Puno is a quiet town in Peru better known for its scenic beauty. Puno rings with festivity, color and music as the town celebrates the Candelaria festival.

This colorful festival is a blend of Catholic and pagan customs. It is celebrated to honor the Virgin de la Candelaria (Virgin of Candles) in a traditional pre Columbian style. Town people along with 200 dancers and musicians dance along the streets of the town dressed in colorful costumes. The statue of the saint is carried through the town in a procession including priests and altar boys. The procession is doused with holy water as it passes by the cathedral. Spectacular parades, masks and fireworks are a regular feature of the 18 day festival.

The first nine days are spent decorating the church and arranging banquets and fireworks. The later celebrations are more influenced by pagan rituals and are related to the farming and mining activities of the town. The main dance of the festival is the Devil Dance or the Diablada. It is said that a group of miners trapped in cave created this dance and left themselves at the mercy of the Virgin of Candelaria. In the end, the celebrant head towards the graveyard to honor the dead.

The ANZAC Day is celebrated in Australia and New Zealand to honor those who lost their lives in the Gallipoli expedition during World War 1.

ANZAC is the acronym for Australia and New Zealand. The two countries were a part of the allied forces and had sent their soldiers to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula and then ultimately Constantinople the capital of the Turkish Ottoman Empire; an ally of the Germans.

The forces landed on Gallipoli on 25th April; the allies’ plan which seemed simple backfired and the ANZAC forces faced stiff resistance from the Turks. Eight months later the expedition was called off and the forces were evacuated. There was a heavy loss of life on both sides. An estimate of 8,000 Australian soldiers and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers were killed.

Although the expedition failed miserably, it ignited a sense of pride among the two nations and the whole world appreciated their bravery, commitment and loyalty. In 1916, 25th April was officially recognized as the ANZAC Day.

In Australia, commemorative services are held at dawn and are mostly attended by war veterans and the family members of the soldiers. Later in the day, a ceremony takes place at the Australian War Memorial which is attended by the Prime Minister and other government dignitaries. Main features of the memorial services are lying of wreath, prayers, a recitation, a few minutes silence. The service usually ends with Reveille, the bugler’s call to wake up and the national anthem.

In New Zealand Dawn Parades and other memorial services in which the New Zealand Defence Forces, New Zealand Police, Scouting New Zealand and Girl guiding New Zealand and other uniformed service men participate. Red paper poppies are distributed and worn as a symbol of remembrance.

New York Marathon is one of the major sports events of the world. Every year 37,000 participants both professionals and amateurs participate in this 26.2 mile long event. The New York Marathon first started in 1970 and involved running around the Central Park until the 26.2 mile target was achieved; but now the course runs through the five boroughs of New York City.

There are three categories of this marathon; the men’s events, the women’s events and the wheelchair event. The race commences from the Staten Island and after crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the participants head towards Brooklyn. From Brooklyn they turn northwards and after running 13 miles, enter Queens. From Queens they cross over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. From here it is a four mile run to Bronx. The participants return to Manhattan after a brief run through Bronx and then enter the Central Park. This is the final stage of the marathon and by this time most of the participants are completely exhausted. The last stage is three mile long and quite tough. The race ends in front of the Tavern Green.

The New York Marathon carries prize money of $900,000 and many participants enter to raise money for charity. It provides an opportunity to the participants to enjoy the sights of New York as well. This major event is watched by millions of people both on television and on the entire 26.2 mile long course.

Thailand formerly known as Siam is a home to some amazing festivals. The country respects not only its citizens but also the animals living there. Lopburi in Central Thailand is one such place where a grand banquet is thrown on the last weekend of November for their famous citizens “the monkeys”.

It is a common belief among the locals that monkeys which roam around freely in Lopburi bring fortune and prosperity to the town besides protecting it. Monkeys are also a major tourist attraction in this otherwise sleepy town. They can be seen everywhere; wandering about in the town, swinging from trees, the temple of San Phra Kan is where they hang around the most. To express their gratitude, the people of Lopburi arrange a huge feast which they share with the monkeys.

The banquet tables are laden with sumptuous monkey favorite meals. Eggs, cucumbers, sausages, vegetables, ice cream and a wide variety of fruits are served to the primates. The honorable guests are offered sodas to wash down the lavish meal. People also eat along with them; the monkeys do not mind the company but they do get angry if you take a helping of their favorite food.

Not only the locals donate food for the festival, top chefs also prepare meals to tantalize the primates’ taste buds.

Seville is a vibrant city in the Andalusia region in southern Spain that is filled with life. At no time of the year is it more alive than during Abril Feria (translates to “April Fair” in English. The week-long festival takes place during the fourth week of the month of April.
Festival week takes over all aspects of Seville not just the tourist trade. The grocery stores and other shops close in the afternoons and the ordinary citizens dress up in vibrant colored folk costumes. These Sevillianos (the citizens) are the core attraction. They dress for the occasion in bright garments similar to those worn in earlier times. The wholehearted joyousness with which they participate in this major festival creates an atmosphere wonderful to behold.
The traffic on the road to the fairgrounds, located southwest of the city, is a virtual parade of heavy traffic. Along with cars, horses pull carriages. Each  occupied by the gaily-dressed people anticipating a day of fun and wine and food…?
The festival originated as a rebellion against foreign influences manifested in the form of celebrating the cultural traditions and costumes of Spain itself. For this one week the party goes on 24 hours each day. The 800,000 or so people living in Seville seem to welcome the complete disruption of life .
The tourist who is fortunate enough to attend this festival will receive a warm welcome, an invitation to attempt the dance steps and sample the fine cuisine and wine to be found in Seville, Spain’s third largest city. Warmth and exuberance will surround the visitor to this festival – one of the finest to be found in the world…

April is a month of festivities all around the world, indisputably. Many of these festivals are coincidentally global festivals. Thousands or even millions of people from all around the world are normally willing to travel to these particular festivals in the festival’s home country. Among such famous April festivals, there are three particularly worthy of mentioning:
    Cape Town Jazz Festival in South Africa
    Langkawi Water Festival in Malaysia
    Melbourne International Comedy Festival in Australia
Fall/autumn in South Africa are met with the arrival of the Cape Town Jazz Festival. WThis festival serves as a tantalizing alternative to the settling temperatures of the season. It is one of the high-rated tourist attractions among the many other festivals in the region. The Langkawi Water Festival in Malaysia is equally famous among western tourists. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival in Australia is a three-week long festival held to bring together thousands of comedians from around the world. It hosts almost 300 shows during this time. It’s among the top rated comedy festivals and shows around the world. People wait for this festival all through the year. It is one of the most awaited festivals of its type.

Top 3 Festivals in the Chinese Religion

The Chinese religions, not to be limited to Buddhism, is a very complex set of beliefs. Unlike many other religions and beliefs, the Chinese has a rather unified creed that is largely derived from three different religions (Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism). As such, there is an obvious potential for many festivals all year round, the top three being:
    Chinese New Year
    The Lantern Festival in ChinaThe Mid-Autumn Festival
Two of the above three are celebrated by almost every Chinese clan around the globe, although the names used to reference the festivals may vary. Chinese New Year, as the name suggests, marks the beginning of the New Year according to the traditional Chinese  calendar. It’s probably the most important and colourful festival and is also known as the Lunar New Year in some Chinese societies. The Lantern Festival is largely celebrated in China alone and by Chinese people who have originated in China. The celebration of this festival is singular to those that celebrate it, and  it has different names around the world. This Mid-Autumn Festival is a global Chinese religion festival greatly celebrated in China along the lines of a Thanksgiving Day.

Posted in General Info about Festivals, Religious Festivals on 07. Apr, 2009
There are plenty of festivals around the world that transcend certain boundaries and integrate social messages and extreme fun. Some of these festivals are mistakenly labeled as being against religion. Such festivals and events take place quite often. Three famous ones among the many are:

    The Global Peace Festival
    LGBT Festivals in the US
    Nakba-60 Palestinian Festival
The above festivals are held for their own respective purposes, resulting in their being labeled as against religion by some. The Global Peace Festival for example, is conventionally held to bring people from various backgrounds together for world peace. It has, however, been labeled as being anti-Christ for claiming “One Family under God”. The LGBT Festivals in the US are often labeled as being in conflict with various religions. Among the most outspoken holders of the view are conventional Catholics. In reality though the festival is probably the most important public gathering for the LGBT group. The Nakba-60 Palestinian Festival, also quite famous in the US for the past 2 years or so, is intended to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary from the viewpoint of Palestinians. This festival is also sometimes labeled as being against the religion of Judaism. The conflict is rather internal though, as seen in turn of time.

Religion is an abstract form of control over social lifestyle and responsibilities, a belief within oneself which connects the person and God. This is common toall religions. There are many reasons behind one’s religious beliefs and lack of religious beliefs.  At this point in the 21st century, there are reasons as to why people should know more about religion and its festivals. Some of those reasons:
    religion builds the unity among similar people through rules and social festivals
    religious festivals and events are intended for ‘togetherness’
    religious teachings form a basis for social lifestyle
Without actually referring to any religion in particular, the main factor behind the widespread acceptance of all religions was their message. That message is  mainly to build unity among similar people. Islam was formed to unite the people of the Arab lands, likewise Hindu was formed to unite and organize the people of the Indus Valley and northern India. On the other hand, religious festivals and events are mostly intended to bring people from various backgrounds together under the same umbrella. Religious teachingsare taught in elementary schools to cultivate strength in  a good discipline towards every purpose in life.