Festivals around the World Unit 7 Level 3

Festival de San Fermin- Toros Tomatina- tomates España Festival de San Fermin- Toros Tomatina- tomates

Festival de SanFermin Location: Pamplona, Spain When: July The festival of San Fermín in the city of Pamplona (Navarre, Spain) It is a deeply rooted celebration held annually from 12:00, 6 July, when the opening of the party is marked by setting off the pyrotechnic chupinazo, to midnight 14 July, with the singing of the Pobre de Mí. While its most famous event is the encierro, or the running of the bulls, which happens at 8:00 am from 7 July to 14 July, the week-long celebration involves many other traditional and folkloric events. It is known locally as Sanfermines and is held in honor of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of the city.

San Fermin Festival – Chupinazo -rocket

San Fermin Festival- corrida de toros

San Fermin Festival- corrida de toros

San Fermin Festival-Escultura de San Fermin

San Fermin Festival- toros

San Fermin Festival-Torero

Festival de la Tomatina Location: España, Buñol, Valencia, Spain When: Agosto participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for entertainment purposes. It began when young people went to the town square to a parade. The exciment throw a person from a float, it became A furious crowd close to a stall of vegetables, began to throw tomatoes The following year, the people repeated it but bringing tomatoes from their own houses The food fight became an annual event.

Festival de la Tomatina

Festival de la Tomatina

Festival de la Tomatina

Festival de la Tomatina

Caribe Puerto Rico- Festival de las Calle de San Sebastian

Festival de la Calle de San Sebastian Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico When: Enero It is no secret that people in Puerto Rico know how to party, especially around the Christmas holidays. Announce that there will be a parade, music, dancing, libations, food — then add in local artisan crafts for sale — and it all adds up to one crazy celebration! IT is a 4 days event San Sebastián (Saint Sebastian) was a Christian who was martyred for his faith. There is a street on the north side of Old San Juan named in his honor.

Festival de la Calle de San Sebastian The original "festival" (in the 1950′s) was organized by a priest at the San Jose Church, which is located on San Sebastián Street, to celebrate the feast day of San Sabastián The San Se Festival has evolved over time, though it still is full of tradition and Puerto Rican cultural heritage. 

San Se festival

San Se festival

San Se festival

San Se festival

San Se Festival

America del Norte Chichen Itza Spring Equinox, Mexico

Chichen Itza Spring Equinox Location: Chichen Itza, Mexico, Mexico When: March Be at Chichen Itza to see the phenomena of the snake- like light and shadow movements that descend the steps of the Castillo Pyramid. During the Spring Equinox thousands of visitors gather to witness this occurrence. Legend has it that this serpent - like light phenomenon is created by an undulating pattern of sunlight on the edge of the pyramid's steps and Kukulkan the serpent wends its way down to the well of sacrifice.

Chichen Itza Spring Equinox Spiritual as it is this is an experience of a lifetime and among the tourists, the religious groups pray and invoke the gods. People wait with baited breath to see the sun shine through the clouds and see the unusual phenomena of the shadow snake its way down the steps of the Mayan pyramid. The Spring Equinox at Chichen Itza is truly an interesting merger of Mayan history, stunning architecture and incredible geometry.

Chichen Itza Spring Equinox It is a mind blowing thought that as early as 1500 BC the people managed to build a monument of this astounding size with such precision so and to calculate the time of year when the hours of daylight and darkness are equal. One word of advice: get there early to beat the heat and the crowds. But get there!

Chichen Itza Spring Equinox

Chichen Itza Spring Equinox

Festival de San Tomas, Guatemala Festival de la Pollera, Panama Central America Festival de San Tomas, Guatemala Festival de la Pollera, Panama

Festival de San Tomas Location: Town Plaza, Guatemala When: December Religious festival with acrobatics fair and fireworks and watch others risk a limb on the flying pole The highland city of Chichicastenango (Chichi) celebrates its patron saint in a rather death-defying way. wooden poles as high as 30m are raised in the plaza beside the Iglesia de Santo Tomás and the dance of the palo volador (flying pole) begins. And a Lot of Fireworks

Festival de San Tomas During the festival, hundreds of participants put on even more elaborate outfits involving intricately decorated clothes and fancy masks which transform them into representations of Spanish conquistadors. Called the Dance of the Conquest, it traditionally re- enacts the subjugation of the local people by the Spanish The highland city of Chichicastenango (Chichi) celebrates its patron saint in a rather death-defying way.

Festival de San Tomas For a week festivities are limited to typical festival events – parades, traditional dances, fireworks – but on 21 December (St Thomas’ Day) things look up, literally. On this day, wooden poles as high as 30m are raised in the plaza beside the Iglesia de Santo Tomás and the dance of the palo volador (flying pole) begins. Two ropes hang from the top of each pole and the palo volador dancers ascend in pairs, scaling the poles on wooden steps and tying the ropes to their bodies. Then they leap, swirling around the pole at high speed, the ropes unravelling as they go, lowering them to the ground. Some hang onto the rope with their hands, and others tie it around their ankles. It’s like bungee jumping for the faithful

Festival de San Tomas

Festival de San Tomas

Festival de San Tomas

Festival San Tomas

Festival San Tomas

Festival San Tomas

Festival San Tomas

Festival de la Pollera Location: Panama When: Julio It is said that when certain plants are brought to non-native lands, their fruits subtly adopt new characteristics from the difference in the soil. In the case of the pollera (pronounced poy-AIR-ah), the national dress of Panama, this has also been the case. Flowing with ornate flower-print ruffles and crowned with baroque combs and hairpins, echoes of 16th- and 17th-century Spain appear to live on in modern Panama.

Festival de la Pollera Panama pollera, traditional dress The Panamanian pollera and accompanying hairstyle do have several elements in common with the dresses of Cordoba, Valencia, and Salamanca, but after several hundred years in the culture of Panama, the pollera has become something symbolically Panamanian. At this very moment, Panamanians are dancing and full-on reveling in a celebration of these gorgeous garments and their associated traditions: the Festival Nacional de la Pollera. This annual festival is hosted by the town of Las Tablas, capital of the Los Santos province within Panama’s Azuero Peninsula.

Festival de la Pollera Although pollera traditions in Panama go back several centuries the Festival Nacional de la Pollera was established only about fifty years ago as a three-day event to showcase Panama’s national dress in a series of parades and competitions occurring alongside devotions to the patron saint of Las Tablas, Santa Librada.

Festival de la Pollera

Festival de la Pollera

Festival de la Pollera

Carnaval de Barranquilla, Colombia America del Sur Carnaval de Barranquilla, Colombia Festival Internacional de la canción de Villa del Mar, Chile

Carnaval de Barranquilla Location: Colombia When: Febrero is Colombia's most important folklore celebration, and one of the biggest carnival in the world Celebrate 4 days before Ash Wednesday, enjoy four days of intense festivities During the carnival Barranquilla's normal activities are paralyzed because the city gets busy with street dances, musical and masquerade parades.

Carnaval de Baranquilla The Carnival starts on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday with the Battle of the Flowers (La Batalla de Flores), which is considered one of the main activities. Then, The Great Parade (La Gran Parada) on Sunday and Monday is marked by an Orchestra Festival with Caribbean and Latin bands. Tuesday signals the end of the carnival, announced by the burial of Joselito Carnaval, who is mourned by everyone. Barranquilla's Carnival slogan is: Who lives it, is who enjoys it (Quien lo vive, es quien lo goza).

Carnaval de Barranquilla

Carnaval de Barranquilla

Carnaval de Barranquilla

Carnaval de Baranquilla

Carnaval de Baranquilla

Carnaval de Viña del Mar Location: Chile When: Febrero  is a musical festival that is considered the best and biggest in Latin America and the most important musical event in the Americas which is held annually on the 3rd week of February since 1960 in Viña del Mar, Chile. Every year invited artists assist to the festival, they might sing alongside with other artists also have competitions where the winners win fame and a prize

Carnaval de Viña del Mar The Festival takes place in the amphitheatre of Quinta Vergara and has over 15,000 spectators plus it is broadcast live on television and radio, regularly breaking records for viewing figures The Viña festival features a song competition on two categories, pop music and folk song  Every year the festival selects a queen The queen is chosen by a vote organized by the newspaper La Cuarta

Carnaval de Viña del Mar

Festival de Viña del Mar

Festival de Viña del Mar

Festival de Viña del Mar

Reflection What do you think about this trip around the world? What was your favorite and why? Would you like to go one day?