Are you a party animal? If so, I have a followup, can you dance from dusk to dawn without having to take a breather? If the answer is yes, then continue reading. Even if the answer was “no” continue to read.
These festivals I am about to share are like no other. If you attend one of them, you need to have lots of stamina to stay up and dancing all night. Also, you need to be very capable of dodging flying objects or run faster than an angry beast. And also not be a germ-phobia.
Without freaking you any further, let’s see the 10 famous festivals around the world.
10. Carnevale, Italy
If you know no Italian, then Carnevale is simply a carnival and this celebration is similar to what is known in the United States as a carnival or mardi gras. The festival takes place during the weeks leading to Easter.
The celebration of this festival in Italy usually encompasses a huge winter festival with masquerade balls, parades, music, parties, and all sorts of entertainment.
Pranks and mischiefs are common during this celebration, hence the phrase “a Carnevale ogni scherzo vale.”
The festival is rooted in ancient pagan festivals, and customs were adapted to fit into Catholic ceremony.
Carnevale is a one-day celebration, but the parties usually begin weeks before the actual date.
In Italy, Carnevale is wildly celebrated in Viareggio, Venice, and Cento. The festival takes place on March 5 every year.
9. Cascamorras, Spain
This festival mainly takes place in the province of Granada, Baza, Spain in September. The festival has an impressive origin including a variety of legends which are widely accepted by the Andalucía people. Let’s put aside the origin story of the Cascamorras for another day.
Cascamorras festival attracts between 15 and 25 thousand people and one of the most impressive and least-known festivals in Spain.
With the numbers the festival attracts every year, you will not believe that no open consumption of alcohol is allowed. Can you name one festival that people are soaked in fun and alcohol is not involved?
There are series of events that mark the Cascamorras festival including the two runs. If you fancy taking part in the run, it is recommended that you book your accommodation nearby so that you can clean up afterwards.
8. Snow & Ice Festival, China
Also known as the Harbin Ice Festival, Snow and Ice Festival is the largest ice festival in the world. The ice sculptures that rise upwards to 20 feet and even higher are the highlights of the festival. You will be amazed by the work of artists who carved the castles out of ice blocks.
The festival starts officially on January 5, lasting a whole month. Visitors are usually presented by masterpieces of artworks before the main event starts.
If you plan to attend the Snow and Ice Festival, consider exploring the ice monuments after the dark falls for spectacular winter scenery including snowy castles as well as gigantic ice figures.
The entry to the Harbin Ice and Snow World costs $48.
7. Sydney New Year’s Eve, Australia
As the name suggests, this annual multi-tiered festival is held in Sydney Australia every New Year’s Eve. The display of two pyrotechnics across the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Port Jackson nearby is the main highlight of the event. The two pyrotechnic events are the 9 pm Family Fireworks and the Midnight Fireworks. Both the events are nationally televised, with the Midnight Fireworks globally televised due to its international appeal.
This festival usually involves awestriking sights, synchronized fireworks blasting off the catwalk, arches, and roadway of Harbor Bridge & Opera House as well as the nearby city buildings.
The first televised version of the event was in the New Year’s Eve of 1995.
Initially, the 9 pm Family Fireworks was the main event of the festival, lasting about twenty minutes. The Midnight Fireworks lasted for only three hours and only featured the Sydney Tour. But, from 1999 moving forward, the Midnight Fireworks become the main show of the two.
6. Burning Man, USA
The Burning Man festival is an amazing annual event taking place in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, United States. The event takes place in the specially constructed city at the centre of the Black Rock Desert and last nine full days. Burning Man festival is widely described as the largest open-air art display in the world. It is the only one which ends with the burning of huge statues.
The festival commences at the end of August to the start of September. You can check their official website for the exact dates of the event.
The temporary city built for this festival is dedicated to art, self-expression, community, and self-reliance. More than 50000 participants display a variety of artworks, make new friends and hang out. When the event culminates, people leave the Black Rock city without leaving a trace whatsoever.
The objective of the Burning Man is to encourage each and every participant to find and rely on their inner sources.
5. Mardi Gras
This French Catholic tradition takes place in the United States and is their version of Carnival. The festival is divided into three parts. One part is a parade, another is a masquerade ball, and the third is a pub crawl.
It is staged to celebrate the beginning of the Lent. The festival involves over 50 different Krewes or parades throughout the city, making it one of the scenic parades. New Orleans, Louisiana, United States is the event venue.
The festival doesn’t occur on the same date every year but usually falls in February or March. The first five days of the event is the festival peak which leads up to the day before the beginning of Lent or Fat Tuesday.
4. Holi, India
Holi Festival of colours is an old Hindu Festival bearing deep cultural significance. The festival is a symbolic celebration of the victory of good over evil as well as the end of winter and the beginning of spring.
The celebrations begin after the destruction of evil which is achieved through the burning of Holika dolls. The festival usually involves unrestrained singing, dancing, and eating.
Whether you are participating or not, you will surely be bombarded with coloured water or powder, thus the ubiquitous name of the festival, “the Festival of Colors”.
The Holi festival is also celebrated in other nations with the Hindu population, such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
It is also celebrated in countries with Hindu communities such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
If you want real actions, celebrate Holi in either Jaipur or Delhi.
The festival takes place during the last day of the full moon of the lunar month, which in most cases in March.
There is nothing funnier than ambushing someone with a gun filled with coloured water or fistful of powdered colour. That reminds me; don’t attend this festival if you have a quick temper.
3. La Tomatina, Spain
Do you hate tomatoes? Well, why don’t you come and show us at the La Tomatina festival? The festival has quite a sordid history involving civil disobedience. La Tomatina was officially recognized as a “Festivity of International Interest” in 2002 by the Spanish Secretary Department of Tourism.
The weeklong event takes place every last Wednesday of August in Bunol Spain, some 38 kilometres from the city of Valencia. And before you ask, don’t bring tomatoes from home.
2. Carnaval, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Another carnival celebration entry in this list is the Carnaval. It is a 5-day annual addictively chaotic festival held in Rio, Brazil. The Carnaval is arguably the most famous carnivals in the world of festivals.
Just like all the carnival festivals, Carnaval marks the beginning of Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday.
The festival involves massive parades of sophisticated ensembles as well as choreographed story-telling.
This festival can never be copied, the overjoyed cacophony of beautiful people, samba, costumes as well as lots of feathers. You gotta experience Carnaval firsthand.
1. Oktoberfest, Germany
Oktoberfest is a world-famous annual festival that takes place in Munich, Germany. The festival has been a celebratory custom since 1810. Oktoberfest has undergone significant changes along the way to becoming one of the largest fairs.
The festival boasts more than 80 rides, 14 extravagant bear porches as well as lots of food, and attracts 6.5 million people every year.
Oktoberfest begins in the last 2 weeks of September to the first week of October. The festivities can take up to 18 days depending on whether the first Sunday of October falls on 1st or 2nd.