10 International Festivals

Mardi Gras, Louisiana

The celebration of Mardi Gras begins at Epiphany and ends the Tuesday before Lent, hence the meaning "fat Tuesday." The day is said to be a the last day to get your kicks in before a favored item is given up for Lent. The event is basically a long parade, which on the last day (Mardi Gras) participants are invited to wear masks, drink excessively and eat large amounts of food. The event is celebrated throughout the states, and even scattered around the globe, but the center of celebration is New Orleans, Louisiana.

Carnival, Brazil

Carnival is the most popular celebration in Brazil and has become an event of gargantuan proportions. Tara stops completely for about a week and the festivities are intense, day and night, especially in coastal cities. Government distributes free condoms and launch awareness campaigns to prevent the spread of AIDS.

Corpus Christi Festival, Spain

Every June, the Corpus Christi festival takes place in all of Spain but it is most famous in Granada. The city was the last Spanish town to be reconquered by the Christians and the Muslim religion was most rooted here, so Corpus Christi was taken very seriously by the Catholic kings. A costumed man representing Satan and known as El Colacho leaps over babies in a centuries-old ritual meant to protect them from evil spirits. .

Ganesh Festival, India

This colourful festival celebrates the birth of the Hindu God Ganesh, the god of wisdom and worshipped for his ability to remove obstacles and bring good fortune. The festival begins with houses and entire towns and cities being adorned with beautifully decorated effigies of the elephant-headed god which can stand up to 8 metres in height. The most popular places to experience the festivities include Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai, which is inundated each year with over 150,000 statues. 

Beltane Fire Festival, Scotland

Members of the Beltane Fire Society celebrate the coming of summer by participating in the Beltane Fire Festival on Calton Hill in Edinburgh, Scotland. The procession which celebrates the ending of winter is a revival of the ancient Celtic festival of Beltane, the Gaelic name for the month of May. First organized in the mid 1980s the Beltane Fire Festival has become a popular feature of Edinburgh.

Folklore Festival, Kyrgyzstan

Horsemen take part in a Kok-boru, or goat dragging, competition as they attend a festival of Kyrgyz folklore and popular traditions near the Son-Kul lake, 3200 meters (10, 499 feet) above sea level and some 400 km (249 miles) northeast of the capital Bishkek.

Lantern Festival, Taiwan

In Pingsi, Taiwan, thousands of people release "Sky Lanterns" on the 15th day of the new lunar year. With the launcher's hopes and dreams written on the lantern, it is said that the higher the lantern goes, the closer it will come to God, and the better the chances that the wish will come true.

Gerewol Festival, Niger

 The Gerewol Festival is an annual courtship ritual competition among the Wodaabe Fula people. Young men dressed in elaborate ornamentation and made up in traditional face painting gather in lines to dance and sing, vying for the attentions of marriageable young women.

Burning Man, Nevada

Even at the Burning Man festival a “land yacht” under steam is able to turn heads. What exactly is Burning Man? Devotees of the annual event say you have to attend to understand the temporary community of art and self-expression that appears—and subsequently disappears—each year in the middle of Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

Feast of the Most Holy Black Nazarene, Philippines

Every January 9, millions of devotees, barefooted and clad in maroon, gather around Quiapo Church in capital Manila in the hopes of getting a piece of the miracle being promised by touching the rope or garb of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno de Quiapo, more popularly called the Black Nazarene.