Subject: Put Your Party Hat On
Posted by: looney_tunes
Date: Aug 12 10
Every country has its special holidays, and holiday traditions – food, costume, celebratory activities – that we can enjoy as we travel on the Bus Ride. We may not manage to be there on the best day, but let's share information about what we could experience in the right season!
Many of us will be relying on second-hand sources for information - if you live in the country we are visiting, please let us all know how YOU celebrate any special holidays.
Posted by: looney_tunes
Date: Aug 12 10
Every country has its special holidays, and holiday traditions – food, costume, celebratory activities – that we can enjoy as we travel on the Bus Ride. We may not manage to be there on the best day, but let's share information about what we could experience in the right season!
Many of us will be relying on second-hand sources for information - if you live in the country we are visiting, please let us all know how YOU celebrate any special holidays.
225 replies. On page 11 of 12 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
looney_tunes
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Thanks, Shuehorn. This has been a labor of love on my part - I love doing research, and couldn't resist adding some extra insights (food on the first circuit, celebrations this time around) to enrich everyone's experience. Only 19 countries to go! Yemen has a number of festivals in the summertime, hoping to attract tourists who are interested in exploring aspects of traditional Yemeni life. The city of Sana'a hosts a month-long festival in June, which has been running for five years now. The 2010 program featured musical acts (both local and foreign) on Mondays, with plays and fashion shows on Thursdays. Local folk dance groups performed dances from various provinces each day, along with recitation of traditional chants. Tents in the streets and open areas were devoted to lifestyle displays from a variety of regions, as well as offering traditional handicrafts and jewelry for sale. The Marib tent displayed aspects of a traditional Bedouin lifestyle, including clothing and art works. Reply #201. Feb 03 11, 1:05 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Myanmar has tons of local celebrations, including a large number of festivals centred on various famous pagodas around the country. Settawaya, located in the forest about 34 miles west of Minbu, is supposed to have a pair of Buddha's footprints nearby, and is the site of the Buddha's Footprint Pagoda Festival (Shwe set taw) celebrated on the fifth waxing moon of the Myanmar calendar in the month of Talodwe (roughly in February or March). According to the legend, Buddha came to the site and accepted the reverential greetings of locals, at which time the footprints appeared in the stone underfoot. (There are a lot of similar stories!) Reply #202. Feb 04 11, 12:17 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Guyana Republic Day (23 February) is celebrated with a monster party called the Mashramani, or 'Mash' for short. The name comes from Amerindian, and can be translated as 'the celebration of a job well done'. Celebrations include float parades, costume competitions, steel drum and calypso bands (to which all and sundry can dance), masqueraders performing elaborate dance routines, calypso competitions, and the crowning of the King or Queen of the festival. If you want to visit in September, you will find the Festival of the Amerindians celebrated by Guyana's nine Amerindian tribes, who present their traditional art, music, legends and dances in events throughout the country. Reply #203. Feb 05 11, 12:20 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Iraq is not currently a big party venue. Traditional Islamic observances include Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet), Eid-al-Fitr (End of Ramadan), Eid-al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) and Ashura. The Day of Ashura is the tenth day of the Islamic month of Muharram, and is a day of mourning for Shia Muslims in remembrance of the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali,Mohammed's grandson, in 61 CE. Sunni Muslims also mark the day as a commemoration of Moses' day of fasting to thank God for leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Reply #204. Feb 06 11, 1:16 AM |
| looney_tunes
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No matter what is being celebrated in Equatorial Guinea, you will find lots of music and dance, both among the Fang and the Bubi peoples. Common instruments include drums, wooden xylophones, bow harps, zithers and a small 'thumb piano' made from bamboo called a sanza. The Fang national dance, the ibanga, is performed with 3 or 4 musicians accompanying the performance. A highly sexual dance, it is performed by men and women who have coated their bodies with white powder. Reply #205. Feb 07 11, 1:10 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Moldova has a thriving wine industry, stemming from at least 5,000 years ago. Most villages produce their own local wines, and the annual wine festival held in Chisnau in October provides an opportunity to explore the full range of wines and liquor produced here. Along with the alcohol, enjoy barbecues, folk music and dance (including the traditional hora, a group dance symbolizing unity). Reply #206. Feb 08 11, 1:32 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Nepal is another of those countries that proclaims itself to be a land of festivals. You might like to spend Mata Tirtha Puja (Mother's Day) in the village of Matatirtha, six miles southwest of Kathmandu, where there is a pond sacred to mothers. According to legend, a man depressed by his mother's death went to pray and make offerings at this pond. His mother's face appeared, and her hand received his offerings. People whose mothers have died come here to offer up prayers for their souls. This celebration occurs in late April or early May, depending on the lunar calendar. Reply #207. Feb 09 11, 12:03 AM |
| looney_tunes
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If you are in Chile around July 16, you can participate in the celebration of the feast day of Our Lady of Carmel (a naming of the Virgin Mary reflecting one of her roles). The Fiesta de la Virgen del Carmen de la Tirana, one of the major Chilean religious festivals, is celebrated in the little town of Tirana. The usual population of around 500 is swelled by visitors to be around 250,000 for the week-long festival. In 1785 a statue of Our Lady of Carmel was ordered from a sculptor in Quito by a Don Martin de Lecuna. This statue has since been the focus of prayers for assistance with the struggle for independence. Over the years Our Lady of Carmel was announced as the patron saint of the Army of the Andes (1817), and subsequently of all Chilean people (1923). Reply #208. Feb 10 11, 12:03 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Malawi's Lake of Stars festival, held in October on the shores of Lake Malawi, highlights local rural talent and provides an opportunity to hear the music of the region as it is performed on a daily basis. But there is more to enjoy than just the excellent music. The lake provides a wide range of water-based activities; you can climb Mt Mulanie (central Africa's highest peak) or trek across the Zomba Plateau or go horse riding; perhaps visiting one of the 9 game parks in the area appeals, or you might just want to visit the beach. There's plenty of reason to have a good time! Reply #209. Feb 11 11, 12:30 AM |
| looney_tunes
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If you are visiting Cape Verde on the first weekend in August, you should seriously consider visiting the beautiful Baia das Gatas on Sao Vicente, where a large music festival has been held every year since 1983. It features music from Cape Verdean, Brazilian and European performers who live on the island or visit for the festival. You can hear a wide variety of musical styles, including the Cape Verdean forms of morna, coladeira and funann. Between acts, enjoy the beautiful scenery and sample the local foods, which will include lots of fresh fish and seafood. You might also want to sample the local specialty of cachupa, a stew made from corn and meat or fish cooked over a low flame for hours. By the way, the bay is named after the gata, a relatively small and harmless shark found in its waters. Reply #210. Feb 12 11, 12:03 AM |
Janass 
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looney_tunes, would you consider swimming in the Baia des Gatas? I am not sure; depends on the size of their fins. Reply #211. Feb 12 11, 6:53 PM |
| looney_tunes
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I don't swim in salt water, period. When I was a child, I returned from trips to the seaside feeling all sticky with salt, and longing for good old mountain lakes. Then I moved to Australia, where they tell you to confine your swimming to a small portion of the beach where the lifeguards will spot the sharks and warn you if you need to get out. Oh, and watch out for the blue-ringed octopus. No thanks! Back to Singapore: The rich mixture of cultures to be found in Singapore guarantees that somebody will be celebrating one of their traditional festivals during your visit, no matter when you are there. Chinese New Year is probably the most widely-celebrated of them all, with the celebrations extending over 15 days during January and/or February, at the start of the lunar year. One of the interesting local traditions is the noisy party ritual called lo hei, in which a group gathers around a dish of yu seng (raw fish on a multi-colored bed of salad) and all dig in with their chopsticks, tossing the salad as high as possible on the way to gathering it into their mouths. The fish symbolizes prosperity, and each color in the salad ingredients also carries meaning in regard to one's fortune in the coming year. Reply #212. Feb 13 11, 1:32 AM |
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Looney_tunes, I understand the concern about swimming in salt water in Australia, although I have never been there, unfortunately. Reply #213. Feb 13 11, 6:41 PM |
| looney_tunes
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The Edo people of Benin treasure their locally-produced coral beads, which are passed down through the generations within a family. According to their beliefs, the beads were once owned by the gods, so carry deep spiritual significance as well as symbolizing the wealth of the community. One of the primary ceremonies of the Ugivie Festival, whose name means 'Festival of the Leaves', is a ritual washing of the family beads. Reply #214. Feb 14 11, 1:08 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Your visit to Kyrgysztan won't be complete without a visit to the Felt Festival, a summer event displaying one of the country's traditional art forms, the making of felt and products using it. You will see how felt is produced, along with a range of souvenirs including the traditional shyrdak, a colourful handmade felt rug or wall hanging. Shyrdaks are usually made from highly-contrasting colours (the combinations of which have significance) by pressing two different colors of felt together and cutting the top layer to form a geometric pattern symbolizing such things as water, hills, animals, etc. The two layers are then carefully stitched together using a special yarn made from goat or camel hair. The pieces that were cut out of the top layer can subsequently be used to make another rug, whose pattern is a reverse-image of the original one. Reply #215. Feb 15 11, 12:55 AM |
Cymruambyth
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Join us in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada February 18-27 for the annual Festival du Voyageur. That's when we celebrate the exploits of the intrepid furtraders who plied the rivers and lakes of western Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries. The voyageurs were French-Canadians who worked for the Northwest Company, the chief rival of the Hudson Bay Company (which eventually absorbed it in the early nineteenth century). The Festival takes place in St. Boniface, Winnipeg's French quarter, and is a ten day extravaganza of feasting (traditional foodstuffs, including tortiere, bison stew, creme brulee, and an opportunity to take part in tapping maple trees and sugaring-off the sap in the snow), music (Metis fiddlers predominate), dancing in the streets, and traditional voyageur activities like racing while carrying bales of furs, log-splitting, beard-growing contests, ice sculpting, quinsey building (a quinsey is a shelter made with fir boughs, torchlight parades and more. A guaranteed good time will be had by all! Reply #216. Feb 15 11, 2:07 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Sounds fun! Today the tourists are in the Dominican Republic for a bit of a holiday by the seaside. If you're visiting the Dominican Republic during February, you might want to spend one of the weekends in Cabarete, where February is the month of Cabarete Alegra (Cabarete Fun). The first weekend features mountain bike racing and demonstrations of skill; the second weekend brings a kite-flying festival; weekend number three sends everyone out to the beach for a sand castle competition; the last weekend of the month is marked by a surfing and windsurfing competition at Playa Encuentro. The village of Cabarete is located on the north shore of the Dominican Republic, only 20 minutes drive from Puerto Plata International Airport. It is located alongside a lovely semi-circular beach on a peaceful lagoon, with luxuriantly-vegetated hills behind it. These environmental factors combine to provide ideal conditions for the activities highlighted in Cabarete Alegra. Of course, you can just relax on the beach, or hike in the hills. Reply #217. Feb 16 11, 1:17 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Malaysia's cultural mixture means that there are a lot of different celebrations – Muslim, Christian, Taoist and Buddhist feasts are celebrated here, but many have been described in detail as we visited other countries. In May, the indigenous tribes of the Kadazan, Dusun and Murut living in the state of Sabah celebrate Kaamatan, a harvest festival in which thanks is given to, and forgiveness for any wrongs is asked from, Bambarayon, the spirit of the rice paddy. As well as the serious religious rites, there is a lot of entertainment – agricultural shows, dancing and singing, buffalo racing, and plenty of tapai (rice wine). One of the most popular events is the crowning of the 'unduk ngadau' (harvest queen), in a pageant held to commemorate the mythological figure Huminodon, who was reputed to have sacrificed her life in order to secure a bountiful harvest. The last two days of May are public holidays in Sabah. Reply #218. Feb 17 11, 1:24 AM |
| looney_tunes
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Umhlanga, the Reed Dance Festival, is a traditional Swazi and Zulu celebration held in late August or early September in Swaziland. The purpose of this annual ceremony is to produce solidarity among women and to provide tribute labour for the Queen Mother (in whose royal village, currently Ludzidzini, the event occurs). Thousands of unmarried women arrive and start proceedings by cutting tall reeds from the surrounding area. These are bundled together and used to repair any holes in the reed windscreen surrounding the village. After a rest day, the women dress in traditional costumes consisting of a skirt, a sash, a bead necklace and anklets made from cocoons. Most women also carry a shield, and the knife they used to cut the reeds, as a symbol of their virginity. They sing and dance as they parade in front of the royal family and the assembled crowd. Following the parade, groups from selected villages put on further performances. Reply #219. Feb 18 11, 12:22 AM |
| looney_tunes
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In Ecuador, the birthday of Simon Bolivar (July 24) is a public holiday. Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco was born on that date in 1783, in what is now Caracas, Venezuela. He was one of the leaders in the struggle for independence from Spain in the northern part of South America, and is commonly known as "El Libertador" ("The Liberator"). He was president of Gran Colombia, an independent nation covering what is now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama, from 1819 until 1830, and was instrumental in providing a vision that guided other countries to move towards independence. Las Fiestas Patrias is celebrated in much the same ways as other independence days around the world – lots of parades, including traditional costumes, music and dancing, and plenty of celebratory food and drink, with the national flag flying everywhere. In Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and principal port, the celebrations are combined with commemoration of the city's founding, which takes place on July 25. Reply #220. Feb 19 11, 2:51 AM |
225 replies. On page 11 of 12 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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