Festivals are a great excuse to go on vacation, and also an excellent way to get an insight into a new culture. Here are some must-see festivals around the world:
Carnival, Brazil
Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is known to be one of the most incredible festivals in the world and is also celebrated throughout the country before lent each Easter. Carnival is basically the largest party in the world, and you’ll be partying with two million other people each day of the 5-day festivities.
This festival dates back to 1723 and the parade is one of the biggest and definitely the best you’ll ever see, with huge mechanized floats, Samba dancers, pounding drummers and adornments everywhere.
La Tomatina, Spain
It sounds crazy, but thousands of people from around the world head to Buñol, Spain each year in the last week of August. On Wednesday the festival is celebrated with a giant tomato fight, and participants through squashed, ripe tomatoes at each other. This festival dates all the way back yo 1945 after a few young men had a fight and suddenly an angry crowd grabbed vegetables and began throwing them at each other. The same men came back the next year with their own tomatoes to throw at each other and La Tomatina was officially born.
International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China
In January in Harbin each year you’ll step into a winter wonderland. This is the largest ice and snow festival you’ll ever see, with huge ice sculptures everywhere in many different sizes and shapes- some of them as tall as 20ft. The festival began back in 1963 and the lights glowing through the ice are a sight that must be seen.
Lantern Festival, Thailand
In Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, you’ll find the beautiful Yi Peng Festival (Festival of Light). Beautiful lanterns light up the sky, and float gracefully into the air, and are sent floating down the rivers and in the moat surrounding the old city. If you miss the festival, lanterns are also released for New Years Eve, which, with the fireworks make for an exciting event. Tourists can buy lanterns of different sizes, light them and release them themselves as well.
Day of the Dead, Mexico
Dat of the Dead is celebrated throughout Mexico, and is a festival which remembers the departed souls. People dress up in gorgeous and striking costumes and visit graves of relatives with marigolds, sugar skulls and the favourite foods of those who died. Face paint is huge for this festival, and most kids are painted as skulls, making them look even cuter (if kind of creepy). This festival is a must see if you’re planning a trip to Mexico.
Oktoberfest, Germany
This famous beer festival is in Munich each year, and draws around 6 million international visitors. If you like beer, be sure to visit at some stage over the 16-day celebration and consider getting dressed up in the traditional Dirndl clothes.
