20 legendary festivals that you must visit in your lifetime
People splash water and throw paint. People light huge bonfires. People start dancing. There is something wonderful about these long-standing human traditions of gathering together in large crowds to celebrate some significant event. If you love festivals and holidays, then you should definitely get to at least a few of those listed in this issue.
1. Holi (Festival of Colors).
This is an ancient Indian festival in honor of the victory of good over evil.
2. The celebration begins with the lighting of a bonfire on the eve of Holi.
3. Then the festival participants start throwing powdered paints to spread joy and happiness everywhere.
4. Winter Festival of Light — Kuwana, Japan.
More than 7 million LED lights — it is in such an elegant style that the Nabana No Sato Botanical Garden celebrates winter.
5. Most of the park is illuminated by lamps charged with solar panels, which reduces the level of environmental impact to a minimum.
6. Carnival — Venice, Italy.
In 1162, the Republic of Venice overcame an attempted invasion. In honor of this victory, the people of Venice came to St. Mark's Square to have a good time.
7. Now the Carnival of Venice marks the beginning of Lent. But what hasn't changed since the very first carnival is the exquisite costumes.
8. Up Helly Aa — Shetland Islands, Scotland.
Up Helly Aa is a fire festival marking the end of the Yuletide season and sending viewers back to the past.
9. In Lerwick— the capital of the Shetland Islands, thousands of people take to the streets in themed costumes. The procession ends with throwing torches at a replica Viking ship.
10. Tomatina — Bunyol, Spain.
According to legend, the tradition of throwing tomatoes began in 1945, when locals scared off wild animals by throwing tomatoes at them, but missed and hit each other.
11. Now during this festival, more than 20,000 people from all over the world throw more than 150,000 tomatoes at each other in just one day.
12. International Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, USA.
At the largest balloon festival in the world, you will meet more than 750 balloons. The festival lasts for 9 days.
13. This fiesta began in 1972, when 13 balloons were launched in honor of the birthday of the radio station 770 KOB Radio. By the time the festival ends, your neck will probably be numb.
14. Burning Man — Nevada, USA.
This is an annual event in honor of culture and art. Artists are building dozens of huge installations while musicians entertain a crowd of more than 50,000 people.
15. Everything ends with the burning of a huge wooden man with a height of more than 30 m.
16. Lantern Festival — Asia.
The Lantern Festival has been celebrated since ancient times on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar.
17. Immigrants from China and Vietnam come to temples, which are decorated with thousands of lanterns of various kinds. At the end of the night, the lanterns fly into the sky, which symbolizes the process of letting go of a piece of yourself.
18. Garma Festival — Australia.
The Garma Festival is a celebration of the Yolngu people, indigenous Australians. The festival was created to support the preservation of traditional dance, songs, art and ceremonies of this original people.
19. It is also intended to share the knowledge and culture of the Yolngu people with those who were lucky enough to be invited.
20. Inti Raimi (Festival of the Sun) — Peru.
In the days of the Inca Empire, the festival of the sun was one of the most important of the year. The ceremony is held in honor of Inti, the sun god.
21. Since 1944, a theatrical reproduction of a procession in honor of the ancient Incas has been held in Peru every June. It attracts thousands of participants.
22. Snow Festival in Sapporo — Japan.
Every February, for 7 days, millions of people visit hundreds of huge sculptures. The snow Festival resumed in 1950 when six high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park after previous festivals were canceled during and after World War II.
23. In 1955, the local army joined the fun and created the first large-scale snow sculptures. Since then, the festival has acquired epic proportions.
24. Elephant Festival — Jaipur, India.
Elephants are an important part of Indian culture, and a separate festival is dedicated to them in March of each year.
25. It all starts with a procession of elephants dressed in stunning costumes and covered with extravagant decorations. Other festival events include elephant polo, horse racing and tug of war. This is definitely a holiday for animal lovers.
26. Day of the Dead — Mexico.
The Mexican name of the festival is Dia De Los Muertos. This is a holiday during which people gather together to pray and remember friends and relatives who have already left them.
27. The holiday itself is hundreds of years old, its roots go back to the Aztec festival. The celebration includes exquisite costumes and a huge variety of traditional food.
28. White Nights — St. Petersburg, Russia.
White Nights is an international art festival held in the Northern Capital of Russia in June. Part of this event are the Scarlet Sails floating on the Neva. Naturally, all this is accompanied by fireworks, performances by artists and hundreds of spectators.
29. This tradition began after the Second World War, when students united to celebrate the end of the academic year. Soon the event became a demonstration of freedom.
30. Electric Forest Music Festival — Rothbury, Michigan, USA.
This is a four-day musical festival dedicated to electronic music.
31. It is held in June: nature and a delightful light show combine to create a surreal atmosphere. Part of all proceeds goes to the neighboring town, where only a few thousand people live.
32. International Sand Sculpture Festival — Portugal.
It is the largest sand sculpture festival in the world. It occupies an area of 1,393 sq. m.
33. Every year 60 artists use more than 35,000 tons of sand to create 50 amazing works of art.
34. International Rainforest Music Festival — Kuching, Borneo.
In the center of the rainforest, thousands of festival participants gather to listen to world music.
35. Every year dozens of bands from all over the world and a variety of genres play for a crowd of 30,000 people.
36. Cascamorras — Spain.
Guadis and Baza are two cities located in Granada in southern Spain.
37. These cities are brothers—neighbors, but at the same time rivals. More than 500 years ago, a worker from Guadisa found an icon of the Virgin Mary.
38. A group from the Base stole the face before it was returned to Guadis.
39. A battle broke out, but today people turned it into a festival. Every year they arrange a kind of paint battle to take possession of the statue.
40. Glastonbury — England.
Since 1970, Glastonbury has been one of the largest and best music festivals in the world.
41. In 2014, it was visited by 135,000 people. Hundreds of bands played here — from Arctic Monkeys to Rolling Stones. In addition, there is a place for dance, comedy, theater and circus performances.