Week 10 [29.05-04.06.2017] - A trip around festivals

Festivals are living and dancing museums of culture and tradition. One of the best ways to know some country is participate in celebrating its feasts. Every country has own way to show its culture, by dance, music, spirit rituals or fights for food. Here are 3 the most interesting festivals around the world! Ready for a trip?

La Tomatina – Spain
Buñol, Valencia

Do you love tomato? Perfect! Your whole body will be in your favourite vegetable. Hate it? Don’t worry, you can destroy your nightmare by throwing them to other people. Feast of Tomato takes place every year in last Wednesday of August. Let’s start from the beginning…Some Wednesday 1945, some group of boys wanted to take part in the local parade. They argued with participants and started to pelt them with tomatoes from close greengrocer. Next year they came back to the same place and repeated tomato battle again. Every year more and more people came to Bunol’s main square with bags full of tomatoes. After years of citizens’ demands to allow them continue tradition, in 1957, La Tomatina finally was recognized as a local, public feast. Now this festival round up thousands of people from all the world.

http://www.lovevalencia.com/en/rules-of-la-tomatina.html

Holi – Festival of Colours
India, Nepal

Holi is Hindu festival of spring and colours. At the beginning Holi was held only in India and Nepal, but in recent years festival of colours has spread to many countries around the world, including Poland. Holi is celebrated by Hindus at the end of winter, on the last full moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar(February-March). It’s the day of forgiveness and the new beginning. Holi is named from Holika - a sister of devil king of demons. She was resistant for fire but only when jumped into it alone. The king commanded to enter into fire with her nephew, she sacrificed own life, saving the young boy. Why people cover each other by colorful powders? There is a story of young Krishna – the highest god in Hindu religion. His uncle wanted to kill him by using the demon named Putana who had to feed the baby by poisonous milk. Krishna was clever and sucked out whole milk and blood of Putana, then she died. The young god was fell in love with white shepherd and suffered from his colour of skin, which was very dark, because of demon’s blood. Then his mother advised him to put colours on his face and from this moment, colouring faces started to be the tradition which has to bring joy, health and luck.

http://janadamski.eu/2015/09/holi-swieto-kolorow/

Día de Muertos – The Day of Dead
Mexico

Do you think that The Day of Dead is a sad day? Let’s travel to Mexico! 1 st and 2 nd November people meet to reminisce dead family members and friends. Mexicans believe that spirits are waiting in Mitclan, from where they can come back to their homes during these days. On altars are food, water, flowers, colorful candles, which had to encourage spirits of deads to visit Earth. On the cemeterias people dance and make picnics. In the shops can buy marzipan’s sweet in shape of bones, skulls, coffins.

Dia de Los Muertos, Liesa Cole Photography

Do you have some favourite festivals? Why did you choose them?
Maybe you participated in some of just described? Did you like it or not? Why?

Share your opinion with us!

Sources:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/0/holi-festival-celebrated-throwing-coloured-powder/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
https://www.mexicansugarskull.com/support/dodhistory.html
http://www.spain.info/pl/que-quieres/agenda/fiestas/valencia/la_tomatina.html