Festival

National Cherry Blossom Festival
The National Cherry Blossom Festival; an annual Spring event.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is held every year in Washington, D.C., our nation's capitol. The festival is traditionally held during the Spring when the cherry trees begin to bloom, and runs for about five weeks. The cherry trees have been there since the year 1912 when they were a gift from Tokyo, Japan as a symbol of friendship between the United States and Japan. However, during WWII on December 11, 1941, four days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, four of the cherry trees we...

Pongal the Festival of Tamil Nadu
The "PONGAL", unique Festival for Tamils.
Pongal is the great festival for Tamils in India. Pongal indicate the end of the usual farming season, giving farmers a break from their boring routine. This week long celebrations are not only unique, also traditional. In fact, four festivals are celebrated in Tamil Nadu for four successive days in that week. It is observed by the Tamils by offering boiled rice in milk to propitiate the Sun God. This Pongal food consists of sugar cane and sugar candy forms are the main offering to the Sun Go...

Carnival of Binche | Carnaval de Binche | UNESCO Masterpiece of Intangible Heritage
Ancient Gilles Throw Oranges at Crowds
While today I prize my American citizenship, I also value my Belgian heritage and hold fast to memories of special celebrations such as the Carnival of Binche, named a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity listed by UNESCO. This pre-Lenten festival dates from medieval times. Clown-like performers called Gilles dance to drumming and wield sticks to beat off evil spirits. Donning towering headresses decorated with ostrich plumes, they march through the streets and pelt on...

Quebec Winter Carnival | Carnaval de Quebec | Mardi Gras in Canada
Quebec Ranks among Top Fests on the Planet
Quebec has transformed the Plains of Abraham, a historic area within The Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, into an enormous carnival with room enough to welcome more than a million visitors to the almost three-week-long Quebec Winter Carnival. The festival ranks as the biggest winter gathering in the world and the third largest carnival after Rio Carnival and New Orleans Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Rowdy pre-Lenten gatherings prevai...

French Bastille Day celebration party ideas
What is Bastille Day?
Bastille Day is celebrated each year on 14 July. This French national holiday is commonly referred to as simply "Quatorze Juillet" (14th July). It commemorates the Fete de la Federation, celebrated each year since 1790. The very first Fete de la Federation was held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille (14 July 1789), which was the start of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Republic of France. Since that time, celebrations have been held in Paris with music, d...

Sinulog Festival philippines
ENJOY THE RHYTHEMS
The Sinulog festival is one of the most colorful festivals in the Philippines. with The main festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January having been there and enjoyed it so much i thought i would share it with you i hope you enjoy

Gasparilla Pirate Festival | Annual Celebration in Tampa
The Krewe of Jose Gaspar Invades & Throws Beads to Crowd
Legendary pirates aboard the Jose Gaspar, the world's only fully-rigged pirate ship, invade Tampa, Florida, in late January. Locals attempt to repel the pirates but end up escorting the band ashore for some serious revelry. A sort of victory celebration ensues as the pirates and townsfolk parade down Bayshore Boulevard along Tampa Bay. The Gasparilla Parade of Pirates is free and open to the public who crowd close to the 3.8-mile route in hopes of catching beads and coins that pirates toss t...

Mardi Gras Around the World
Fat Tuesday Festivities Mark the Pre-Lenten Period
The French phrase Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday" aptly describes the pre-Lenten carnival celebrations that usher in the Lenten season of abstinence. Rather than referring to a single day, Mardi Gras encompasses the entire festival time. In some towns, celebrations may last a day while in places like Mobile, Alabama, where in 1703 the first U.S. Mardi Gras took place, the carnival begins in November and continues until Ash Wednesday -- that's about three months of partying! Not even Hurrican Katr...