Festivals Around the World
Shall we dance?
Festival/Feast
• A festival is an event, usually and ordinarily
staged by a local community, which centers on
and celebrates some unique aspect of that
community or an historically important event
for the people who share that culture. Among
many religions, a feast is a set of celebrations
in honour of God or gods. A feast and a festival
are historically interchangeable. Feast, when
used as in the meaning of a festival, most
often refers to a religious festival rather than a
film or art festival.
Categories
• Secular – not connected to some religious belief
or event or personage
• Religious – honoring God or a god, or celebrating
an event or personage that was important in the
shaping and/or spreading of that religion
• Transitioned – a festival which originally had a
religious meaning at its core, but over the years
has been commercialized and secularized so that
many celebrants may even be ignorant of the
core religious meaning. (possibly Christmas in the
USA)
Dance
• In many cultures, dance plays an important
part of their festivals. The dances often have
a long history and are quite stylized. Here
are some colorful examples.
A VARIETY OF FESTIVALS AROUND
THE WORLD
Kaamulan Festival- The Philippines
• Kaamulan, meaning
social gathering, is a
bright and colorful
extravaganza that
welcomes anyone.
Unlike other festivals,
the Kaamulan Festival in
March is not just an all
street performance.
This festival has real
native people do
authentic rituals.
Ati-Athan Festival- the Philippines in
January
• Ati- Atihan was originally
a pagan festival but
missionaries gradually
added Christian
meaning. Ati-Athan
today is celebrated in
honor of the Christ Child.
There is a parade that
lasts three days and
leads to the church
where the main
procession starts. The
parades are colorful and
vibrant.
January 1-3: New Year (o-shogatsu)
• New Years day is Japan’s most important
festival. The objective of the ceremonies over
three days is to eliminate all the bad fortune
and bring good fortune in the next year.
• Celebrate Japan's New Year's holiday with lion
dancing (shishi-mai) accompanied by live taiko
drumming. There will be lots of traditional
New Year's activities for children, including
special New Year's calligraphy (kakizome), kitemaking/flying (takoage), funny-face game
(fukuwarai) and rice pounding (mochi-tsuki).
Naked Man Festival - Okayama Japan
• A hadaka matsuri (裸祭り, lit. naked festival?) is a
type of Japanese festival, or matsuri, in which
participants wear a minimum amount of clothing;
usually just a Japanese loincloth (called fundoshi),
sometimes with a short happi coat, and very rarely
completely naked. Whatever the clothing, it is
considered to be above vulgar, or everyday,
undergarments, and on the level of holy Japanese
shrine attire. Naked festivals are held in dozens of
places throughout Japan every year, usually in the
summer or winter. The most famous festival is held
in Okayama, where the festival originated. Every
year, approximately 9,000 men participate in this
festival. Originally, it celebrated the end of a period
of spiritual growth and study.
Participants receiving purification by water at
the naked festival at Saidaiji in Okayama
These sticks are so highly prized, that the men
clamber over each other to grab them, resulting in
the strange tangle of bodies you can see here.
Event: Hungry Ghost Festival - Taiwan
• This festival runs throughout the seventh month of
the Chinese calendar. It is believed that the gates of
hell open during this period and hungry ghosts are
allowed to roam freely into our world. In order to
appease the ghosts and prevent misfortune, many
Taiwanese will offer food and burn joss paper for
them.
Harvest Festival Day (Chuseok) - Korea
• 15th day of the 8th lunar month: Harvest Festival
Day (Chuseok)- Meaning “Bountiful Abundance”,
Harvest Festival Day is a time for Korean families to
visit their ancestors. Days before, special dishes are
prepared and are brought to the ancestors sites.
Chuseok – Special Dishes
Cinco de Mayo - Mexico
• Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a
holiday held on May 5 that commemorates the
Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces
at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862,
Day of the Dead
• Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos), is
a holiday celebrated in Latin America and by
Latin Americans living in the United States and
Canada. The holiday focuses on gatherings of
family and friends to pray for and remember
friends and family members who have died. The
celebration occurs on November 2 in connection
with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day
(November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2).
Traditions connected with the holiday include
building private altars honoring the deceased
using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite
foods and beverages of the departed, and
visiting graves with these as gifts.
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead Altar
Holi
• Holi, also called the Festival of Colors, is a popular
Hindu spring festival observed in India, Pakistan,
Nepal, Bangladesh, and countries with large Hindu
diaspora populations, such as Suriname, Guyana,
South Africa, Trinidad, the UK, Mauritius, and Fiji.
Chiang Mai Flower Festival - Thailand
• The Chiang Mai Flower Festival is similar to other flower
festivals hosted around the world such as Taiwan's InSeason Flower Festival, Japan's Sakura Festival, and the
Netherlands's and Belgium's Flower Parades. Thailand's
first Flower Festival was hosted by Chiang Mai in 1977 and
was such a success that it was made into an annual event.
The Galungan Festival - Bali
• Galungan is a Balinese holiday that occurs every 210 days and
lasts for 10 days. Kuningan is the last day of the holiday.
Galungan means "When the Dharma is winning." During this
holiday the Balinese gods visit the Earth and leave on
Kuningan. During this ten day period all the gods, including
the supreme deity Sanghyang Widi, come down to earth for
the festivities. Barongs prance from temple to temple and
village to village. The last and most important day of the ten
day festival is called Kuningan.
Galungan
Praying at the Temple - Bali, Indonesia
Mardi Gras/Carnaval/Carnival
• A joyous and colorful celebration prior to the
Catholic Church’s somber season of Lent. Kind of an
eat, drink, and be merry for soon we will have 40
days of fasting and prayer. Celebrated in many
places around the world, notably in Rio de Janeiro;
Venice, Italy; and New Orleans. It has become quite
secularized.
Bonus Point Opportunity (35 pts)
• Create a “Festival” PowerPoint – find 5
festivals, feasts, celebrations, etc. that aren‘t
in this PowerPoint.
• For each one Include the following
information:
– The name of the event and when & where it
occurs (include a map of the country & location).
– Brief description of the event & its origin
(religious, secular, or transitioned from religious to
secular).
– One or more pictures of the event.
Turning the project in!
• Attach the file to an e-mail and send it, unless it is
to large to be sent (some e-mail programs have size
limits)
• If you can’t send it attached to an e-mail, burn it to
a CD and turn it in before or after class (online
students can mail it in or ask Debra [administrative
associate] to put it in my mailbox in SSB 408 when
they happen to be on campus and the office is open
[usually before 4:00 PM]).
• Last resort: put the disk in a cardboard disk sleeve,
and slide it under the door of Tower 303 (my office).
Attach a note to the door to let me know so I’ll look
and step carefully when I open the door.
Grading Rubric
• Organization & Presentation (eye-appeal) – 5
points
• Basic identifying information – 5 points
• Maps – 5 points
• Descriptions – 10 points
• Pictures – 5 points
• Following directions – 5 points
Grading Form
Criteria
Organization & Presentation (eyeappeal)
Basic identifying information
Maps
Descriptions
Pictures
Following directions
TOTAL
Points
Possible
5
5
5
10
5
5
35
Earned