steadily longer. Firecrackers left by teenagers in street rubbish bins explode late at night, reminding us that the longest day of the year celebrated on the eve of Sant Joan, the 23rd of June, is only just round the corner.
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: Ancient Rome Comes Alive in Jerash: Jordan's Roman City
Festival Name: Ancient Roman Re-enactment
Festival Country: Jordan
Festival Type(s): Historical, Traditional, Re-enactments
No sooner had we sat down in the semi-reconstructed Hippodrome at Jerash, Jordan's Roman city, a massive arena that once seated 15,000 spectators then, in the distance, I witnessed the appearance of a part of a Roman Legion, in a few minutes a re-enactment of the golden days of Rome came alive before us.
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: Thaipusam - Festival of Faith
Festival Name: Thaipusam
Festival Country: Malaysia
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Bizarre, Religious
As an avid attendee of matsuri (traditional festivals) across my adopted home country of Japan, I had thought there was little to touch them in terms of color, vivacity and raw animism. Until I went to Malaysia's Thaipusam festival, that is.
Article Title: Fertile Fun
Festival Name: Hounen Penis Fertility Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Traditional, Street Parade
Remember the joke about the three old ladies and the flasher? Two had a stroke, but the other one couldn't quite reach.... Well, the Hounen matsuri (festival), held annually at Komaki's Tagata-jinja shrine, provides plenty of opportunities for all present to get their hands on some outsized phalli.
Article Title: Midsummers in Sweden
Festival Name: Midsummer
Festival Country: Sweden
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Summer, Party
I've discovered that Scandinavian summers are different to those in Australia. For instance, they have a middle. The middle in this case being Midsummer, a festival celebrating the longest day of the year, which in this part of the world can be pretty much an entire day.
Article Title: Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
Festival Name: Mid-Autumn Moon Festival
Festival Country: Taiwan
Festival Type(s): Lunar, Traditional
Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the more important holidays on the Chinese calendar. I'd heard of it at in college, but didn't really know anything about it, other than looking at the moon was important.
Article Title: Siena Palio
Festival Name: Siena Palio
Festival Country: Italy
Festival Type(s): Sport - Equestrian, Sport - Bizarre, Traditional
It was Palio, the biggest event in a Sienese year. When the local contrada's (districts) take to the track with their finest horses and race for a coveted silk banner. When horses become Gods, passions are high and the square fills with the excitement of a race for glory.
Article Title: Luminara and Historical Regatta of Saint Ranieri
Festival Name: Luminara and Historical Regatta of Saint Ranieri
Festival Country: Italy
Festival Type(s): Sport - Water, Traditional, Historical
Around 9:30 PM on June 16th, the eve of feast day of Saint Ranieri who
is the patron saint of Pisa, the buildings along the Arno River are
transformed into a fantastical fairyland setting.
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: 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: An Irish Christmas - St. Stephen's to New Year's Eve
Festival Name: Christmas
Festival Country: Ireland
Festival Type(s): Christmas, Religious, Traditional
When I was a little girl, the day after Christmas was almost as much fun as the day itself. It was, and still is, a national holiday in Great Britain and Ireland, which makes a great deal of sense to me; adults get a day off to relax (or recuperate!), kids can look forward to going to the pantomime, and best of all, there's still that magical feeling of good cheer in the air.
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: The Wetter the Better - Thailand's Songkran Festival
Festival Name: Songkran Water Festival
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Traditional
Imagine this scene: scads of Clampett-like hillbilly families crammed into the back of pickup trucks, chugging along in bumper-to-bumper traffic and squirting water at other vehicles and pedestrians. The water warriors use squirt guns, super soakers, hoses, buckets, garbage cans and anything else they can get their hands on in order to disperse their liquid ammunition. Drive-by squirtings everywhere.
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.
Article Title: The Festival of the Soggy Bed and Some Guy Called Our Pat
Festival Name: The Championships - Wimbledon
Festival Country: England
Festival Type(s): Sport - Racquet, Traditional
As far as sporting festivals go they don't come much purer than the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club's annual Championships, at Wimbledon.
Article Title: Chicago - Festivals, Shopping & Eating Out
Festival Name: Chicago Festivals
Festival Country: USA
Festival Type(s): Local, Traditional
As I drove into Chicago recently I asked my limousine driver what he liked best about living in Chicago. He replied, 'Chicago is an exhilarating city with a non-ending variety of activities - a great place to have fun and enjoy yourself.'
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: Dragon Boat Races
Festival Name: Dragon Boat Races
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Dragon Boat, Sport - Water, Traditional
Throughout the spring and early summer an annual tradition is carried out in many of the fishing ports around Okinawa. This colorful event is called the Haari or Dragon Boat Races.
Article Title: Two Up in Kalgoorlie
Festival Name: Two Up in Kalgoorlie
Festival Country: Australia
Festival Type(s): Traditional, National
It's a well-known fact that Australians will bet on anything. Two flies climbing a wall will attract a bet on which one will reach a particular position first. There's also a well-known Australian pastime of dividing a sports-field into a number of squares and letting a cow loose after priming it with large amounts of food. Punters then select a square and place their bets.
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: Elephant riding...is this trip necessary?
Festival Name: Elephant Riding in Thailand
Festival Country: Thailand
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Animal
My trip was billed as 'Bangkok and Beyond.' A more suitable title would have been 'Bangkok and WAY Beyond.' Traveling in Thailand offers the dedicated traveler an unrivaled cultural experience in a land where the word exotic still means something.
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.
Article Title: Kanamara Matsuri Festival - Festival of the Steel Phallus
Festival Name: Kanamara Matsuri Festival - Festival of the Steel Phallus
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Traditional, Adult
A large, pink phallus turns the corner and heads down the street. Sitting atop the shoulders of 10-12 men in bandanas, it bobs up and down to their rhythmic chants. Locals carve white radishes into images of the male reproductive system, preparing to auction them off at an afternoon banquet. Transvestites line the street; their red lipstick and hairy legs are no less a contrast than the grandmother who's licking on a lollypop that's in the shape of a....well, you can probably guess by now.
Article Title: Torajan Funeral
Festival Name: Torajan Funeral
Festival Country: Indonesia
Festival Type(s): Religious, Indigenous, Traditional
Whatever the sights, there's no doubt that the highlight of a trip to Tana Toraja, the area of central Sulawesi whose capital is Rantepao, is to visit a funeral. This is easier than it sounds: because the funeral celebrations take a lot of preparation, not to mention expense, the Torajans have two funerals for each death, much like the Balinese; the first one is a private affair straight away after the death, and the body is preserved in the house where it died until the necessary cash has been saved up for the second one, a much bigger, more public affair. Because the second funeral is effectively a huge party and can be held at any time, it tends to be organised for between July and October when the relatives can come to visit more easily, during the school holidays. This leads to the strange concept of the Funeral Season, which Rose and I were lucky enough to catch the end of.
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: Cherry Blossom Festival
Festival Name: Cherry Blossom Festival
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Floral, Local, Traditional
Visitors come from all over the island, from mainland Japan, and even from other countries to see the earliest sign of the approaching spring.
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: The Legends of Christmas Eve
Festival Name: Christmas
Festival Country: Worldwide
Festival Type(s): Christmas, Religious, Traditional
No night in all the year is so charged with the supernatural as Christmas Eve - or so the legends say.
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: 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: 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: Volunteering in the Land of the Blue Sky
Festival Name: Naadam Festival
Festival Country: Mongolia
Festival Type(s): Sport - Equestrian, Traditional
Sun baked soil billowed around us, thrown up by hundreds of horses' hooves. As I stepped back to avoid the nomads streaming past on their stocky mounts I could feel dust particles grinding between my teeth and sticking to my skin. It had been less than two weeks since I had left the British Isles with a group of nine other volunteers to take part in a work and travel scheme in Mongolia working for the Mongolian Youth Development Centre (MYDC) for the summer, but we had been lucky enough to be given a couple of days off for the national Naadam Festival.
Article Title: Hallowe'en - Its origins and history
Festival Name: Halloween
Festival Country: Worldwide
Festival Type(s): Halloween, Religious, Traditional
Encyclopaedia Britannica states that Hallowe'en is 'All Hallows' Eve or All Hallows' Evening, a holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day'. This Christian festival was first introduced in the 7th century CE, initially on May 13th.
Article Title: Happy (Chinese) New Year!
Festival Name: Chinese New Year
Festival Country: China
Festival Type(s): New Year, Traditional
The Chinese calendar is based on lunar-solar cycles. Five cycles of twelve years each make up the entire lunar cycle of 60 years.
Article Title: Baripada Rath Yatra
Festival Name: Rath Yatra
Festival Country: India
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Cultural
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: April Fool's Day
Festival Name: April Fool's Day
Festival Country: Worldwide
Festival Type(s): Traditional
It is difficult to trace how April Fool's Day originated, but it seems to be connected with the date of the New Year under the Julian calendar.
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: Itel'men Tribal Harvest Festival - Kamchatka, Russia
Festival Name: Itel'men Tribal Harvest Festival
Festival Country: Russia
Festival Type(s): Indigenous, Harvest, Traditional
Out on the tundra, eyes level with the humps of juniper and blueberry bushes, I crouched and surveyed the horizon. The violet, burnt orange, purple, and brick red rolled in waves to the fading blue sky. Sunset on the far eastern reaches of Siberia.
Article Title: Seville's April Fair: Spain At Its Best
Festival Name: Abril Feria - April Fair
Festival Country: Spain
Festival Type(s): Traditional, Food and Wine, Party
The word 'Spain' invokes images of a most vibrant nation, Latin passion, proud bull-fighters, flamencos, and of course, of Carmen and Don Juan. Seville in the Andalusian region in southern Spain is the very embodiment of the Spanish character and spirit, and its cultural richness is best manifested by the annual week-long festival in this city during the last week of April -- Abril Feria, or April Fair.
Article Title: Meet me on the Green
Festival Name: Green River Rendezvous
Festival Country: USA
Festival Type(s): Indigenous, Historical, Traditional
Kick up the dust. Put on your best cowboy duds and get ready for some real down-home Americana at the Green River Rendezvous in Pinedale, Wyoming, a annual pageant offering a colorful collection of mountain men, explorers, Indians and well orchestrated drama showing the history of the region with a western bent.
Article Title: A Golden Christmas
Festival Name: Christmas
Festival Country: Venezuela
Festival Type(s): Christmas, Religious, Traditional
As the 25th approaches, the men start trickling back into the village from the myriad creeks they've been panning. The general store becomes a hub of activity. The ancient scales come out of their box and preside over the once-blue table outside.
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: Beer, Women and Huge Male Genitalia
Festival Name: Hounen Matsuri
Festival Country: Japan
Festival Type(s): Bizarre, Traditional, Adult
Not to be outdone, every March 15th, the small town of Komaki, Japan celebrates Hounen Matsuri. Matsuri means festival and Hounen, I'm fairly sure, means Big Wooden Penis. Okay, actually it means something much less interesting, but it SHOULD mean Big Wooden Penis, because there is, in fact, a Big Wooden Penis featured prominently throughout the festival.
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.
Traditional Festivals » 12 Snippets
Festival Name
Festival Country
England
Scotland
USA
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Czech Republic
Vanuatu
Benin
India
Spain
Traditional Festivals » 75 Photo Galleries
Festival Name
Festival Country
Panama
Cambodia
Bhutan
Netherlands
England
England
Spain
Mexico
Finland
Mexico
Chile
USA
Mexico
Japan
Finland
Scotland
Scotland
Hong Kong
Peru
Peru
Morocco
India
Malaysia
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Spain
Spain
Thailand
Thailand
Nepal
Taiwan
Sweden
USA
Romania
Spain
Spain
Cuba
Germany
Germany
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
USA
Malaysia
Malaysia
Spain
Spain
Australia
Finland
Finland
Finland
Haiti
Traditional Festivals » 40 Videos
Festival Name
Festival Country
England
Afghanistan
Turkey
Scotland
Mexico
Scotland
Mali
Chile
Uruguay
Niger
USA
Scotland
Mexico
Afghanistan
Spain
Vanuatu
Spain
Turkey
Hong Kong
Libya
Japan
Germany
Cook Islands
Spain
Thailand
Ireland
Taiwan
Japan
Finland
Thailand
Turkey
Traditional Festivals » 42 Websites
Festival Name
Festival Country
Brazil
India
India
Scotland
Mexico
Mali
France
Australia
Australia
Scotland
Italy
Bulgaria
Bahamas
India
Turkey
Oman
Germany
India
Thailand
India
India
Scotland
Thailand
Ireland
England
Vietnam
Samoa
Papua New Guinea
Scotland
New Zealand
Poland
England
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promote your festival website | promote your travel website | travel sites
country guides | travel services
search | site map | privacy policy
about 2camels | contact 2camels | link to 2camels
our writers | our photographers | writer's guidelines | photographer's guidelines
world nomads promotional code
