Festival – Marrakech Popular Arts Festival
Where – Marrakech, Morocco
What time of year – June or July
Culture – entertainers and artists from Europe and Asia
Things to do at the festival –
- See gardens in Saadian Tombs or Majorelle gardens
- street vendors and tourist shops
- fire-swallowers
- fortune-tellers
- story-tellers
- singers
- snake charmers
- dancers
- acrobats
- craftsmen
- trick horse riders
- theatre performers and musicians
- belly dancers
- Combines modern entertainment with ancient folk dances
Festival – Floriade
Where – Almere, Netherlands
What time of year – September-October
Culture – nature lovers and eco-culture
What – international horticulture show, organized every ten years since 1960.
Things to do at the festival –
• Planting Trees in parks to restore a sustainable eco system
• Seeing new eco-friendly inventions
- Enjoying beautiful flowers, plants, and produce.
Festival – Songkran
Where – All of Thailand
What time of year – April 13, holiday extends from the 14th to the 15th
To allow people to travel to be with their families.
Culture – Thai culture. Thai New Years celebration
Things to do at the festival –
- water fights
- Visit family
- Go to parades
- Visit Buddhist temples
- Pour water on Buddhist statues, young people, and old people
- “Lady Songkran” or “Miss Songkran” is crowned
Festival – Kwita Izina
Where – Rwanda
What time of year – September
Culture – Rwandan culture
What – Kwita Izina means “to give a name” in the local language. It last a week to raise awareness and money about mountain gorillas and their expanding territory.
Things to do at the festival –
- gorilla naming ceremony for the gorillas born in Volcanoes national park.
- Conference
- Workshops
- Traditional music
- Dancing
- Performances from the local students and artists
- International celebs, dignitaries, and the president attend
Festival – Hermanus Whale Festival
Where – Cape Town South Africa
What time of year – Late September- to early October
Culture – N/A
What – A Whale watching Festival taking place in late September and early October when Southern Right Whales return to warmer water of walker bay after being in the attic seas, festival guests watch from the shore.
Things to do at the festival –
- Go whale watching
- Learn about whales
- Entertainers and musicians
- Food stalls
- Kid events
- Eco-marine tent -inspire visitors though informative, colourful, interactive displays, films, music, arts and food, and informative talks by marine biologists and experts.
- Arts and crafts
- Street parade
- Orchid show
- Classic car show
- Music festival
- Beach clean up
- Pirate and mermaid treasure hunt
- Festival – Abu Simbel Sun Festival
Where – Egypt
What time of year – Feb. 22nd
Culture – Started mainly Egyptian, but now is open to everyone
What – For a short period of time, the sun aligns perfectly to illuminate the inner sanctum of the normally dark interior. This causes the statue of Ramses II to become bright. This event has been taking place for over 3,200 years.
Things to do at the festival –
- gather before sunrise outside the temple.
- Watch the sun rise and illuminate the temples inner chamber
- Look at cool statues
- Explore the temple – entrance, two treasury rooms, Hypostyle hall, second pillared hall, the famous sanctuary where the 4 main statues are.
- After the morning;
- traditional Nubian dance
- Live music
- Food stalls – fresh koshari = Egypts national dish consisting of rice, pasta and lentils in a spiced tomato sauce.
Festival – La Tomatina
Where – Bunol, Spain
What time of year – last Wednesday of August
Culture – Spanish. N/A
What- First started out of a child throwing a tomato in a fit of rage and turned into a tomato fight. The next few years after that the tradition was carried on by a few teens but the police eventually shut it down. After overwhelming requests from the townspeople, it has now become a year ly tradition in the town.
Things to do at the festival –
- 1 hour long tomato fight
- The acid in the tomato’s act as a cleaning agent for the buildings around the fight, leaving them sparkling clean once all of the tomato’s are washed off.
Festival – Timpanogos Storytelling festival
Where – Lehi, Utah – online this year
What time of year – September
Culture –
Things to do at the festival –
• People tell stories
- musicians
- Puppeteers
- Magicians
- Entertainers
- Potter
- Family tent for young children
- Friday evening at the golf culb
- Lunch and dinner meals
- Hotels and tv parks
Festival – Pushkar Camel Fair
Where – Pushkar India
What time of year – Usually in November depends on the cycle of moon
Culture – Indian
Things to do at the festival –
- Hot air ballons,
- camels,
- musicians,
- bathing in holy water,
- scammers,
- Camel Charisma,
- the “maha aarti” a fire and light offering ceremony.
Festival – Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling Festival
Where – Cooper’s Hill in Gloucester, England
What time of year – The time it takes place is the first Monday of Spring Break
Culture – British People
Things to do at the festival –
- Watch others chase a wheel of cheese down a very steep hill.
- If you are feeling confident, you could be the person to chase the cheese down the hill.
- Buy cheese
- Purchase assorted trinkets and jewelry
- Eat at food stalls and trucks
- Get your face painted