World's Local Festivals Range From Mild To Wild
December 13th, 2010 02:06 PM
Reasons for the festivals held around the world are sometimes well defined, but not always. It’s tough to choose a handful from the all the odd and obscure celebrations, but here’s a random sampling of annual festivals you might consider the next time you travel.
Cheesy. We begin in Brockworth, England, with the Annual Cheese Rolling Festival -- a dangerous tradition dating back to Roman times. Competitors from all over the world run up a hill and then chase a seven-kilogram round cheese back down at breakneck speeds. The first who gets to it, keeps it. Competition is lively.
Chappy. Now to Bedford Square Gardens, England, and The Chap & Hendrick's Olympics. A series of tongue-in-cheek competitions for traditional gentlemen who are against the vulgarity of modern culture, this festival includes events such as mixing dry martinis, the three-trousered limbo and a pipe relay.
Chippy. Ivrea, Italy, we find The Battle of Oranges. During the traditional carnival days in February, thousands of townspeople divide into nine combat teams to hurl oranges at each other with considerable violence. This festival’s origins are not well understood, as oranges don’t grow in the Alps around Ivrea. One legend has the Battle commemorating a popular rebellion of the 13th century, when the local poor deemed the largess of their feudal lord as inadequate, and threw it back in his face.
Barby. In Singapore, Thaipusam is held on January 31 at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple and Sri Thandayuthapani Temple in Little India. A long, impressive procession of Hindu penitents carry “kavadis” by piercing their bodies with hooks and barbs. Thaipusam honours Lord Subramaniam with a Day of Atonement for devotees to offer thanks or fulfill vows to the deity. This festival demonstrates the will and discipline of the participants as their pierced bodies support huge ornamental weights. It may not be suitable for the feint of heart.
Boaty. Teams from around the world compete for top honours at the Singapore World Invitational Dragon Boat Races in May or June at Marina Bay. Dragon Boat races commemorate the death of a famous poet who drowned himself to protest political corruption.
Foody. Traveling up the Malaysian peninsula to Thailand’s Lopburi province, we attend The Monkey Buffet. Every November, the province's approximately 600 monkeys are invited to eat fruits and vegetables at a feast in honor of Rama. It is said that Rama rewarded his friend and ally, Hanuman the Monkey King, with the fiefdom of what is now Lopburi. Judging from the elaborate 3,000-kilogram spread offered, those are some lucky monkeys.
Flakey. The Chinese Moon Cake Festival celebrates the overthrow of the Mongols during the end of the Yuan Dynasty in China. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth moon (August/September). The festival is celebrated with colorful lantern processions on the night of the festival and Moon Cakes -- rich, round pastries filled with a mixture of sweet red bean paste, lotus nut paste, or salted egg yolk. It is said that secret messages of revolt carried inside these cakes led to the uprising that deposed the Mongol Dynasty.
Flowery. One of the most colourful and fragrant festivals is the Cherry Blossom Festival in Okinawa, Japan. This event has taken place every January in Nago since 1928, when school children from Nago first planted cherry trees on the island at the Nago Castle site, the highest hill in the area. Each year school children have planted more and now the groves cover the double hills overlooking the center of the city with thousands of trees blooming to creating oceans of beautiful pink blossoms.
Fishy. The highlight event at Tunarama Festival in Port Lincoln, South Australia, is the John West Tuna Toss Competition. Men and women compete by throwing an 8- to 10-kilogram tuna for a slice of the $7,000 cash in prize money.
Everywhere you go, there’s some event to see. Sometimes inexplicable, they’re usually both entertaining and also accompanied by good things to eat.
Henrik Nielsen is an independent travel consultant and freelance writer. Find his Travel Unravelled Newsletter at www.talktohenrik.com
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 08 - Jan 09
Cheesy. We begin in Brockworth, England, with the Annual Cheese Rolling Festival -- a dangerous tradition dating back to Roman times. Competitors from all over the world run up a hill and then chase a seven-kilogram round cheese back down at breakneck speeds. The first who gets to it, keeps it. Competition is lively.
Chappy. Now to Bedford Square Gardens, England, and The Chap & Hendrick's Olympics. A series of tongue-in-cheek competitions for traditional gentlemen who are against the vulgarity of modern culture, this festival includes events such as mixing dry martinis, the three-trousered limbo and a pipe relay.
Chippy. Ivrea, Italy, we find The Battle of Oranges. During the traditional carnival days in February, thousands of townspeople divide into nine combat teams to hurl oranges at each other with considerable violence. This festival’s origins are not well understood, as oranges don’t grow in the Alps around Ivrea. One legend has the Battle commemorating a popular rebellion of the 13th century, when the local poor deemed the largess of their feudal lord as inadequate, and threw it back in his face.
Barby. In Singapore, Thaipusam is held on January 31 at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple and Sri Thandayuthapani Temple in Little India. A long, impressive procession of Hindu penitents carry “kavadis” by piercing their bodies with hooks and barbs. Thaipusam honours Lord Subramaniam with a Day of Atonement for devotees to offer thanks or fulfill vows to the deity. This festival demonstrates the will and discipline of the participants as their pierced bodies support huge ornamental weights. It may not be suitable for the feint of heart.
Boaty. Teams from around the world compete for top honours at the Singapore World Invitational Dragon Boat Races in May or June at Marina Bay. Dragon Boat races commemorate the death of a famous poet who drowned himself to protest political corruption.
Foody. Traveling up the Malaysian peninsula to Thailand’s Lopburi province, we attend The Monkey Buffet. Every November, the province's approximately 600 monkeys are invited to eat fruits and vegetables at a feast in honor of Rama. It is said that Rama rewarded his friend and ally, Hanuman the Monkey King, with the fiefdom of what is now Lopburi. Judging from the elaborate 3,000-kilogram spread offered, those are some lucky monkeys.
Flakey. The Chinese Moon Cake Festival celebrates the overthrow of the Mongols during the end of the Yuan Dynasty in China. It falls on the 15th day of the eighth moon (August/September). The festival is celebrated with colorful lantern processions on the night of the festival and Moon Cakes -- rich, round pastries filled with a mixture of sweet red bean paste, lotus nut paste, or salted egg yolk. It is said that secret messages of revolt carried inside these cakes led to the uprising that deposed the Mongol Dynasty.
Flowery. One of the most colourful and fragrant festivals is the Cherry Blossom Festival in Okinawa, Japan. This event has taken place every January in Nago since 1928, when school children from Nago first planted cherry trees on the island at the Nago Castle site, the highest hill in the area. Each year school children have planted more and now the groves cover the double hills overlooking the center of the city with thousands of trees blooming to creating oceans of beautiful pink blossoms.
Fishy. The highlight event at Tunarama Festival in Port Lincoln, South Australia, is the John West Tuna Toss Competition. Men and women compete by throwing an 8- to 10-kilogram tuna for a slice of the $7,000 cash in prize money.
Everywhere you go, there’s some event to see. Sometimes inexplicable, they’re usually both entertaining and also accompanied by good things to eat.
Henrik Nielsen is an independent travel consultant and freelance writer. Find his Travel Unravelled Newsletter at www.talktohenrik.com
Copyright North Shore Magazine Issue Dec 08 - Jan 09
