Cultural Celebrations Around the World

Culture Celebrations around the World






Celebrations are part of every culture. However, they have characteristics that make them unique. Some of these celebrations are festivals which are held every year and attract people from different areas of the planet.


These festivals have a great importance because the communities can portray with pride their values, beliefs, identity, and roles. Moreover, they enable us to pay homage and showcase the contributions our ancestors made to celebrate a historical event, show diversity, and unite the community or country. All of them contribute to know oneself and create an identity as an individual.



In this blog entry we will know more about some celebrations held around the world.



The Harbin Festival.



It is also know as Harbin Internation Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival which is celebrated between January 5th and February 5th. This festival takes place in Heilongjiang Province, Northern China. 
It is the world biggest winter festival and it as first celebrated in 1985. It was inspired by Heilongjiang's traditional lanterns, which were carved out of ice and illuminated by candles.


Sculptors from different countries participate in a contest for the best sculpture. Sculptures of different scales and sizes can be found. For example high uluminated castles and snow Buddha statue are some of the attractions found in this festival. 


Let's see some guides for people who want to visit this festival:


Burning Man


Resultado de imagen para burning man fest
This event is celebrated in Black Rock City, Nevada, United States. His creator Larry Harvey carried out the first edition in 1968 in San Francisco. Howvever it attracted the attention of many people and they decided to move to Nevada. It takes place for 7 days between the last week of August and the first week of September. This place becomes a city during a week in which art is present. For its followers it is not a festival, but a community that preserves the spirit of gifting and the gifting system.

As a community, they have certain guidelines to be part of this community which are called the Ten Principles.

This temporary city is dedicated for community, art, self expression, and participation. People from all ages attend it. It culminates in the last Saturday with the burning of a large wooden statue of "The Man".

Let's see some useful information about this celebration:


Holi Festival



It is festival held in India. This celebration has a religious origin which welcomes the spring stage. It is held on March or February depending on the weather. Colored powered represents happiness.

Holi is considered as one of the most revered and celebrated festivals of India and it is celebrated in almost every part of the country. 

 It is also sometimes called as the “festival of love” as on this day people get to unite together forgetting all resentments and all types of bad feeling towards each other. 

 The ritual starts by lighting up the bonfire one day before the day of Holi and this process symbolizes the triumph of good over the bad. 

 On the day of Holi people play with colours with their friends and families and in evening they show love and respect to their close ones with Abeer.

 Let's see some guides for people who want to visit this festival:



Pingxi Festival


Every year, thousands travel to the village of Pingxi for its annual Lantern Festival, where they write their wishes on paper lanterns and release them into the sky in the hopes that their ancestors will answer their prayers.
Pingxi is the only place sky lanterns are allowed in Taiwan, as the mountains and water prevent them from flying too far away.

There are multiple lantern colors to choose from, with different hues meaning different things, from greater wealth and fame and fortune to marital happiness. There are also lanterns shaped like animals, including cats, monkeys and pandas.

To prevent the mountainside from being littered with lanterns, there's a recycling program in place. Residents can exchange used lanterns at shops for items like toilet paper and detergent


 Let's see some guides for people who want to visit this festival:



Mombasa Carnival

mombasa carnival7
It takes place in the second largest city of Kenya: Mombasa. According to Chiazor (n.d.) "Persians, Chinese, Arabians, Portuguese, Indians, and Europeans have made contact with and left their cultures and imprints on Mombasa". For this reason the multiculturality is evident.
Boasting the largest coastal port in East Africa, Mombasa has been a popular stop off for traders since the 12th century. Once upon a time, it was known as Island of War, following repeated battles between Omani Arabs and the Portuguese who built Fort Jesus in 1593. In the long run, the Brits took over in 1895. The event is organized by the Ministry of Tourism taking place in November (Chiazor, n.d.). 
It revolves around two parades which converge on Moi Avenue with Mombasa’s multicultural communities represented by floats, costumes, music and dance.


Carnival of Venice


Venice cover
It is an anual festival celebrated in Venice, Italy. It became a public festivity in 1296 to celebrate the sovereignity of the Republic of Venice. The carnival gained popularity and prestige in 18th century, but it was forbidden until 1979, year that tradition was restored. Next year, the event will take place from February 8th to February 25th.

Some of the iconic elements of this tradition are the masks and costums. They have a traditional significance because they were worn to hide the identity and social status of the person wearing it in the past. It also symbolizes the freedom of speech.  It was even used outside the carnival period to court someone anonymously.

 The types of masks are:
  • The bauta
  • Medico Della Peste (The Plague Doctor)
  • Moretta

Part of the activities are:
  • Parade of the Marie
  • Regata delle Columbine  (water parade of decorated boats )
  • Best costume competitions.
  • Masquerade Balls
Let's find out more attractions from this tradition:




National Masquerade Day
Resultado de imagen para dia de la mascarada costarricense en cartago


 It is a Costa Rican tradition that aims to counteract other types of festivities alien to Costa Rican culture, such as the celebration of Halloween, as well as reinforcing the sense of identity of the people, taking advantage of the fact that it is common to represent different spectra of Costa Rican legends in the “mantudos”, called “espantos”(ghosts), such as La Llorona, Cadejos, Segua, witches and others. It was an initiative created by Aserrí canton and local artisans on October 31st, 1996. 

 A parade of different masquerades was organized in this canton. The next year, the Ministry of Culture and Youth approved an executive decree to celebrate  the National Day of the Traditional Costa Rican Masquerade.

 According Villegas (2018) this tradition includes cultural and educational activities, elaboration and exhibition of masks, parades of the mantudos accompanied by folk music, preparation and sale of typical foods, pyrotechnic games and homages to outstanding masks. 

 Cartago, Aserrí, Barva de Heredia, and Escazú are some of the places that preserve it and commemorate it every year. 
Some types of the masks are the following:

  • La Giganta (Giants)
  • Mantudos (Big Heads)
  • Helmet masks
  • Masks
Let's learn more about the National Masquerade Day:






Discussion

  1. What is your reaction about these cultural celebrations?
  2. What do you think about them?
  3. Did you know anything about them before this brief introduction?
  4. Compare the Carnival of Venice with National Masquerade Day


References:

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