Cannes Film Festival- Canne France

The Cannes Film Festival (French: le Festival international du film de Cannes or simply le Festival de Cannes) is the world's most prestigious film festival and is held in May each year in Cannes, in the south of France. The most prestigious award given out at Cannes is the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") for the best film.

The city of Cannes is situated in the southern part of France, in the Riviera region and has a population of approximately 70.000 inhabitants. Cannes is very famous around the world for its Film Festival and also for its Cannes Lions Festival. This a luxurious city and has tourism as its principal resource. Cannes offers some of France's finest hotels. Check Luxury Hotels for more info.


It is 905 km away from Paris, 164 km from Marseille and 26 km away from Nice. The coast is very visited. The Boulevard de la Croisette is one of the most important attractions for tourists who love the beach, sun and sand.


La Croisette is a 12 km waterfront avenue bordered with palm trees, with many elegant hotels, cafés, shops and restaurants around. Visiting the Musée de la Castre is also a good option for seeing impressive works of art, paintings, sculptures and decorative art. And if you want to relax visit the Îles de Lérins (Lérins Islands) with nice views and beautiful beaches.


If you just take a walk in the streets of Cannes you will discover a very friendly atmosphere. The main streets are d’Antibes and Meynardier. You will have a good time at the boutiques. Its restaurants are very good, although the prices are sometimes expensive. Depending on whether the restaurant is located on the waterfront or not, the price will be a bit more expensive.

Prague Spring International music festival-Prague Czech Republic

The first festival was held under the patronage of Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš, and its organizing committee was made up of important figures in Czech musical life. In that year, 1946, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, and was therefore given the highest accolade: to appear in all the orchestral concerts.

The festival commemorates important musical anniversaries by including works by the composers concerned on its programmes, and presents Czech as well as world premieres of compositions by contemporary authors. Artists and orchestras of the highest quality are invited to perform here.

TANABATA!!! Star Festival

See for yourself,, and you will know what it is.....

Kodomo No Hi ~ Children's DAY!!!

Children's Day (子供の日, Kodomo-no-hi)
Date: May 5
Other Names: Iris Festival (菖蒲の節句, Shōbu no Sekku), Tango Festival (端午の節句, Tango no Sekku)

 May is the month of the Iris Festival. The tall-stemmed Japanese iris is a symbolic flower. Its long, narrow leaves resemble the sharp blades off a sword, and for many centuries it has been the custom to place iris leaves in a boy's bath to give him a martial spirit. Originally May 5 was a festival for boys corresponding to the Doll Festival, for girls, but in 1948 it was renamed Children's Day, and made a national holiday. However, this might be a misnomer; the symbols of courage and strength mainly honor boys. It is customary on this day for families with male children to fly koinobori (carp streamers, a symbol of success) outside the house, display warrior dolls (musha ningyō) inside, and eat chimaki (rice cakes wrapped in cogan grass or bamboo leaves) and kashiwamochi (rice cakes filled with bean paste and wrapped in oak leaves).

Hanami (花見^?)

Hanami party along Sakai River in Beppu, Oita

Date: April
Other Names: Hanami (flower viewing), Cherry Blossom Festival
Information: Various flower festivals are held at Shinto shrines during the month of April. Excursions and picnics for enjoying flowers, particularly cherry blossoms are also common, as well as many drinking parties often to be seen in and around auspicious parks and buildings. In some areas the peach blossom, the traditional flower of Japan (the Cherry being a symbol from the Edo period symbolising the Samurai culture), is viewed as well though this flowers earlier than the Cherry. In some places flower viewing parties are held on traditionally fixed dates. This is one of the most popular events during spring. The subject of flower viewing has long held an important place in literature, dance and the fine arts. Ikebana (flower arrangement) is also a popular part of Japanese culture and is still practiced by many people today. Some main things people do during this event are: games, folk songs, folk dance, flower displays, rides, parades, concerts, kimono shows, booths with food and other things, beauty pageant, and religious ceremonies. Families go out during weekends to see the cherry blossoms, and participate in the many festivals and activities.

Cannstartter volksfest-Stuttgart German

When: 28th September - 14th October 2012
Where: Stuttgart, Germany

After the Oktoberfest which is held annually in Munich, the Stuttgart Beer Festival comes a close second. Like its big brother, Oktoberfest, this festival also takes place end September and had its origins in 1818 to celebrate a harvest after a famine year.
167th Stuttgart Beer Festival will be celebrated in Wasen again!

What Happens: The festival is opened by the traditional tapping of barrels by the mayor of the state capital. What follows is two weeks of fun and frolic, fetes and fairs, rollercoaster rides and elaborate floats, music and dance and of course the great mellow yellow liquid - beer! All in all the festival is a true display of the local cultural traditions. It also houses the largest and best festival tents accommodating upto 5,000 visitors in each tent.

Residents take to the streets and Stuttgart is overrun by visitors (a mind boggling 5 million of them), are drawn in to take part in this two week long party.

What you can do: Shop what you desire at the Wasen Huckster's market, enjoy the haunted houses, racy water rides and the world largest transportable Ferris wheel or come with your family on Wednesdays as the fair belongs to the family.

Let's get drunk!

NEVER SAY NEVER TO CARNAVAL!!

Let me assume anyone have watched RIO in the cinema, do you remember this song?

oh well, the song above just for brushing your mind. you know, like guiding you to the carnaval, right here in CULTURAL FESTIVALS! now, here's the real video of the carnaval ;)

PS: how can anyone says no to the carnaval, really? ;P

Carnaval

Carnaval, also called carnival, is celebrated in many places throughout South America. Carnaval, as spelled in Portuguese, is a 4-day celebration. It starts on Saturday and ends on Fat Tuesday (Mardi-Gras). Dates change every year, but it's always a noisy, energetic celebration of music and dance and exhibitions.

Probably the most famous of all the South American festivals, Carnaval is celebrated the week before the catholic holiday of Lent starts. Although Rio’s huge festival tends to take most of the spotlight, neighboring Argentina has pretty raucous celebrations, as does Colombia and Uruguay. In Argentina’s Salvador, the party is all about group participation: streets are packed with floats, flatbed trucks with bands & soundsystems, and streets lined with people eager to take part in the 3-day dance through the city.

Tango Dance and Grape Costume at a WINE HARVEST FESTIVAL?

Mendoza Wine Harvest Festival

Mendoza, Argentina


Argentina's wines are growing in popularity, and most of the vineyards and wine industry are located in Mendoza province, in the Cuyo region. The wine harvest festival, Vendimia, which falls on the first Saturday of March, actually begins in January in various locations around the province and then zeroes in on the city of Mendoza. The celebrations include folkloric festivals, religious ceremonies to bless the grapes, crowning of the Reina Nacional de la Vendimia, sports events and a lot of wine and merriment on into April.

Honoring the region's agricultural bounty, there are also festivals honoring melons and tomatoes, plus the Festival de la Tonada and the Fiesta Folklórica-ecuestre. The climate in Mendoza is hot and humid during the summer, but tree-lined streets, fountains in the plazas, an afternoon siesta and adapting to the mendocino lifestyle will add to your comfort.

In January and February  every year each of the eighty communities that make up the Province of Mendoza and who all have vineyards, wineries, or both, elects their own Harvest Queen. All of these goddesses of wine descend on the Provincial Capital (Mendoza city) in the first week of March and on the Saturday night South America´s most lavish and spectacular wine festival is celebrated in a natural Greek amphitheatre nestling amongst the low hills, inside the magnificent San Martín Park.

VIRGEN DE LA CANDELARIA 2010 - SEXTA PART

That is what Virgen de la Candelaria being celebrated every year, hope the video would give more idea. ENJOY (:

Festival of the Virgen de la Candelaria

Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria

Celebrated in Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay, Chile and Venezuela

The celebrations in Peru and Bolivia are centered around Lake Titicaca, in Puno and the small village of Copacabana. In Bolivia, the Virgen is also known as the Dark Virgin of the Lake, and the Patroness Of Bolivia. She is revered for a series of miracles, recounted in Nuestra Señora de Copacabana and has another festival on August 5. Normally, Copacabana is a quiet, rural village with fishing and agriculture the mainstays. However, the week before and the day of the fiesta, the village changes.

There are parades, colorful costumes, music and a lot of drinking and celebrating. New vehicles are brought in from all over Bolivia to be blessed with beer. People gather for days ahead to pray and to celebrate in a mixture of Catholic and native religions. Bolivian celebrants believe the Virgen prefers to stay inside the Basilica erected in her honor. When taken outside, there is a risk of storm or other calamity.

In Peru, Puno is known as the Folkloric Capital of Peru and lives up to this reputation in grand manor during this fiesta which lasts for days, as this schedule shows. The rites are centered around the observance of February second, and then a week later with the famed dances. Peruvian celebrants are not hesitant to take their statue of the Virgen around the streets of Puno in a staged procession.

The mixing of Christian and pagan is very evident here. Mamacha Candelaria, Mamita Canticha, and MamáCandi, are all names for the Virgen of Candelaria, the patron saint of Puno. She is also associated with Lake Titicaca as the birth of the Inca empire, with the cult of the earth, Pachamama. Men, women and children dance in her honor, to show their devotion and their thanks for her blessings. The celebration continues as a prelude to Carnival, as described in Máximo Esplendor Festivo.

The festival has two main phases. The first is described in El Día Principal Y Sus Ritos in which a procession carries the statue of the Virgen around the city, and dancers in lavish costumes from all walks of life join the parade. The dancers, by group, pause in front of the cathedral to be blessed with holy water, after which they are cooled with water thrown from nearby houses.

The second phase occurs on the Sunday after February second, called the Octava. On this day, El Segundo Gran Día : La Octava, costumed groups from the neighborhoods of Puno dance day and night in religious fervor and competitive spirit.

The celebrations in Uruguay center around the Iglesia de Punta del Este, accessible only at low tide, where it is thought the first Spaniards stepped ashore and celebrated their safe arrival with a mass.

In Chile, the Virgen de la Candelaria is feted in Copiapo where she is a patron saint of the miners. Year after year, a group calling themselves Chinos carry the statue in the procession, and son replaces father in the group. There are religious dances as well during the two day celebrations, bringing together local folklore and religion.

In Venezuela, the Fiesta de Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria is celebrated in Caracas, Mérida and other cities with masses, religious processions and dances.

Enjoy the Fiesta de la Virgen de la Candelaria!

What is shōgatsu ?? - Japan Festival -

Meaning : New Year Festival
Date: 1–3 of January (related celebrations take place throughout January)
Other Names: Oshōgatsu (O is an honorific prefix)

 New Year observances are the most elaborate of Japan's annual events. Before the New Year, homes are cleaned, debts are paid off, and osechi (food in lacquered trays for the New Year) is prepared or bought. Osechi foods are traditional foods which are chosen for their lucky colors, shapes, or lucky-sounding names in hopes of obtaining good luck in various areas of life during the new year. Homes are decorated and the holidays are celebrated by family gatherings, visits to temples or shrines, and formal calls on relatives and friends. The first day of the year (ganjitsu) is usually spent with members of the family. Below are some clips  and video about  Shogatsu Festival

People try to stay awake and eat toshikoshisoba, noodles to be eaten at midnight. People also visit Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. Traditionally, three are visited. This is called sansha-mairi. In the Imperial Palace at dawn on the 1st, the Emperor performs the rite of shihōhai (worship of the four quarters), in which he offers prayers for the well-being of the nation. On January 2 the public is allowed to enter the inner palace grounds; the only other day this is possible is the Emperor's birthday (December 23).

 On the 2nd and 3rd days acquaintances visit one another to extend greetings (nenshi) and sip otoso (a spiced rice wine). Some games played at New Year's are karuta (a card game), hanetsuki (similar to badminton), tako age (kite flying), and komamawashi (spinning tops). These games are played to bring more luck for the year. Exchanging New Year's greeting cards (similar to Christmas Card ) is another important Japanese custom. Also special allowances are given to children, which are called otoshidama. They also decorate their entrances with kagami mochi (two mochi rice balls placed one on top of the other, with a tangerine on top), and kadomatsu (pine tree decorations). Below is about oshogatsu's activity.

A later New Year's celebration, Koshōgatsu, literally means "Small New Year" and starts with the first full moon of the year (around January 15). The main events of Koshōgatsu are rites and practices praying for a bountiful harvest.

~TRY AND GO SEE IT FOR YOURSELF!! ~

ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY :D

Spanish festival- la tomatina festival

Although the Tomato Festival in Bunol, Valencia has no religious connections and was only started in 1945 this festival along with the Pamplona Bull Run is one of Spain s most famous and well known festival.

The Festival La Tomatina is one huge tomato fight and each year around 30,000 people turn up to take part.

The festival starts early in the morning when everyone turns up and dines on a breakfast of Chorizo and Rose wine.

By 11am in the morning everyone s inhibitions are loosened and five huge tomato filled rockets are sent into the skies above the town.

From this point it is every man, woman and child for themselves as the event turns into a tomato slinging war. Everyone is supposed to adhere to a small number of rules: You must squash the tomato before throwing it and you are not allowed to throw anything other than tomatoes.

Each year the Tomatoes throwing Festival last fro around two hours and in total some 125,000 kilos of tomatoes are squashed and thrown.

The festival also brings out a good community spirit where everyone involves helps out with the cleaning up and hosing down.

You can easily get to Bunol by flying into Valencia Airport. If you are flying to Valencia from the UK then you can find well priced flights and deals through Easyjet.

La Tomatina Festival, The Tomato throwing Festival, is held on the last Saturday of August every year and has been a regular event since 1945.

Isn't it awesome??

Are u ready to be tomato mess??

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