The world is an amalgamation of cultures that each has its unique way of expression as beliefs and practices reinforce one another. Festivals and events that celebrate specific dates, seasons, harvests and lunar positions are common around the world. These can be divided into secular and cultural festivals, also with field-specific fests that celebrate disciplines like art, architecture, history, science or society in general. Some international festivals based on different cultures around the world have overarching themes that introduce us to a whole new world. Most importantly the festivals bring together the common people be it the locals, enthusiasts or tourists.
The events around the world include sports, carnivals and music or cinema-based ones. Expert travellers recommend a list of iconic events that one should attend in their lifetime to have a memorable and exciting experience of the worldwide cultures.
Cultural Festivals
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Hoping for good fortune, the festival is celebrated with parades, lanterns, rituals, religiosity, feasts and the use of astrology to arrive at the mythical figure of the year, which is incorporated throughout the decorations. In the skyline of low-rise Chinese pagodas, the bright colours and brilliant fireworks add to the beauty of the city, thus attracting people from all over the world.
Black-necked Crane Festival
Bhutan’s main attraction is this celebration of the arrival of the endangered birds, which are regarded as sacred and symbolised for depicting longevity of life as they are believed to bring prosperity and bountiful harvests. The gathering is celebrated in the courtyard of Gangtey Goemba which is one of the largest and oldest monasteries in the country. The festival is celebrated in November every year, promoting the importance of environmental conservation.
Holi in India
The festival of colours is celebrated in North India to pay tribute to Lord Vishnu and his bhakt Prahalad, after the killing of the demon king, Hiranyakashyap, according to Hindu mythology. People fill the streets in swarms to sing, dance, spray the colours, throw water balloons and drench themself in the vibrant atmosphere.
Naadam Festival
The Mongolian Independence is celebrated in July in the capital city of Ulaanbataar as a National Holiday. It includes three main games- wrestling, horse-riding and archery. It dates back to the 13th century, also known as the Three Games of Men. It features elaborate celebrations with music and dance before the competitions begin.
Songkran Festival in Thailand
The Songkran festival, also known as the Water Festival, represents the changes and transformations that society undergoes and hence signifies the importance of ritual cleansing and purification. Buddha is revered and rituals are performed during the festival including offering food to the monks, pouring water over the Buddha statue and also hosting parades, setting off crackers and holding beauty contests.
The Fuji Shibazakura Festival
This is a celebration of the springtime blooming of the Shibazakura flowers at the foothills of Mt.Fuji in Japan, which renders the landscape in shades of pink and purple.
Timket Festival in Ethiopia
It is an orthodox Christian festival in which the re-enactment of the vows made during baptism as the priests bless the water at dawn and sprinkle it over the crowds.
Vodoo Festival of Benin
The festival commemorates the estimated 60 million people who lost their homelands and their freedom during the African slave trade. Celebrated in a small town, Ouidah, the former slave port in the West African country of Benin, the annual voodoo festival gathers visitors from far.
St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, Ireland
The Irish pride is displayed in the parades in the capital city of Dublin, where the crowds gather for the holiday and are abuzz with whiskey, beer and good vibes.
La Tomatina, Spain
On the last Wednesday of August, in the Valencian town of Buñol, the city celebrates the tomato-throwing festival for sheer entertainment and to explore the wild side.
Oktoberfest at Germany
It is an important part of the Bavarian culture and world history, as the celebration unfurls with loud and clamouring traditionally-clad German revellers in beer halls. What began as a marriage celebration between Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese became an annual event, that the townspeople wanted to continue.
AgitÁgueda in Portugal
Águeda’s streets get a bright uplift in July, as colourful umbrella canopies line the streets of this town.
Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico
The festival is meant to celebrate the lives of loved ones who are no more. The marigold-filled altars and graveside flower installations combined with parades and Aztec rituals are meant to bring the spirits to life for the day. It also involves families and friends marching in big groups, many donning traditional skeleton makeup and colourful costumes.
Inti Raymi at Peru
The festival finds its origin in the 15th century established by the Incas. It is for honouring the history and culture of the ancient empire as the performers in the festival invoke praises to the Sun God, processions and rituals begin. It is known for the sound of horns, panpipes, and drums filling the air, with dances and music.
Honolulu Water Lantern Festival
It is celebrated on Memorial Day as more than 50,000 people gather to honour their loved ones, launching eco-friendly lanterns into the ocean.
The Gathering of Nations Festival in the USA
The Native Americans come together to celebrate this festival, since its official launch in 1984. The culture and history of the Indians is revered through celebration involving dancing, singing, drum performances and selling of the Native American handicrafts by the artisans.
Toronto International Film Festival (Canada)
It attracts around a million attendees with its mission “to transform the way people see the world through film.” The festival was founded in 1976 by Bill Marshal, Dustry Cohl, and Henk Van der Kolk, and was originally just a showing of the best films from other festivals around the world for Toronto audiences. Over time, it has grown to premiere hundreds of award-winning films in a broad variety of genres.
Mardi Gras
It is a Boozefest on Bourbon Street, but locals call it the New Orleans celebration that is deeply rooted in tradition and is really all about the gathering of family and friends of all ages. Mardi Gras season begins in January with the bacchanalian celebrations of Twelfth Night and continues through to the day before Ash Wednesday. The biggest parades of the season, and the biggest parties, are in the two weeks leading up to Mardi Gras Day which brings people of all ages and costumes together at parades, bars, formal balls and more.
It is a pleasure to the soul to be part of a community to celebrate grand festivals and events. It is an indirect way of paying respect to the divinised form of the society itself as the cultures and religions are used for these get-togethers. The manifestations around the world differ vastly in the style, ritual, type of clothing used, etc., but the underlying intent of these is to promote unity and tolerance amongst the various communities that foster intermingling.
Citations:
22 celebrations of culture from around the world (2018) The Venue Report. Available at: https://www.venuereport.com/roundups/22-celebrations-of-culture-from-around-the-world/entry/4/ (Accessed: 28 August 2023).
99 bucket list events around the world – international events & festivals (2021) Bucket List Events. Available at: https://www.mybucketlistevents.com/99-international-events-festivals-bucket-list-ideas/ (Accessed: 28 August 2023).
Maggitas, C. (2022) The 20 best cultural festivals around the world, Green Global Travel. Available at: https://greenglobaltravel.com/best-cultural-festivals-around-the-world/ (Accessed: 28 August 2023).
