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Great Festivals of the World
The first in a series of theme guide books published by Pilot
Productions in association with La Belle Aurore, Great
Festivals of the World takes you on a tour of some of the greatest
events on earth.
The book comprises fifteen stories by journalists, travel writers
and TV personalities, who capture the spirit of a festival they
took part in. At the end of each story there's a double-page 'how
to' factfile for the benefit of readers who are inspired to experience
the festival for themselves. An eight page full-colour section has
photographs from many of the events covered.
Order
your copy now!
A World of Celebrations
People around the world celebrate there own curious customs in their
own curious ways, often drenched in history, symbols and bearing
little resemblance to the festival's original cultural purpose.
Thus Halloween is more about costumes, candy and pumpkin lanterns
than its Pagan origins of warding off evil spirits before all hallows
days when the dead are thought to awaken. Many festivals celebrate
the myth of a local hero or villain, and aim to re-create their
heroics with symbolic games, actions, or events to remember their
history in the days before a universal written language. More often
than not, a festival is tied into a religious celebration of joy
or suffering, with "real life" events often blurred and
dates tweaked to fit in to a more convenient spot in the calender,
like Christmas which falls two weeks after Christ's birth to replace
the Pagan Midwinter feast.
See our features guide below to the Great Festivals of the World
from pilgrim bathing in Kumb Mela, the "Dance of
Fools" at Awa Odori, Japan, through to festivals with a
contemporary twist, like the Burning Man Festival in Arizona.
Established in 1986, Burning Man celebrates alternative living in
a temporary community. There are no voyeurs, everyone is a participant
in the performance which encompases hedonism, depravity and ecstasy.
Not all festivals are concerned with enjoyment, many take the form
of a religious penance or pious display, separating the true devotees
from the weaker men. The Thaipusam festival in Malaysia is
a remarkable display of discipline, as participants cleanse and
purify themselves of sin and toxins before indulging in self mutilations
and painful, masochistic acts in the name of Hindu devotion.
Beware traditional summer festivals, an institutionalised excuse
for a national silly season or midsummer foolery, an escape from
the banality of the everyday, like the Tomatina Tomato throwing
Festival extravaganza in Spain. 125 000 Kg of tomatoes are hurled
by 20,000 locals and tourists for a mere two hours every year in
the world's biggest food fight! Masks and reversal roles all play
an important part in "foolery" festivals like the English
Pagan Midsummer's Night festivals typified by Shakespeare, a world
where servants take the role of masters, humans become like animals
and the ancient lands of magic and sorcery take over the everyday.
On the other hand, the Buddhist Songkran Festival may take
the form of a giant water fight, but is a wholly spiritual offering,
a cleansing experience with a balance of foolishness and spirituality.
Other festivities are of a more competitive nature, showing off
the bravado of a region, like the Palio of Siena in Spain,
a daredevil horse racing competition which was originally a religious
celebration from the Middle Ages.
Pre-Lent Carnival is another important time to celebrate
in the Christian calender, an excess before the more serious business
of fasting. Nowhere is it more spectacular or colourful than Rio
de Janeiro, where the celebration of costume and Samba is at its
most refined and Extravagant.
The most important rule of any festival or celebrations is that
after the feasts is eaten, the wine drunk and the decorations are
back in their boxes for another year, you must return to your everday
life refreshed, but let the memory of the celebration linger for
the rest of the year.
Features
Mini Guides taken from the full length articles featured in Great
Festival of the World
Running with
the Bulls in Pamplona, by Mark Everleigh
India's Kumbh Mela,
by Steve Davey
Japan's Awa Odori,
by David Atkinson
Tuareg Festival, by Barnaby Rogerson
Sydney Mardi
Gras, by Denise Jeremy
Oktoberfest in Munich, by Andrew Waugh
Malaysia's Thaipusam, by Ed Waller
Timkat in Ethiopia, by Jessica Ferm and Rajesh Thind
Burning Man, Nevada, USA, by Daisy Evans
Spain's Tomatina,
by Martin Roberts
Rio Carnival,
by Jess Halliday
Russia's
Festival of the North, by Andy Humphries
Venice Carnival,
by Juliet Coombe
Thailand's
Songkran, by Blair Curtis
Palio
of Siena, Italy, by Doug Lansky
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