Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1 in Mexico, Ecuador,

Guatemala and other parts of Central and South America. Families
gather to pray to the souls of dead relatives, asking them to return
for just one night. People decorate altars in their homes and
gravesites with food, candles, candy skulls and marigolds to
welcome the souls back to earth. Skeletons are displayed
throughout cities, and people dressed as skeletons parade through
the streets. Pan de los muertos (bread of the dead) is baked in the
shape of skulls and crossbones, and a toy is hidden inside each loaf.
The person who bites into the toy is said to have good luck. Day of
the Dead sounds like a grim event, but its a time to celebrate and
remember the lives of dead family members.
The best way to describe Boi Bumba is as a celebration of a traditional story via the medium of
song, music, dance and theatre - featuring giant puppets. It is an extremely lively series of
performances from two different teams of Bois (which means ox), who compete through their
performances over three nights.
Each night the performance tells the story of a farmer who cuts out the tongue of an ox to satisfy
his pregnant wifes cravings, but the elaborate dances, costumes and rituals that accompany the
story have continued to develop in their energy and complexity every year since it began in its
present form in 1913.
The whole town of Parintins gets involved with the festival and there are huge parades and after
performance parties where the audience has a chance to mimic the production. People have very
strong affiliations to one Boi or the other and the competition is fierce.
More than 35,000 people attend each nights performance. A master of ceremonies gives a
commentary of the action, but dont worry the legend ends happily with the ox being resurrected.
Though Boi Bumba celebrations are held all over Brazil the biggest and most traditional is held in
Parintins in June.
Chinese New Year


Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the
Chinese calendar. The new year begins on the first day of the Chinese
calendar, which usually falls in February, and the festivities continue for
15 days.


At Chinese New Year celebrations, people wear red clothes, give children lucky money in red
envelopes and set off firecrackers. Red symbolizes fire, which the Chinese believe drives away bad
luck. Family members gather at each other's homes for extravagant meals. Chinese New Year ends
with a lantern festival. People hang decorated lanterns in temples and carry lanterns to an evening
parade under the light of the full moon. The highlight of the lantern festival is often the dragon
dance. The dragon-which can stretch a hundred feet long-is typically made of silk, paper and
bamboo.
Listed under Festivals in Pamplona, Spain.



Photo by flickr user Eneko Alonso
Pamplona! I wasnt going to miss that was I! This is one of Spains most recognisable features.
Youve seen it on TV: its men running just in front of bulls down narrow streets like mad beggers.
You dont have to be a professional to have a go, in fact its desirable if youre just plain mad or
young enough to believe youre invincible. A section of streets about 700 metres long is barricaded
off and people jump on in, there arent any formalities, if you want to run you just pick a street
and wait. Rockets announce the start of the running when the bulls are set free then its a free for
all for the three minutes it takes for the bulls to get to the bullring and the rockets go off again.
The runs run for a week from the 7th to the 14th of July at 8am daily (is that to attract or detract
the very drunk I dont know, but drinking and crowds has increased the danger over the years -
frankly I can't imagine how they get the insurance to hold the event!).
A spectacle yes! but its pretty rough on the bulls whose hooves slip all around on the cobbled
streets and they can fall over onto each other as well as the people (who really have got any
injuries they sustain coming to them.).
The used to have these kinds of bull runs before bullfights to get the bulls from their corrals to the
ring where they were going to fight and foolhardy young men would jump into the fray. Wikipedia
says 15 people have been killed in Pamplona since 1910, the most recent in 2003. Locals say most
incidents happen when a bull breaks off from the group and gets disorientated, theyre the kind of
animals that will just go for anything, so onlookers beware. Ernest Hemingway captured the
essence of the festival and runs so perfectly in The Sun also Rises. and I would definitely
recommend it as essential reading accompaniment for the festival. This will certainly get your
blood pumping but it may get it boiliListed under Festivals in Catalunya, Spain.



Photo by flickr user plain_jane53177
The sunny Spanish July weather is a big draw card for this ballooning event - especially considering
the ration of balloons to spectators is lower than at many other festivals - there are usually less
than 40 per take off. But 40 is still a lot of balloons and create a really buzzy atmosphere as they
are set up and inflated then gracefully launched. Added excitement comes from the locals who
seem to really get involved bringing out all kinds of local produce into a market stall area.
The festival takes place over three or four days and there are usually six or seven flight windows,
with different teams at each flight so if you want to see the competitions or some shapes - usually
a highlight for the kids, youll need to check a program. The evening flights and the night glows are
especially enjoyable in the warm weather and all the burners starting up create a romantic image
of lots of coloured lanterns.