A Year of Festivals

November - Día de la Tradición, Argentina

worldfestivals — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:25:00 GMT

Location: San Antonio de Areco, Argentina

Dates: the weekend of November 10th

Level of Participation: 3 – show up for the carnival scene ready to eat, dance, and join in the gaucho culture

Description:

Día de la Tradición (Tradition Day) celebrates all that Argentineans are fiercely proud of: gaucho history and culture, asado and equestrian showmanship. This festival is held in honor of Jose Hernandez, an Argentinean poet who wrote famously about the daily life of the gauchos. While the holiday is celebrated around the country, San Antonio de Areco is considered the quintessential gaucho town, making it the star of the show and the place to be to celebrate the day of Argentinean tradition.

Kicking off the festival weekend is a stream of hundreds of men and boys from around the country, clad in their gaucho finest, parading expertly-groomed horses through the town square of San Antonio de Areco. Following the exhibition are the solo riders, each masterfully controlling a group of wild horses, while elaborate chariots filled with full-skirted girls, and a classic marching band trail round out the procession. After the parade, the rest of weekend is filled with horse races, shows, games, and folkloric dances - in a true spectacle of the pampas lifestyle and Argentinean pride.

However, not to be overshadowed by the pomp and circumstance of the parade and exhibition is the other main element of the festival – the food. The asado, or huge feast of mouth-watering barbequed beef, grilled chorizo and other traditional Argentine treats, caters to both the national customs and international palettes. In the evenings, along with the famous asado, the Parque Criollo serves up lively music, dancing and red wine – only reaching full force well past the midnight hour. At this indulgent fiesta, a healthy appetite for gaucho culture as well as Argentinean cuisine will go a long way.

Essentials: Book early as accommodation in San Antonio de Areco is a bit scarce; however, the local tourism office can set you up a homestay with a local Argentinean family if you’re looking for a more authentic experience.

Local Attractions: The charm of San Antonio de Areco is its calm contrast to the bustle of nearby Buenos Aires. Wander the cobblestone streets, sip mate and dip into the silversmiths and leather craft workshops to see the gaucho arts in progress.

More Info: Contact the tourism office of San Antonio de Areco by email or visit Welcome Argentina for more event details.

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October - Moulid of Sayyed Ahmed Al-Badawi, Egypt

worldfestivals — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:52:00 GMT

Location: Tanta, Egypt

Dates: At the end of the cotton harvest in late October

Level of Participation: 2 – wander among snake charmers and entranced Sufis

Description:

One of Egypt’s most important moulids (religious festivals), held at Tanta in the Nile Delta, honours a Moroccan Sufi who fought the Crusaders in the 13th century. Some two million pilgrims arrive from across the Arab world to pay their respects at the main mosque, which holds al-Badawi’s tomb.

In the resulting chaos, snake charmers induce cobras out of baskets, barbers perform mass circumcisions and hawkers flog Tartours (cone-shaped hats) and fanous (lanterns). Children are presented at the shrine to be blessed and the sick to be cured. It’s like a funfare with religious intensity thrown in.

While munching some of the popular sugar-coated nuts called ‘hubb el Azziz’ (‘seeds of the Beloved Prophet’), you might pass a hypnotic Sufi zikr ceremony taking place in a colourful tent. Hoping to achieve oneness with god by chanting and clapping their way into a trance, participants stand in swaying lines with their rhythmic hand-claps gradually increasing in intensity. As the ceremony climaxes, they suddenly come to, sweating and blinking.

Essentials: Women should be escorted by men and valuables kept in a safe place. If you don’t fancy bedding down in the Sufi tent city, do a day-trip from Cairo, 90km south.

Local Attractions: Egypt’s largest camel market is held at Birqash, 35km northwest of Cairo.

More Info: www.egypt.travel

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October - Fantasy Fest, USA

worldfestivals — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:50:00 GMT

Location: Duval St, Key West, Florida, USA

Dates: 10 days ending on the last Sunday in October

Level of Participation: 5 – indulge your wildest fantasies

Description:

One of the most outrageous parties in the lead up to Halloween is this camp blow-out in subtropical Florida. Started in 1979 as an unashamed ploy to liven up a quiet period for the local tourist industry, Fantasy Fest is a mind-bending series of fancy dress parties and parades. We’re not just talking about obvious dos like the Pimp and Ho Party (with its $700 Mr Pimp and Ms Ho contest). Some of the themes would make a costume designer scratch their head. There’s the Dungeons & Dragons leather fetish bash, the Party in Plaid and a homemade bikini contest. The Monster’s Ball is overrun with man-sized serpents, mermaids and other creatures that should probably remain submerged deep in the subconscious.

The venues doll themselves up as imaginatively as their clients. Hard-working Sloppy Joe’s Bar, which also hosts the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest, throws a huge toga party. Bed sheets and laurel wreaths are de rigueur and those not getting into the Roman spirit have, on occasion, been stripped.

The fun begins with a Caribbean-style street party and climaxes with a parade of glittering floats and 70,000 freaks having the time of their life.

Essentials: Some headgear for the Headdress Ball.

Local Attractions: Beyond touristy Duval Street, the ‘Conch Republic’ sports Bahamian architecture and diving trips aplenty.

More Info: www.fantasyfest.net

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October - Halloween, USA

worldfestivals — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:47:00 GMT

Location: New York City, New York, USA

Dates: 31 October

Level of Participation: 5 – dress up and explore your dark side

Description:

The shrill cry of ‘trick or treat’ from children on the doorstep, dressed as a blood-curdling gang of zombies and ghouls, is as synonymous with the States as baseball and Big Macs. It’s an important part of American family life and Hollywood slasher movies. In both case, excited nippers hang up jack-o’-lanterns – carved pumpkins with grisly faces and candles inside – before donning rubber masks and doorstepping the neighbourhood.

As well as filling small-town America with wholesome family fun, the night gives the cities, particularly New York and San Francisco, an excuse to dress up for decidedly unwholesome parties. The former organises the nation’s largest event, not to mention its only major night parade. More than two million people, resembling everything from Beelzebub to Batman, turn up to watch a gang of giant puppets sway through Manhattan. Some of the puppets tower alongside the buildings on Sixth Avenue and controlling them takes the efforts of up to 1000 people.

The name Halloween, appropriated by a 1978 horror movie, is a corruption of All Hallows’ Eve - the night before the Christian festival All Hallows’ Day (All Saints’ Day). This in turn grew out of Samhain, the Celtic end-of-harvest festival, which is the source of the once-popular custom of apple bobbing.

Essentials: Bring a Frankenstein mask.

Local Attractions: New York Talks and Walks (www.newyorktalksandwalks.com) offers ghoulish tours including ‘Ghostly Greenwich Village’.

More Info: www.halloween-nyc.com

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October - Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages), Japan

worldfestivals — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:44:00 GMT

Location: Kyoto Gosho, Kyoto, Japan

Dates: 22 October

Level of Participation: 2 – shed a tear for Kyoto’s former glory

Description:

Compared with the former Japanese capital’s other major festivals, the Aoi and Gion Matsuris, Jidai Matsuri is a newcomer. It began in 1895 to raise the city’s morale after the Imperial Court shifted to Tokyo.

The main event is the historical parade, featuring period costumes from eras dating back to 794, when the city began its 1000-year tenure as capital. The parade starts at the city’s final imperial palace, Kyoto Gosho, which was built only 14 years before Tokyo grabbed the glory. The mikoshi (portable shrines) of the first and last Kyoto emperors are joined by More than 2000 people during the 4.6km procession to Heian-jingū, a Shintō shrine built to imitate earlier palaces. It takes more than an hour for all the participants to pass one point.

Like a museum on legs, the garb on display provides a crash course in 1000 years of Japanese history.

Costumes range from kimonos of the Heian period, which began in 794, to military uniforms worn under Meiji, the modernising emperor who shifted the power base to Tokyo.

Essentials: If you miss the Kyoto Matsuri, a smaller version takes place in Tokyo’s Sensō-ji temple precincts on National Culture Day (3 November).

Local Attractions: With more than 2000 temples and shrines, three palaces and dozens of gardens and museums, Kyoto offers what many Westerners long for in Japan.

More Info: www.kyotoguide.com

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October - Divali (Festival of the Lights), India

worldfestivals — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:42:00 GMT

Location: Mumbai, India

Dates: Fifteenth day of the Indian lunar month of Kartika (October/November)

Level of Participation: 2 – watch India light up

Description:

Having celebrated Krishna’s birth and Rama’s victory over the 10-headed demon-king Ravana at the Janmastami and Dussehra festivals, India’s Hindus now burn butter and oil lamps to lead Rama home from exile.

According to Hindu text the Ramayana, Rama spent his exile battling demons in dark forests and resisting a seduction attempt by Ravana’s sister. Finally, he joined forces with Hanuman, the monkey god, and led an army of monkeys to kill Ravana and rescue his princess.

Whether you follow Rama or one of the other 330 million Hindu deities, the Festival of Lights is a time for positivity and joy. Indians of every creed visit friends and family to exchange sweets and gifts. Coming at the end of the harvest season, it’s a period of relative prosperity for the poor country and feels like the subcontinent’s version of Christmas. Watch out for the firecrackers thrown by children in the street; one safer display takes place on Mumbai’s Chowpatty Beach.

The festival has regional variations but generally includes ceremonies devoted to Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Account books are worshipped and the new financial year begins.

Essentials: Services and transport are erratic during Divali

Local Attractions: Home to Bollywood, bazaars and beaches, Mumbai is India’s sexiest city.

More Info: Government of India tourist office, Mumbai ( +9... ; www.incredibleindia.com); or www.diwalif estival.org.

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October - River Festivals, Laos, Cambodia & Thailand

worldfestivals — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Location: Laos, Cambodia and Thailand

Dates: Full moon in late October or early November

Level of Participation: 3 – send a boat to Naga

Description:

Also known as Ok Watsa, Laos’ Awk Phansa celebrates the end of Vassa, the Buddhist Lent. During this three-month period, monks sit out the rainy season in meditation, reviving their vows and fasting. Reaching the end of the challenging period is a cause for celebration for monks across Laos, and the rest of the country’s 6.5 million people grab the opportunity for a party.

As the rains falter, monks are allowed to leave the monasteries where they have spent Vassa, and are presented with robes, alms bowls and other requisites of the renunciate life.

Much activity surrounds the monastic ritual. The eve of Awk Phansa is celebrated with parties and candlelit processions. The highlight is a ceremony, similar to Thailand’s Loi Krathong, called Van Loi Heua Fai, which involves the release of illuminated banana-leaf boats carrying flowers and incense. Riverside spots such as Vientiane and Luang Prabang also hold boat races the day after Awk Phansa.

On the Mekong River, a natural phenomenon known as bung fai paya nak (Naga fireballs) enlivens the water sports. Around the time of the full moon, orbs of flame explode out of the murky river. Up to 800 of them are sighted every year, on a 100km stretch of river in Laos and Thailand. Locals believe they are the work of Naga, a Southeast Asian cousin of the Loch Ness Monster, who coughs up a fireworks display in honour of Buddha. Scientists aren’t convinced by this theory, pointing out that Naga would have trouble slipping past Thai–Lao border patrols. Some say the balls are produced by flammable natural gas, caused by the sun beating down on debris decomposing on the riverbed, and the strong solar and lunar gravitational pull is a catalyst for combustion.

Conspiracy theorists point to a hoax, saying the river’s rocky bed and strong flow would make it hard for bubbles to form. However, there are accounts of Naga fireballs going back generations. Whatever you believe, the mystifying display is spectacular enough to justify a dedicated festival in northern Thailand. In the Nong Khai province, they give a big shout out to both Naga and Loi Krathong with light and sound shows, an illuminated boat contest and a long-boat race.

A natural phenomenon also adds mystique to the races held in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. At Bon Om Tuk (festival of the reversing current), crews of 40 battle each other and the Tonlé Sap’s current, which suddenly reverses its direction of flow at this time of year.

Essentials: In smaller Lao river towns, the boat races are often postponed until National Day (2 December) so residents aren’t saddled with two costly festivals.

Local Attractions: Vientiane, Laos’ capital, is a laid-back city with interesting wats (Buddhist monasteries) and lively markets, sitting on the Mekong amid fertile alluvial plains.

More Info: www.tourismlaos.gov.la; Lao National Tourism Administration, Vientiane ( +8...)

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October - Bridge Day, USA

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:57:00 GMT

Location: New River Gorge Bridge, West Virginia, USA

Dates: Third Sunday in October

Level of Participation: 2 – watch the daredevils plummet

Description:

It’s the world’s largest extreme-sports event. More than 450 BASE jumpers hurl themselves off a 265m-high bridge, watched by up to 200,000 spectators.

BASE stands for ‘building, antennae, span, earth’, the fixed points from which the adrenaline-seeking jumpers leap. Every year since 1980, the steel structure high above the New River has proven to be a perfect launching pad. It may be America’s second highest bridge, but jumpers still have just eight seconds to freefall and open their parachutes. They can land in the rapids below, nicknamed the ‘River of Death’, or on a patch of shoreline that’s free of trees, boulders and spectators.

The six hours it takes the 450 lunatics to deploy is the only time pedestrians are allowed on the 900m-long bridge, which gives breathtaking views down the forested gorge. Some daredevils leap from trampolines and diving boards, others parachute from the bridge rails and climbing teams rappel into the canyon. With so much fearlessness in one place, it’s unsurprising that a string of records has been broken on Bridge Day. One couple even tied the knot here and celebrated by leaping into the void.

Essentials: First-time participants must have made 100 previous parachute jumps and must take part in a training course.

Local Attractions: Take a tour of the gorge and watch the jumping action from below.

More Info: www.officialbridgeday.com

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October - MassKara Festival, Philippines

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:55:00 GMT

Location: Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines

Dates: Weekend nearest 19 October

Level of Participation: 3 – smile with the masked masses

Description:

MassKara’s name is a fusion of the English word for ‘many people’ and cara, the Spanish word for face. It’s a perfect description of this Philippino fiesta, in which Bacolod’s 450,000-plus residents take to the streets wearing masks with radiant smiles.

Unlike the country’s other major celebrations, such as Ati-Atihan, MassKara does not pay homage to Santo Niño. The tropical masked ball began in the early ’80s in response to two specific crises. Negros Occidental, nicknamed ‘the sugar bowl’, was suffering from depressed sugar-cane prices, and Negrenses lost their lives in a crash involving a large ship, the Don Juan. Officially, the event marks the anniversary of the completion of the city’s charter, but its most important function is to remind Bacolod of its nickname: ‘the city of smiles’.

The beaming masks on show resemble everything under the Filipino sun: sea creatures, starfish, peacocks, exotic flowers, vegetable men. Everywhere, plumes and fins explode out of swaying temples. Groups from schools to civic associations assemble in moulded clay or papier-mâché masks and glittering jump suits.

One event that doesn’t involve outlandish costumes, but does feature lots of smiles, is the MassKara Queen beauty pageant.

Essentials: Wear a mask or a smile.

Local Attractions: Bacolod’s Negros Museum focuses on the island of Negros’ rich history, from Spanish missions to cane plantations and revolution.

More Info: Negros Occidental Tourism Centre, Bacolod ( +6...)

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October - El Senor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles), Peru

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:53:00 GMT

Location: Lima, Peru

Dates: 18, 28 and 29 October

Level of Participation: 3 – slip into something purple and hit the streets

Description:

This procession of hundreds of thousands of people celebrates a 350-year-old mural of the Lord of Miracles (Christ). Painted by a freed slave, the fresco has survived vindictive authorities, bumbling workmen and three earthquakes. The first procession took place in 1687, when an earthquake obliterated the chapel in which the portrait was stored, leaving only the altar and the miraculous mural.

A devoted, 2500-strong brotherhood carries the two-tonne artwork from the Church of Las Nazarenas, where it has been safely stored since 1776, to the Church of La Merced. Everyone wears purple, the colour worn by the Nazarene nuns charged with looking after the holy image. The cargadores (carriers) and their female accomplices, who intone hymns and wave incense burners, are all clad in purple robes, while scores of laymen also sport the colour as a sign of gratitude to Jesus.

The lilac crowd fuels itself with turrón de Doña Pepa (a nougat) and ring-shaped picarones (fritters). In the Acho bullring, toreadors compete for the Golden Cape of Our Lord of Miracles.

Essentials: Processions take place on major feast days in late October, a month known as mes morado (purple month).

Local Attractions: The Historic Centre of Lima, with its Spanish colonial buildings, is a World Heritage Site.

More Info: www.peru.info; Iperú Tourist Information ( +51 1 574 8000 )

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October - Entenrennen (Duck Race), Germany

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:51:00 GMT

Location: Alleenbrücke, Tübingen, Germany

Dates: Early October

Level of Participation: 4 – try your luck in the bobbing derby

Description:

It’s not exactly Running of the Bulls. Indeed, the ducks involved in this bridge-to-bridge race aren’t even alive: they’re the yellow, rubber species whose usual habitat is the bathtub. Nonetheless, Tübingen’s annual contest is spectacular, if inexplicable. In a random, Germanic version of the ‘Poohsticks’ game enjoyed by Piglet et al in Winnie-the-Pooh, a truck dumps some 7000 duckies into the Neckar River from Alleenbrücke.

The sunflower-coloured shower is accompanied by cheers from crowds lining the river banks. Many of the spectators are clutching a ticket with a number corresponding to one of the speeding water demons. The first synthetic contender past the finishing line at Neckarbrücke wins its patron a €1000 holiday voucher, with plenty of other prizes for runners-up.

Although the dazzling idea of the duck race is thought to come from Canada, it’s big business in Germany, where there are corporate duck-racing specialists. The season begins in March, with more than 150 competitions taking place in towns such as Erfurt, Bielefeld and Göttingen, as well as smaller villages.

Essentials: Get there before the race starts to buy a ticket.

Local Attractions: Come down from the duck-related adrenaline with a stroll around late-medieval Tübingen.

A hilltop fortress, cobbled alleys and halftimbered houses are the background for a lively University scene.

More Info: www.tuebinger-entenrennen.de in German

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October - Cirio de Nazare, Brazil

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:49:00 GMT

Location: Praça Justo Chermont, Belém, Brazil

Dates: Second weekend in October

Level of Participation: 3 – join the human surge to the basilica

Description:

The largest festival on the River Amazon, not to mention Brazil’s biggest hoedown after the Rio Carnival, Círio de Nazaré revolves around a small statue of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré (Our Lady of Nazareth).

Supposedly sculpted in Nazareth (Galilee), the image of is believed to have performed miracles in medieval Portugal before getting lost in Brazil. A humble cattleman rediscovered it in 1700 on the site of Belém’s Basílica de NS de Nazaré.

Since 1793, pilgrims have come from all over Brazil to honour the Virgin and work up an Amazonian sweat. Having been taken from Belém to Icoaraci, the statue is carried back to the city in a river procession of hundreds of boats. The following morning, millions of people fill the streets, along with the sounds of hymns, bells and fireworks, to accompany the image from Catedral da Sé to the basilica. The statue, placed on a flower-bedecked carriage, is surrounded by thousands of barefoot supplicants. They squirm and grope to get a hand on the rope pulling the vehicle, thought to represent the link between the Saint and her followers.

Five hours and 3.5km later, the Virgin reaches the basilica, where she remains until she is carried back to the cathedral two weeks later.

Local Attractions: You can wander deserted beaches on the islands of Algodoal and Marajó, both an overnight trip away.

More Info: www.ciriode nazare.com.br

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October - Matchmaking Festival, Ireland

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:47:00 GMT

Location: Main Street, Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Ireland

Dates: Last Friday in August to first Sunday in October

Level of Participation: 5 – take the opportunity to pick an Irish rose

Description:

With its population of about 1000 Celtic citizens, tiny Lisdoonvara (Lisdoon for short) is famous for two things: its spas, which made it a popular Victorian resort, and its tradition of basadóiri (matchmakers). For a fee, these Guinness-swilling Cupids would help singletons find a partner. Most of the hopefuls (who were, predictably, men) would bumble nervously into town in September, when the crops were in and they had made enough hay to buy a lady a glass of porter. The Matchmaking Festival provided social events for these lonely-hearted pilgrims, and allowed local personages to keep undesirables away from their daughters.

The festival still features a basadóiri, local horse dealer Willie Daly, as well as amateur horse racing and traditional Irish craic by the pub-load. In keeping with modern mating rituals, it now also includes a speed-dating weekend. Another popular event is the matchmaking country music weekend. The season of setting-up concludes with the ‘Mr. Lisdoonvarna’ and ‘Queen of the Burren’ competition.

Essentials: Most Irish folk have kissed the Blarney Stone, so you’ll need some good patter to impress potential matches, unless you go for that ‘silent type’ appeal.

Local Attractions: Take your new beau to sample the spa waters, although it’s not exactly a vintage-wine-tasting experience.

More Info: www.matchmakerireland.com

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October - Vegetarian Festival, Thailand

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:45:00 GMT

Location: Jui Tui temple, Th Ranong, Phuket Town, Phuket, Thailand

Dates: First nine days of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar (late September/early October)

Level of Participation: 3 – receive fruit from a self-mortifying medium

Description:

Thailand’s largest island, nicknamed the ‘Pearl of the South’, is particularly spectacular during the Vegetarian Festival. Celebrated by Phuket’s Chinese community, the event marks the beginning of the month of ‘Taoist Lent’, when devout followers of the Tao abstain from eating all meat and meat products.

The festival begins with processions, religious offerings and cultural performances, centred on five Chinese temples. The most significant location is Jui Tui temple, the modern annex of Put Jaw, the oldest Chinese temple in Phuket Town.

The religious fervour culminates with incredible acts of self-mortification – walking on hot coals, climbing knife-blade ladders, piercing the skin with sharp objects. Devotees participating as mediums bring the nine Taoist emperor gods to earth by entering into a trance state and piercing their cheeks with all manner of objects: sharpened tree branches, spears, slide trombones, daggers. Some even hack their tongues continuously with a saw or axe blade.

Shopkeepers on central streets set up altars in front of their stores, offering incense, fruit, candles, flowers and nine tiny cups of tea to the deities invoked throughout the festival. During the street processions, mediums stop at the altars and pick up the fruit, which they add to the objects piercing their cheeks or pass on to bystanders as a blessing.

The mediums also drink one of the nine cups of tea and grab some flowers to stick in their waistbands. The shopkeepers and their families look on with their heads lowered and hands together in a prayerlike wâi gesture, out of respect for the mediums and the deities possessing their pierced bodies.

The deafening firecrackers, ritual dancing and bloodied shirts create an atmosphere of religious frenzy. Strangely, there is no record of this kind of activity associated with Taoist Lent in China. Some historians have concluded that Phuket’s Chinese community was influenced by the Thaipusam festival celebrated in nearby Malaysia. The Hindu festival features similar acts of self-mortification.

The folk clutching the saws and axe blades, however, have another explanation. They say the festival was started by a Chinese theatre troupe that stopped off in Kathu, northwest of Phuket Town, around 150 years ago. According to legend, the troupe fell ill because its members had failed to propitiate the nine emperor gods. The nine-day penance they performed included self-piercing, meditation and a strict vegetarian diet.

Essentials: Besides Jui Tui, the festival is centred on Bang Neow and Sui Boon Tong temples, and the nearby towns of Kathu and Ban Tha Reua. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Phuket Town gives out a helpful schedule of events. If you plan to attend the street processions, consider bringing earplugs for the firecrackers.

Local Attractions: Phuket is Southeast Asia’s St Tropez, with jagged coastal terrain, rocky peninsulas, sandy bays, tropical vegetation and limestone cliffs.

More Info: www.phuketvegetarian.com

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October - Durbar, Nigeria

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:43:00 GMT

Location: Emir Palace Road, Kano, Nigeria

Dates: End of Ramadan

Level of Participation: 2 – watch the colourful cavalry

Description:

Throughout the Islamic world, the Eid al-Fitr festival is celebrated in a variety of ways. It marks the end of Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast during daylight hours (in Arabic, eid means ‘festivity’ and fitr means ‘to break the fast’).

In Nigeria’s Islamic north, the end of the testing month is celebrated with equine cavalcades called Durbars. One of the best places to see them is Kano, West Africa’s oldest surviving city and an ancient centre of Islamic learning.

Recalling the days when horse-mounted military chiefs would demonstrate their readiness for combat by leading their troops past the emir, the procession features ornately dressed men on colourfully bedecked steeds. The riders wear bright coats of armour and, on their scarlet turbans, copper helmets topped with plumes. The emir, draped in white and protected by a heavy brocade parasol embroidered with silver, rides in the middle of the cavalry. The procession finishes at the parade ground outside the Emir’s Palace, next to the modern, Saudi-style Central Mosque. With drumming, singing and massed cavalry charges, the event is a flurry of colour in dusty northern Nigeria.

Essentials: Nigeria is pioneer travelling territory; it’s unlikely to appeal to inexperienced backpackers.

Local Attractions: Kano’s Gidan Makama is one of Nigeria’s best museums. In the old city, indigo cloth has been made in dye pits for centuries.

More Info: www.nigeriaworld.com

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October - Ghadames Date Festival, Libya

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:41:00 GMT

Location: Old city, Ghadames, Libya

Dates: Three days in October

Level of Participation: 4 – dates and dancing in the desert

Description:

At the end of the date harvest in Ghadames, Libyans head to the city’s World Heritage-listed old quarter to eat dates and celebrate. Residents of the modern town return to their family homes in the old city, officially uninhabited since the mid-1980s, and throw open their doors for singing, dancing and public festivities. The shadowy old city has a network of covered walkways, designed to provide shelter from the Saharan sun.

Following some events in the modern town on the first day of the festival, the focus shifts to the old city on the second morning. You can see weddings and ceremonies to celebrate the rite of passage of young men to adulthood. Up to 30 of the 1250 houses are used; where some events would once have lasted seven days, seven buildings are used instead. It’s a great chance to see re-enactments of ancient celebrations in their traditional environment.

On the third day, the festival moves to the area inhabited by Tuaregs, the Saharan nomads known as ‘blue men’. The final stop is the desert, where there is an evening of dancing at a Tuareg camp in the dunes.

Local Attractions: About 10km northwest of Ghadames is the lonely desert castle of Ras al-Ghoul (Mountain of Ghosts).

More Info: There is no tourist office in Ghadames, but trustworthy guides are available.

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October - Combat des Reines (Fight of the Queens), Switzerland

worldfestivals — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:38:00 GMT

Location: Martigny, Valais, Switzerland

Dates: First week in October

Level of Participation: 2 – watch the queens do battle

Description:

Switzerland’s Valais region is famous for its pistes, but a far stranger sport than skiing takes place here every spring and autumn. Erdinger cows, diminutive but aggressive beasts, fight each other to decide which brown-coated contender will be ‘queen’ of the herd. The combatants snort and stamp their hooves before charging, locking horns and trying to force each other backwards.

While this ritual has taken place for centuries, Valaisian farmers have organised battles since the 1920s. The cow fighting circuit has grown so big that farmers can earn more from the sport than from their herds’ milk- and meat-producing talents. Genetic selection, embryo freezing, oats concentrate (believed to act as a stimulant) and even wine are employed.

It can be anticlimactic: the animals sometimes lose interest and drift out of the ring in search of some grass. No blood is spilled – one of the reasons animal rights activists don’t object to the showdowns between the naturally feisty bovines.

Nonetheless, the major competitions, such as the rodeo-style event held during Martigny’s Foire du Valais exposition, are big events in southern Switzerland, attracting television cameras and thousands of spectators. Tickets cost over US$10 and there’s tens of thousands of Swiss francs to be won. A contest on this scale is the rodeo-style event held during Martigny’s Foire du Valais exposition.

Local Attractions: Valais’ oldest town, Martigny offers reminders of its ancient Roman masters.

More Info: www.foire duvalais.ch

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October - Oktoberfest, Germany

worldfestivals — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:29:00 GMT

Oktoberfest. Photo by [46137], Flickr.com

Location: Theresienwiese, Munich, Germany

Dates: 16 days from late September to early October

Level of Participation: 5 - messier than a stag night

Description:

In 1810, a horse race was held to celebrate Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s wedding. The jamboree was such a riproaring success that it became an annual event and morphed into today’s famously large and ribald party. The horse race was dropped in 1938, because everyone was only interested in one thing: beer. The amber nectar is enthusiastically quaffed by more than six million Lowenbrau-lovers, from local, lederhosen-clad gents to antipodean gangs. Sitting at long trestle tables with thousands of other beer monsters in huge, multifloored tents, the international inebriants work their way through more than 6.5 million golden litres. The festival’s healthy diet also includes some 500,000 chicken, 104 oxen and more than 50,000 pork knuckle servings.

The merriment begins with the Brewer’s Parade, which proceeds through the city centre from Sonnenstrasse to the festival meadow at Thereisienwiessse, nicknamed ‘d’Wiesn’ (dee-veezen). The lord mayor stands before the thirsty masses and, with due pomp, ceremony, and a mallet, opens the virgin barrel by slamming home a wooden tap. He exclaims O’zapft ist!’ (It’s tapped!) and the crowd cheers, though they are probably less impressed by the mayor than the buxom waitresses in laced bodices. Soon the waitresses will be doling out the Bavarian brew, drunk by the 1L Mass (tankard).

To make matters simple for those who have just consumed one pretzel and three steins, only one type of beer is available. In the paraphernalia-decorated marquees run by Munich’s major breweries, Lowerbrau et al serve specially brewed ‘Oktoberfest-Bier’. More challengingly, you pay using special tokens sold by the tents and generally must be seated to get served. Negotiating such rules could prove tricky for drinkers on their way to becoming a Bierlichen (beer corpse), but such casualties will probably be busy with wildes Bieseln (wild peeing).

At the weekends, and after the first ceremony, it can be tricky finding a seat. But there’s plenty of entertainment that doesn’t involve glugging frothy tankards until oom-pah bands sound appealing. Just check out the sheer scale of the world’s largest drinking competition. It employs more than 10,000 people and has it’s own police force, lost and found office, childcare centre, fire brigade, consumer protection unit, baggage checkroom, post office and first-aid station. It installs its own sewage system, power stations, U-Bahn terminal and, of course, 1000-plus Portacabins.

At night, drunks blink confusedly at the dazzling carnival with its roller coaster and Ferris wheel. Amid the high-tech rides, a few nostalgic favourites have survived. There’s Germany’s last remaining flea circus, a fixtures since the 19th-century, and the Schicht’l Tent, where sleight-of-hand beheadings are a specialty. There’s one way to become a beer corpse…

Essentials: Tuesday is Family Day, with reduced prices for sideshows and rides. Book accommodation months in advance.

Local Attractions: Alte Pinakothek houses one of the world’s finest collections of Renaissance art. Oktoberfest participants rarely see it.

More Info: www.oktoberfest.de

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September - Burning Man, USA

worldfestivals — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:15:00 GMT

Burning Man. Photo by [lightmatter], Flickr.com

Location: Black Rock Desert, Gerlach, Nevada

Dates: Week prior to and including Labor Day weekend (first Monday in September)

Level of Participation: 5 - stay alive in the desert and contribute to Black Rock City

Description:

Burning Man is more than a festival; it’s a utopian society that springs up on the cracked terrain of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. The survivalist happening’s 10 principles include radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort and above all, participation. These 10 hippy commandments lead to a 45,000-strong ‘city’ (the fifth largest in desolate Nevada), where inhibitions are left at the gates and freakery courses along the dusty streets.

Measuring 5 miles across, the camp is arranged in a semicircle around the neon-shrouded Man effigy, which towers 12m above the tent roofs. The surrounding area, a prehistoric lake known as the playa, has served as a military bombing range and a track for breaking the world land-speed record. Wandering across the playa at sunset is an unbeatable festival experience.

Virgin visitors accustomed to music festivals are blown away by Burning Man’s visual impact. Teams of entrepreneurial artists arrive from across the U.S. with truckloads of materials , which they assemble in the heat - temperatures can reach up to 40 degrees Celsius. The results range from a colossal sculpture made of two lorries to the poignant Temple of Forgiveness. This plywood structure is torched on the last night, by which time it is covered in thousands of messages from people hoping to leave some emotional baggage in the desert.

Between the sculptures are all sorts of performers, from the theatrical to the downright surreal. Some comment on the world outside Black Rock City but most just take your mind off the heat. Wandering the shantytown like streets, you might meet the boardroom takeover posse, sweating in their suits as they punch chunky calculators, or pass a ringing payphone with a wisecracker on the line.

After the stiflingly hot day, the festival’s population of ‘burners’ comes out to play. ‘Art cars’ - ranging from floats to one-man contraptions, swathed in neon or fairy lights and seemingly powered by psytrance- zip between the monumental sculptures dotting the plain. A great way to tour the artworks is by boarding a vehicle and having a boogie on the top deck until the next stop.

Towards the festival’s end, the Critical Tits topless bike parade is followed by an unsurprisingly popular after party. The topless parade, like the parallel Critical Dicks parade, is only natural at a festival where many are in a state of undress, often for no deeper reason than they fancy an all-over tan.

Of course there’s plenty of music. Sound systems such as Opulent Temple cater to the party kids and Silicon Valley types who increasingly descend on the playa, much to the irritation of purist burners. Before you dance under the starts, drop into a bar - the choice includes English, Irish and German pubs. This is where Burning Man really enters another dimension, because the drinks are all free. The only items for sale in Black Rock City are coffee and ice. The presumption at bars , pancake stands, barbeques and the glitter body-pain shop is that customers also do their bit, whether by giving the bartender a glow stick, picking up litter, decorating the port-a-loos, or simply donning a costume and spreading smiles on the playa.

The week climaxes with the incineration of the Man, a fitting end to a festival where flame-throwers regularly split the night sky. This ritual has always been integral to the event: founder Larry Harvey and friends burnt a Man (a large wooden statue) on San Francisco’s Baker Beach as a summer solstice ritual, then changed the location and date in 1990 following pressure from the city’s police force.

Essentials: Where to begin? Goggles and bandannas for the dust storms and that Mad Max look; 2 gallons of water per person per day; a gardener’s spray can, because it’s the closest you’ll get to a shower; lip balm and vinegar to stop your lips and feet cracking in the dry, alkaline environment; tarpaulin for evaporating away dirty water (otherwise carry it home; it’s a ‘leave no trace’ event); a bike and lock; gifts for kindly bar staff; and the craziest costumes.

Local Attractions: Before entering the fray, eat a ‘last supper’ among the neon casinos in Reno, ‘the biggest little city in the world’.

More Info: www.burningman.com

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September - Farm Aid, USA

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:06:00 GMT

Location: Varies each year around the USA

Dates: One day in September

Level of Participation: 2 – play along on your air guitar

Description:

The longest-running series of benefit concerts in America, Farm Aid grew out of a comment made by the Bob Dylan at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia. Suggesting it would be great if the musical community could help America’s struggling family farms as well, Dylan inspired Neil Young, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp to organise an event. The first Farm Aid took place two months later in Champaign, Illinois and raised $7 million. Two decades later, the concerts have raised more than $30 million and featured great American axe-wielders such as Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Grateful Dead (by satellite in 1987) and, of course, the organisers.

The concerts often take place in rural centres that farmers can easily reach, though 2007’s event was held in New York to thank the city for supporting the Good Food Movement. The country feel extends beyond the songs being belted out by artists such as Garth Brooks. The car park is invariably full of mud-splattered 4WDs and pick-ups, and you might score a lift to the venue in a tractor-towed trailer with hay bail seats.

Inside, expect big hats, big hair and yeehaws.

Essentials: Wear a Stetson.

Local Attractions: If you fancy taking in some great American farmland when the music’s over, the gigs generally take place in agricultural states such as Texas and Virginia, so you will likely be on the doorstep of those rolling fields.

More Info: www.farmaid.org

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September - Festival of the Virgin of Mercy, Spain

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:04:00 GMT

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Dates: Four days around 24 September

Level of Participation: 2 – join the Catalan party as Barcelona is overrun with giants, devils and human pyramids

Description:

The Catalan capital’s festa major, a final burst of prewinter madness for the Mediterranean city, is dedicated to its co-patron saint, the Virgin of Mercy. Nostra Senyora de la Mercè, whose image lies in the church of the same name on Plaça de la Mercè, was named co-patron after she single-handedly beat off a plague of locusts in 1637! Then in 1714, as Barcelona faced defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession, the obviously desperate town elders appointed her commander in chief of the city’s defences.

Some 600 events take place, most of them in the city centre. There’s a swimming race across the harbour, a fun run and a series of free concerts. Adding to the local colour are the essential ingredients of all self-respecting Catalan festivals: sardana (folk dancing from northern Catalonia) and parades of gegants (giants), dancing in synch with the costumed groups carrying them. Brave combatants known as castellers compete to form the highest human pyramid; the towers rise up to eight storeys high. The correfoc (fire run) is a pyromaniac’s dream. Crowds hurl themselves along Via Laietana before ‘devils’ and other fire-spurting beasts, not to mention kids armed with firecrackers.

Local Attractions: Take the opportunity to visit Barcelona’s museums for free and to sample the local Cava (sparkling wine).

More Info: www.bcn.es/merce

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September - Galway Oyster Festival, Ireland

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:01:00 GMT

Location: Nimmo’s Pier, Galway City, County Galway, Ireland

Dates: Last full weekend in September

Level of Participation: 4 – you’ll never want to see an oyster again

Description:

The Galway Oyster Festival is dedicated to Ostrea edulis, the European flat oyster. The local molluscs are left to grow for three years in the clean waters of Brandon Bay and Clarenbridge, blooming into a plump and juicy delicacy. Tens of thousands of the slippery critters are consumed on the Guinness Oyster Trail, on which the 30 pubs give out free trays of the seafood with pints of the dark stuff. Each establishment has a dedicated opener, and there’s more nimble-fingered action on display at the World Oyster Opening Championship.

International contestants vie to break the world record, set here in 1977, for prising open 30 of the tight-lipped urchins – one minute 31 seconds. If, at the end of the man-versus-mollusc showdown, they present the judges with a tray resembling a battleground, they lose points.

The city fills with craic such as the opening ceremony, where the Oyster Pearl (festival queen) presents the season’s first oyster to the mayor. Tickets for the more-exclusive Mardi Gras, gala ball and Saturday afternoon at the marquee, including the opening championship, cost up to €170.

Essentials: Deep pockets and a big appetite will come in handy.

Local Attractions: Have a pint in Paddy Burke’s in the nearby village of Clarenbridge, where the festival began in 1954.

More Info: www.galwayoysterfest.com

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September - Atlantic Antic, USA

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:59:00 GMT

Location: Brooklyn, New York City, USA

Dates: Last weekend in September

Level of Participation: 2 – stroll with the Brooklynites

Description:

This 33-year-old street party is one of the Big Apple’s best festivals, but remains a well-kept secret. There’s oodles of food to sample and music to hear at the celebration of Brooklyn’s multiculturalism, which transforms Atlantic Avenue into a 2.5km bazaar. A five-minute walk might take in an R&B band in pastel suits, a banjo-plucking bluegrass band, a modish alt-rock act, and a Greek folk troupe complete with belly dancers. Energise yourself for the next cultural fix with food ranging from grilled sardines and pulled pork sandwiches to baklava and funnel cake.

The west end of the festival is a temple of trash, with burlesque, punk and go-go dancing found in the Last Exit bar. East of the subcultural shenanigans, at the festival’s midpoint, you can climb aboard buses dating back to 1917 at the New York Transit Museum’s vintage bus display.

The venue is pleasantly leafy by any city’s standards. Lined with Middle Eastern delis and restaurants (west of Court St) and antique shops and boutiques (around Hoyt St), Atlantic Avenue divides Brooklyn Heights and ‘BoCoCa’ (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens). New York’s oldest unchanged neighbourhood, Brooklyn Heights is also the city’s first designated historic district.

Local Attractions: In the Brooklyn Heights historic district, the 19th-century brownstones are built in styles including Victorian Gothic, Romanesque, neo-Greco and Italianate.

More Info: www.atlanticave.org

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September - Hermanus Whale Festival, South Africa

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:57:00 GMT

Location: Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa

Dates: Last week in September

Level of Participation: 3 – put an eye to a telescope

Description:

Situated near Africa’s southernmost tip, Hermanus has a front-row view of the

Given that it overlooks Walker Bay, into which 70 whales have squeezed, the town once took its blubber-related fortune for granted. In an attempt to formalise the cliff-top viewing, it started its festival and introduced the Whale Crier. The world’s only such crier, his blasts on the kelp horn are coded to direct eager cetacean-spotters. If you hear three short toots, make a beeline for the Marine Hotel.

The festival is a great place to learn about the mysterious beasts of the deep through activities such as the Welcome Whale Wave Walk, where some 5000 people create a 5km human chain to say howdy to the seafarers. Being South Africa’s only ‘enviro-arts’ festival, it also features music, markets and, of course, the Whales ‘n’ Wheels classic car show.

Essentials: Know some background. Right whales were named by whalers, who considered them the ‘right’ prey because they floated when dead and produced plenty of oil, meat and whalebone.

Local Attractions: Hermanus is within day-tripping distance of Cape Town, Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope.

More Info: www.whalefestival.co.za

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Cape Whale Route

. During migrating season, locals and visitors flock to the cliff-tops to glimpse the southern right whale, an endangered species that can grow up to 18m.

September - Dasain, Nepal

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:55:00 GMT

Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

Dates: Fifteen days ending on the full moon in late September/early October

Level of Participation: 2 – steel yourself for mass sacrifices and a procession of swords

Description:

Nepal’s biggest annual festival takes place during the Himalayan kingdom’s post-monsoon period, when the sky is clearest, the air is cleanest and the rice is ready for harvesting. Against this breezy background, followers of the goddess Durga carry out the year’s largest-scale animal sacrifices, to satiate the bloodthirsty Hindu deity. Also known as Durga Puja, the festival celebrates Durga’s victory over the forces of evil, personified by the buffalo demon Mahisasura.

The fortnight begins calmly enough. Residents plant barley seeds in carefully furrowed soil; getting the seeds to sprout a few centimetres during Dasain ensures a good harvest.

On Fulpati (‘Sacred Flowers’), the first really important day, a jar of flowers is carried from Gorkha to the Tundikhel parade ground in Kathmandu, where it is presented to the king. The flowers, which symbolise Taleju, the goddess of the royal family, are transported on a palanquin to Hanuman Dhoka (the old Royal Palace) and inspected again by the monarch and his entourage.

The next day, Maha Astami (‘Great Eighth Day’), ends with Kala Ratri (‘Black Night’), when the sacrifices and offerings to Durga begin. The hundreds of goats contentedly grazing in Kathmandu’s Tundikhel parkland are living on borrowed time. At midnight, in a temple courtyard near Durbar Sq, eight buffaloes and 108 goats are beheaded, each with a single stroke of the sword or knife.

More sacrifices take place the following day (Navami) at Kot Sq, also the scene of a massacre of noblemen in 1846. Visitors can witness the bloodshed, but you’ll need to arrive early to secure a place. Blood is sprinkled on car wheels to ensure a safe year on the road. At the airport, each Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation aircraft has a goat sacrificed to it. At dinner, almost everybody in the country will find that goat is on the menu.

Thankfully, the bloodletting is now over and the 10th day, Vijaya Dashami, is a family occasion. Cards and greetings are exchanged and parents place a tika on their children’s foreheads. In the evening, processions and masked dances take place throughout the Kathmandu Valley to herald the end of Dasain. For the Kharga Jatra (sword procession), priests dress up as Hindu gods and carry wooden swords, symbolising the weapon Durga slew Mahisasura with. Like India’s Dussehra festival, the day also celebrates Lord Rama’s victory over the 10-headed demon-king Ravana. The barley sprouts that were planted on the first day are picked and worn as small bouquets in the hair.

Kartika Purnima, the full-moon day marking the end of the festival, is celebrated with gambling in many households. Even the children get involved, putting down a few rupees on games of chance.

Local Attractions: Bodhnath in Kathmandu is Nepal’s most revered Buddhist monument, a white stupa crowned with a golden spire and the eyes of Buddha.

More Info: Nepal Tourism Board (24hr hotline +977 1 4225709 ; www.welcomenepal.com)

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September - Cow Ball, Slovenia

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:54:00 GMT

Location: Bohinj, Slovenia

Dates: Sunday in mid-September

Level of Participation: 3 – a ticket to the bovine ball

Description:

Kitsch, possibly of the unintentional kind, comes out to play at the Cow Ball. More than 50 years old, the festival marks a winter homecoming; not of men, but of cattle, which return to the alpine Bohinj valley after a summer spent in green pastures. Daisy and friends are truly the belles of the rural ball, as they are decorated with wreaths and shown off on a parade. Accompanied by herders, cheesemakers, milkmaids and other dairy-farming types, they pass Lake Bohinj and, rising 130m above it, Govin waterfall. The falls are only active after heavy rain, so hopefully there won’t be any spray to spoil the animals’ get-up. Stands line the cattle convoy, selling wicker and wood souvenirs and, of course, cow’s milk cheese. When you tire of the sound of jingling bells, have a go at folk dancing, log sawing, horseshoe casting and sling shooting.

Essentials: A willingness to try anything, even yodelling, will be appreciated.

Local Attractions: September is an ideal month to visit Slovenia because it’s the best time for hiking and climbing, and the summer crowds have disappeared. Skilled mountaineers can tackle Triglav (2864m), which looms above the Bohinj valley. The highest peak in both Slovenia and the Julian Alps, which stretch into northeast Italy, it features on the country’s flag and 50c euro coin.

More Info: www.bohinj.com

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September - Egremont Crab Fair, England

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:52:00 GMT

Location: Egremont, Cumbria, England

Dates: Third Saturday in September

Level of Participation: 4 – take the gurn challenge

Description:

This Cumbrian fest is one of the world’s oldest fairs, created in a charter signed by King Henry II in 1267. Over the centuries, the event has featured a variety of once-popular pursuits, such as cock fighting and bull baiting. But none have been stranger than the gurning competition. Held in the Market Hall, the World Gurning Championship challenges contestants to contort their face into strange and unnatural shapes, with their head poking through an unwieldy horse’s braffin (collar). Contestants surprise themselves with their gurning ability. In 2002, a BBC journalist covering the event entered the ladies’ competition and won.

Originally a harvest festival, the fair kicks off with the Parade of the Apple Cart, a tradition derived from the serfs who paid their dues at the manor in wild fruit. The lord would give crab apples to the children, and today men throw apples from the cart. Another modern variation on the tradition is the costumed wheelbarrow race.

Other activities include climbing a greasy pole, Cumberland wrestling and a sprint across the moors. The biskey and treacle contest, in which participants race to gobble up enough treacle-soaked biskey (teacake) to be able to whistle, has sadly died out.

Essentials: Wear your most malleable face.

Local Attractions: Egremont is near the western fringe of the Lake District National Park, where Wordsworth and the Lake Poets once wandered the mountains.

More Info: www.egremontcrabfair.com

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September - Imilchil Wedding Moussem, Morocco

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:50:00 GMT

Location: Imilchil, Morocco

Dates: Three days around the third week in September

Level of Participation: 2 – get caught up in the romance in the Atlas Mountains

Description:

Like the Cure Salée, the festival held in the High Atlas town of Imilchil is all about livestock and finding a partner. The most famous example of 600-plus moussems, the event is a homecoming celebration for herders who have spent the summer taking advantage of grazing grounds. The cattle fair adds to the chaos created by souqs (markets) and nomadic campgrounds, which look as striking as the surrounding mountains.

The matchmaking aspect of the festivities possibly began following a Romeo and Juliet–style tragedy. The tribes agreed to allow their young to meet and marry freely at the tomb of Sidi Mohammed Maghani, the Ait Haddidou people’s patron saint. The less romantic explanation is that the French colonial administrators assembled the transitory Berbers to register their births, deaths and marriages.

Nicknamed ‘September romance’, the occasion gives singletons the chance to sing, dance and flirt. Available men wear white turbans and their female opposites put on the family silver. If it all goes well, there are mass weddings, followed by a trip to the registrar for a favourite Moroccan activity: paperwork.

Local Attractions: South of Imilchil, the Todra and Dades gorges lead to the Sahara, where the dunes can be seen in all their wavy glory at Merzouga.

More Info: National Office of Tourism, Marrakesh ( +2...)

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September - Mid-Autumn Festival, China

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:45:00 GMT

Location: China

Dates: Fifteenth day of the eight lunar month

Level of Participation: 2 – gaze at the woman in the moon

Description:

Also called the Moon Cake Festival, China’s harvest festival is an occasion to scoff these sweet treats. The cakes, made of a thin dough shell containing fillings such jelly, dates and nuts or red bean paste, start appearing everywhere a month before the celebration.

If they’re not sick of the snacks by the time of the event, celebrants eat them within view of the real star of the festival: the moon. Held on the September full moon, during the autumn equinox, the tradition is about observing the transition of the seasons. In Japan, one of the other Asian countries where faces turn to the night sky, people even climb onto rooftops to get closer to the moon.

This is China’s most important shindig after its New Year celebrations, so it’s not all stargazing. Participants eat pomeloes (Chinese grapefruit) and drape the rinds on their heads, do fire-dragon dances, carry lanterns and hang them from towers. Incense is burnt for the lunar goddess Chang’e, who, they believe, lives on the moon with a jade rabbit. Sometimes called the Lantern Festival, the night should not be confused with the lantern fest at the end of Chinese New Year.

Essentials: Pack a hamper of moon cakes.

Local Attractions: A popular moon-watching spot is the city of Hangzhou, where three candlelit towers stand in West Lake.

More Info: http://old.cnta.gov.cn/lyen

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September - Janmastami, India

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:43:00 GMT

Location: Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India

Dates: Indian lunar month of Bhadra (August/September)

Level of Participation: 3 – offer puja (prayer) with the pilgrims

Description:

Held on the eighth day of the Krishnapaksha (‘dark fortnight’), when the moon is waning, this mass pilgrimage kicks off an intense season of festivities, even by Hindu standards. It’s a birthday party for Lord Krishna, the blue-skinned incarnation of Vishnu.

The anniversary is celebrated throughout India, but nowhere more enthusiastically than in Mathura, Krishna’s birthplace. The pilgrims who come to the northern city, 140km south of Delhi, fast all day and cram into temples at night. They chant Sanskrit hymns, ring bells, blow conch shells (a symbol of Vishnu) and read from the Bhagavad Gita, which is narrated by Krishna. Flames flicker during the Aarthi ritual, in which lighted wicks, soaked in camphor or ghee (golden butterfat), are offered to statues of the deity. Cradles and statues of Balgopal, the boy Krishna, decorate the temples. The ceremonies, intended to relive the famous birth, conclude around midnight, by which time the flute-playing god would have been born.

In southern India, residents paint a trail of tiny footprints, using flour and water, leading from their front door to the inner meditation chamber. This creates a sense that Krishna has paid a visit.

Local Attractions: See the slab of rock in Kesava Deo Temple where, Hindus believe, Krishna was born 3500 years ago.

More Info: Mathura tourist office ( +9...)

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September - Horn Dance, England

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:42:00 GMT

Location: Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, England

Dates: Wakes Monday (first Monday after the first Sunday after 4 September)

Level of Participation: 2 – glimpse an 800-year-old pagan dance involving unwieldy antlers

Description:

The date of the Horn Dance is not the only archaic aspect of this ancient rite. Held in a small village in the English Midlands, the ritual begins at 8am on the dot. The participants take the six sets of deer’s antlers, which carbon dating has revealed to be about 1000 years old, from the church. The horns are rather big, weighing between 7kg and 11kg. Six ‘deer men’ spend the next 12 hours carrying them around a 16km circuit of the surrounding countryside, accompanied by a hobby horse, a Robin Hood–style archer and Maid Marian. They regularly stop to dance, mimicking a bowman killing a deer, to music provided by a melodeon and triangle player.

One of England’s oldest surviving ritual dances, the event dates back to 1226. It has apparently only been cancelled once – in the 1920s, because the musician was ill and one of the dancers had died. It possibly began as a commemoration of the village’s acquisition of hunting rights in Needwood Forest, and the dance was an animistic ritual to ensure lucky hunting. Hobby horses are also a fertility symbol.

Local Attractions: Stay the night at the Goat’s Head pub in a room named after highwayman Dick Turpin, who holed up here.

More Info: www.thehorndanceofabbotsbromley.co.uk

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September - Salt Cure, Niger

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:40:00 GMT

Location: Tegguidda-n-Tessoum, In-Gall, Niger

Dates: A week in the first half of September

Level of Participation: 3 – make an extreme journey to the deepest Sahara to watch a beauty contest

Description:

One of Africa’s most recognisable celebrations is the Salt Cure, held by Fulani and Tuareg cattle herders in the Sahara desert. While various groups gather for events, the Cure Salée held by the unique Wodaabé people is the one that has really grabbed the Western imagination.

When the Fulani migrated to West Africa centuries ago, those who remained nomads called themselves ‘Wodaabé’ (‘people of the taboo’), meaning those who adhere to the traditional code of the Fulani. The sedentary Fulani’s description of their itinerant cousins was less complimentary: ‘Bororo’, a name derived from their cattle and insinuating something like ‘those who live in the bush and do not wash’.

As cattle need salt to remain healthy, the nomads converge on the In-Gall area (known for its high salt content) at the height of the rainy season, when the grass can support large herds. During the Cure Salée, you’ll see men on camels trying to keep their livestock in order and racing across the plains.

The event serves, above all, as a social gathering and an opportunity to woo the opposite sex. The most striking example of this is the Gerewol festival, in which bachelors participate in a ‘beauty contest’ to win the attention of eligible females. Wodaabé men and women alike have long, elegant features, and believe they have been blessed with great beauty. Having attractive children is so important to them that men who are not good-looking have shared their wives with more handsome men to gain better-looking offspring.

The main event is the Yaake, a late-afternoon performance when the men dance, displaying their beauty, charisma and charm. In preparation, they spend hours decorating themselves in front of small hand mirrors. They then form a long line, dressed to the hilt with blackened lips (to make the teeth seem whiter), lightened faces, white streaks down their foreheads and noses, star-like figures painted on their faces, braided hair, elaborate headwear, anklets, jewellery, beads and shiny objects. All are hoping to emphasise the qualities the women desire: lean bodies, long slender noses, white even teeth, and bright eyes.

The men dance for hours, powered by stimulating drinks, until the women timidly make their choices. Rivalry between suitors can be fierce. To show their virility, the young men take part in the Soro, where they stand smiling while others try to knock them over with huge sticks.

If a marriage proposal results, the man takes a calabash of milk to the woman’s parents. If they accept, he brings them the bride price, three cattle, which are slaughtered for the ensuing festivities.

Since 2005, the Niger government has used the festival as a tourist attraction and an opportunity to broadcast messages to the elusive audience – a source of great discontentment for the nomads.

Local Attractions: Agadez is a great Saharan trading town, where the Grand Mosquée gives views across the desert and the Aïr Mountains.

More Info: National Office of Tourism, Niamey (+227 73 24 47)

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September - Joust of the Saracen, Italy

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:38:00 GMT

Location: Grande Piazza, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy

Dates: Penultimate Saturday in June and first Sunday in September

Level of Participation: 3 – don some breeches and watch the jousters charge

Description:

Taking the baton from Siena’s Il Palio, Arezzo’s medieval jousting tournament is like taking a ride in a time machine to the days of knights and maidens. Churches are decorated with pictures of 12th-century crusaders and the streets fill with costumes from an era predating even Giorgio Vasari, the Renaissance heavyweight who grew up here.

Following a blessing by the bishop on the steps on the 13th-century cathedral, the parade ends in the Grande Piazza, the venue for the afternoon’s archaic fun. Proceedings are begun by the sbandieratori (flag wavers), touting the standards so loved by territorial medieval types. The jousters and their horses sport the colours and symbols of Arezzo’s four districts, which are all hoping to win the Golden Lance. Rather than aiming their lances at each other, contestants score points by hitting a wooden target held by a carving of a Saracen (Islamic) king.

The tradition possibly derives from a jousting display held to honour a knight in the late 13th century, and was certainly going strong by the early 19th century.

Essentials: Wear a doublet or tunic for that heraldic look.

Local Attractions: Arezzo was bombed heavily in WWII but many Renaissance and Gothic buildings still stand. The Chiesa di San Francesco contains frescoes by Piero della Francesca.

More Info: www.lagiostradelsaracino.it in Italian

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September - Braemar Gathering, Scotland

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:36:00 GMT

Location: Memorial Park, Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Dates: First Saturday in September

Level of Participation: 4 – climb Morrone or down a dram

Description:

Caber-tossing can be seen throughout Scotland’s rugged north during the summer, but the most famous Highland games take place in Braemar. More than 20,000 people, sporting kilts or, if they’re a less rugged tourist, more insulated apparel, converge on a 12-acre site. Local lads and international athletes alike compete in events including tug-of-war, a hill race up the 860m Morrone, hammer-throwing, stone-putting and the long jump. Less rigorous entertainment includes highland dancing, pipers and the children’s sack race.

The royal family is among the spectators who toast the winners of the track and ‘heavy’ events with a dram of single malt whisky. The tradition of royal patronage stretches back to Queen Victoria, who was a big fan. She first attended the gathering in 1848, and in 1866 granted a ‘Royal’ prefix to the society that organises the event.

The Braemar games date back 900 years to the reign of King Malcolm Cranmore. The competitions took place informally for many centuries as tests of skill and strength, but were formalised in 1820 due to the rise of Highland romanticism initiated by writer Sir Walter Scott and King George IV.

Local Attractions: Northeast of Braemar is the Queen’s holiday home, Balmoral Castle. The 19th-century pile kicked off the revival of the Scottish Baronial architectural style.

More Info: www.braemargathering.org

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September - Umhlanga (Reed) Dance, Swaziland

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:34:00 GMT

Location: Lobamba, Swaziland

Dates: Late August/early September

Level of Participation: 2 – join Swazi royalty and watch the debutantes’ ball in the bush

Description:

Swaziland may be a pint-sized country, but Umhlanga attracts up to 30,000 participants. They’re all women, they dance with umhlanga (reeds) swaying above their heads and, like many ritual gatherings, the event is all about finding a partner.

The women converge on Lobamba to help repair the house of the queen mother, who rules alongside the king and is known as Indlovukaki (Great She-Elephant). They spend days and nights searching for reeds before handing their finds to the queen mum and performing the dance, watched by potential suitors. Clad in traditional beaded skirts and sashes denoting their tribes, the dancers must be careful not to drop or damage their reeds. Princesses wear red feathers in their hair, and hard-working participants who searched for reeds by night carry torches.

The women are fuelled by the presence of the monarch and the knowledge that the Swazi queen mother must not be of the royal clan. As at the Ncwala ceremony held in late December or early January, there are signs that identify the unchaste – an incentive to avoid premarital sex. King Mswati III already has one Umhlanga dancer among his 13 wives.

Local Attractions: Swaziland is one of Africa’s smallest countries but boasts wildernesses such as the Mkhaya Game Reserve, where you can spot black rhinos in the wild.

More Info: Tourist information office, Mbabane ( +2...)

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September - Regata Storica (Historic Regatta), Italy

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:32:00 GMT

Location: Castello, Venice, Italy

Dates: First Sunday in September

Level of Participation: 2 – watch the Venetians row like it’s 1489

Description:

These rowing races on the Grand Canal commemorate the welcome given to Caterina Cornaro, wife of the King of Cyprus, in 1489 after she renounced her throne in favour of Venice. The most famous regatta out of 120-plus that take place in the watery city between April and September, the event begins with a parade of boats decorated in 16th-century style and powered by crews in period costume. At its head towers the Bucintoro, historically a galley for the doge (duke) and now an emblem of the city.

Aiming, perhaps, to liven things up in a state known as La Serenissima (the Most Serene Republic of Venice), locals first organised a rowing race in 1274. Out of the Regata Storica’s four races in different categories, the main event is the men’s caorline (broad, snub-nosed lagoon vessels) contest. The men need all their muscles to make these seaborne beasts surge ahead.

The races start in the Castello area and proceed west up the canal to the former convent of Santa Chiara, where the boats turn around a paleto (pylon) to pound back to the finishing line at Ca’ Foscari, cheered on by the locals.

Local Attractions: For a bird’s-eye view of the warren of canals, climb the campanile (bell tower) on St Mark’s Sq.

More info: Venice Tourist Board (+39 415 29 87 11)

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September - Henley-on-Todd Regatta, Australia

worldfestivals — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:31:00 GMT

Location: Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia

Dates: Saturday at the end of August/beginning of September

Level of Participation: 5 – get ready for the desert challenge

Description:

Nothing stops the sports- and beer-loving people of the Alice having a good time. Since 1962, the outback town has held an annual regatta on the sandy bed of the dry River Todd. The ‘boats’ are bottomless and the crews race barefoot with their lightweight craft hauled up around their waists. No oars, coxes or winged keels are required here, just a swift pair of heels.

The boats come in all shapes and sizes – yachts with sails, kayaks, flat-bottom boats pushed through the sand using shovels instead of oars, and even a bathtub derby where contestants carry a passenger in a tub. Add to that a sand-ski race, a tug-of-war, a ‘surf rescue’ and iron-man and -woman events.

There’s plenty of outback anarchy away from the bathtub action. Locals don oddball outfits, a procession of boats and floats winds its way through the streets and, in proper outback style, enough booze flows to fill the Todd.

One of the most famous fixtures in a country obsessed by sport, the event began, like many great Australian traditions, as a piss-take. In this case, the target was the regatta in Henley-on-Thames, where the English upper class scoffs champagne and strawberries.

Local Attractions: Southwest of Alice are the breathtaking rock formations Kings Canyon, Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) and Uluru (Ayers Rock).

More info: www.henleyontodd.com.au

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July/August - Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Croatia

worldfestivals — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:09:00 GMT

Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dates: July 10 - August 31

Level of Participation: 1 – Sit back, relax, and enjoy the shows, concerts, and performances

Description:

Each summer, more than 2000 dancers, actors, musicians, writers and artists flock to the city of Dubrovnik to indulge the art-loving world in over 70 performances at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Also known as the Dubrovnik Summer Games, the main events include theatre, dance and folklore, showcased in six weeks of culture and performance.

Since 1950, the charming and whimsical city of Dubrovnik has set a beautiful backdrop to the numerous world-renowned exhibitions. An element in its own right, the city boasts performances in the streets, arenas and plazas for audiences to enjoy the festival in the evening summer air. This combination of setting and talent is precisely what makes the festival Croatia’s premier cultural event and attracts international attention and eager guests to the city.

The festival season hosts a wide range of events from classical ballets and operas to film exhibitions and poetry readings for a lineup that is sure to satisfy every artistic craving. Spectators may be entertained at the theatre by the Festival Drama Ensemble of famous Croatian actors, or be captivated by the Lindo group performing traditional folk dances from Croatian villages.

Also not to be missed are the classical music performances held in the Ducal Palace atrium, known for its acoustics and the world-famous composers and orchestras it attracts each season. Ensconced in ancient city walls, curious visitors and elite artists are together swept up in the inspiration and romanticism of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and its featured exhibitions.

Essentials: A love of European culture and an appreciation for the performing arts are all you need to bring.

Local Attractions:

Take a walk atop the 2km circuit of the medieval city walls to get a bird’s eye view of the red roofs and beautiful vistas of the fortified city. Also, look for battle wounds along the walls, as Dubrovnik was hit in the Yugoslavian war in 1991.

More Info: http://www.dubrovnik-festival.hr/Default.aspx?sec=46

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August - Notting Hill Carnival, England

worldfestivals — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:25:00 GMT

Location: Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, England

Dates: Last Sunday and Monday in August

Level of Participation: 3 – make a costume or float, or just wander along for some jerk chicken and a dance

Description:

The British capital’s top summer knees-up, a celebration of the local Caribbean community, has enlivened this part of town since the 1950s. During the end-of-August bank holiday, the neighbourhood featured in the Hugh Grant film Notting Hill explodes with reggae sound systems and Rastafarians smoking what one of Grant’s characters might call ‘wacky baccy’. Also featuring calypso and soca, samba dancing, sassy costumes and animistic sculptures, the display of vibrant Caribbean culture attracts two million party animals to West London, making it one of the world’s largest street festivals. A steel-band competition and Children’s Day are among the events reflecting the city’s multiculturalism and love of a good boogie. It all climaxes on Monday with a 3-mile parade of floats and revellers in feathered headdresses, Lycra suits and other costumes not normally spotted on London’s streets. Ravers can fuel themselves at stalls selling Jamaican patties, jerk chicken and curries.

Essentials: Make sure you have deep pockets for your dosh – street crime is a feature of the weekend.

Local Attractions: As well as the coolest bars found west of the city centre, narrow Portobello Road has a market from Monday to Saturday. It’s the city’s best market for rummaging through antiques and curios, and for getting kitted out like a trendy Londoner.

More info: www.londoncarnival.co.uk

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August - Famadihana (Turning of the Bones), Madagascar

worldfestivals — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:23:00 GMT

Location: Hauts plateaux (highlands), Madagascar

Dates: Throughout winter (June to September)

Level of Participation: 2 – watch the Merina’s unique ritual – and join the attendant party

Description:

Traditional Malagasay culture is rooted in respect for its ancestors, as the Merina people’s Famadihana exhumation ceremony bears testament to. The living family members gather at the clan’s tomb, where stone and mud are prised open and straw-wrapped ancestors passed out above bobbing, dancing heads. The family lovingly re-wraps its dear departed in special lambas (scarves), ideally made of dark red silk but often woven from cheaper white cotton, and sprays them with perfume. Women who are having trouble conceiving take a fragment of the old shroud and slip it under their mattress.

Having labelled the ancestral bundles with felt-tip pens, the family members sit in quiet contemplation with the bodies in their laps. Some might even line up for photos with their forefathers laid out neatly in the foreground. The ancestors are then danced around the tomb and returned to their resting place, along with offerings of money, alcohol and photos of the deceased.

Unless there’s a time of crisis, the ritual won’t be repeated for another seven years. This is good news for the family, which has to pay for the huge party that builds up to the exhumation.

Local Attractions: Baobab-studded Madagascar and its tropical neighbour, Comoros, comprise the world’s only habitat of the dancing Lemur monkey.

More Info: Office National du Tourisme, Antananarivo (+261 22 660 85; www.madagascar-tourisme.com in French)

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