5 cultural festivals around the world that you should experience at least once in your life
While every country in the world likes to throw a party, there are some nations that really know what they're doing! From food and beverage-focused festivities to spiritual carnivals, these cultural festivals are sure to give you a new perspective and understanding of each country. So, why not take a tour and learn the culture of different countries through some of their biggest and wildest gatherings?
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To get you started in your exploration, here are 5 cultural festivals around the world that are worth making a trip for.
1) La Tomatina, Bu?ol, Spain
Spain is literally the hub of cultural festivals but La Tomatina is its messiness and unsurprisingly most fun festival. And if you are fond of tomatoes you are in food heaven! Celebrated for the first time in 1945 in the small town of Bu?ol, this festival is probably the biggest food fight you'll ever see, where thousands of people pelt each other with squashed tomatoes on the streets. The festival is celebrated every year at the end of August and attracts over 20, 000 tourists. Renowned all across the world due to Spain's rich cultural heritage, for us Indians, it was the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara that brought this festival to the limelight.
2) Mardi Gras, New Orleans, USA
Mardi Gras means 'Fat Tuesday' in French and it involves the tradition of eating decadent and fatty foods before the Lent period. The French Quarter of New Orleans hosts the country's wildest festival which involves colourful and chaotic parades featuring marching bands, spectacular floats and jam-packed streets with people in vibrant costumes. And as the sun sets the parades transition into parties full of collective celebratory spirit.
3) Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
This festival will be your definition of heaven if you are a beer aficionado! Lasting over 16 days, from mid-September to the first Sunday of October, this festival is the world's largest celebration of beer as well as Bavarian culture and attracts six to seven million tourists every year. By visiting this festival that is all about parades and carnivals you can embrace German culture while enjoying their traditional outfits, music, traditional food and dishes and how can we forget, 'beer'.
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4) Yi Peng Lantern Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand
The annual Yi Peng Lantern Festival is Northern Thailand's most charming and romantic event. The festival is celebrated on the full moon evening in the 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar (usually November) amid the three-day long parades and candle-lightings of Loy Krathong. The biggest and grandest celebration is organised in Chiang Mai which involves a city-wide gathering releasing thousands of lit lanterns to represent the transition from rainy to winter season.
If for some reason, none of these places is in the cards for you, we've got a festival you can enjoy close to home, right here in India.
5) Holi, Mathura, India
As you all know, India is known for its diverse and colourful cultural heritage, but no festival is as vibrant and lively as Holi. Although the festival is celebrated all across the country with much pomp and show, Mathura is the best place to celebrate as the town comes alive and becomes drenched in colour! While it was Lord Krishna who is said to have started the coloured powder-chucking tradition, locals have taken it one step further with water guns, water balloons and coloured smoke crackers.
From the lantern festival of China's Chiang Mai to the wild celebrations of USA's Mardi Gras, learn what it looks like to celebrate each country's unique culture during a tour of these festivals.
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