TOP 77

Bucket List Events Around the World Things You Don’t Want To Miss INTRODUCTION

I want to thank you and congratulate you for downloading Top 77 Bucket List Events Around the World.

This book contains a complete list of things not to miss before you kick the bucket.

Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it! PART SPORTING ONE EVENTS The Masters Tournament The Masters tournament is one of the four major golf tournaments held per year at the professional level. Unlike the other three, the Masters tournament is held at the same location every year – in Augusta, Georgia. It’s a tournament that has been made famous by the iconic green jacket of the Augusta National Golf Club. Membership in this club is kept under lock and key – it is by invitation only. However, the tournament itself is an event you don’t want to miss. The Super Bowl The Super Bowl, sponsored by the National Football League in the U.S., is the final football game played at the end of the season. It is always held on Sunday, which is known as Super Bowl Sunday. To some Americans, the game is so big that they count it as an unofficial American holiday. Parties are filled with seven-layer dip, pizza, soda and beer. Among the fans, this is easily the biggest event of the year. FIFA World Cup What the States call soccer, the rest of the world calls football. The FIFA World Cup, or simply the World Cup, is an international tournament held by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It is open to the senior men’s national teams of participating countries. Although soccer may not be as big in the States as it is elsewhere, it is a huge event for competing countries. It is the one time of year these countries get to shine. The US Open Tennis Championships The U.S. Open Tennis Championships is one four international tennis championships comprising of a group called the Grand Slam. It is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, beginning in 1881. It is an event held every year, with its first day beginning on the last Monday of every August. The competition is a compilation of five separate championships; men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Don’t confuse the US Open Tennis Championships with other US Open sports such as golf or badminton.

The EuroCup The Euroleague Basketball Company holds one of the newer sports tournaments. They’ve only been doing it since the year 2000. They hold two professional basketball tournaments in Europe every year – First-Tier Euroleague and Second-Tier Euroleague. Headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, they oversee professional basketball in Europe. Considering that basketball is one of the newer sports across Europe, expect this one to get bigger as it gains popularity every year. Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is one of America’s major horse races held every year in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is known as “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports,” as well as, “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.” It is also known by a third name called, “The Run for the Roses,” because the winner of the race is covered with a blanket of roses. The race has a history that spans almost 150 years. The year 2015 commemorated its 141st year.

International Dragon Boat Championship The International Dragon Boat Championship is in ancient Chinese festival turned into the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival. Held in the Victoria Harbor, this carnival is marked by the Dragon Boat races that take place. Hundreds of thousands of spectators come flocking to Victoria Harbor to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event. The world’s best Dragon Boat athletes duke it out while both the spectators and athletes drench themselves in ice cold, refreshing beer along with live entertainment as a part of Beer Fest. Royal Ascot Races World Bog Snorkeling Icarus Cup Masquerade Flights The Ascot is a thoroughbred horse racing Championships The Icarus Cup Masquerade Flights, or course in England. The Royal Ascot is one of Bog snorkeling is a unique sporting event. Coupe Icare, is an awesome event held in the races that take place on that race course. Competitors race in a water-filled trench France where people compete in costumes. It is the centerpiece of events that take place through a peat bog using snorkels and It is a paragliding event where people race at the Ascot racing course. It dates back to flippers. Conventional swimming techniques while hang gliding. At the event, you’ll find 1711 with Queen Anne. If you ever wanted are not allowed – these athletes must rely aerial acrobatics, hot air balloons, and of to see British royalty in person, this would on flipper power alone. The total race is 120 course, the hang gliders. You’ll also find be a prime place to do it as it is attended by yards as they must race 60 yards one way flight competitions, street performances, live the British Royal family every year. and 60 yards back. Held in Wales in the UK, entertainment, children’s activities and a the World Bog Snorkeling Championships is flight museum. It is held at the same location held every year on the August Bank Holiday. and time as a film festival, so enjoy both while you still can. The Winter Games The Winter Olympics is one of the world’s major international sporting events held every four years with winter-themed sports involving snow and ice. It currently is a three-week event with athletes around the world and takes place in February. These top world athletes compete in 15 various sports from ice hockey and figure skating to bobsledding and curling. The 2014 Winter Olympics was hosted in Sochi, Russia and featured over 2800 athletes from 88 countries participating in 98 events. The Summer Games The Summer Games is the ultimate international sports event on earth. The Games are held every four years in a rotating host country. The Summer Games are vastly larger than the Winter Games, with many more events and attendees. Currently, they are host to over 300 events with over 10,000 competitors from 205 countries. The 2016 Summer Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and the 2020 Summer Games will be hosted in Japan.

The 2016 Rio Summer Games will be the first Games held in a South American country. 42 sports will appear in the Games, spread out among 32 competition venues in four regions of Rio de Janeiro. With a total support staff including employees, outsourced staff, and volunteers, there will be over 130,000 people making the event happen. Most recent cost estimates have put the Games at over $11 billion USD. Cricket World Cup Wimbledon Tennis Tour de France Cycling The ICC Cricket World Cup is another major The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is held The French event, Tour de France is one global sporting event. It began in 1975 in every year and is part of the of the most grueling bicycle races on the England and is held annually every year. Grand Slam group of events. When it comes planet. Lance Armstrong helped make this Cricket is a European sport but is gaining to tennis courts, different materials can be one famous by being its champion seven popularity internationally. In 2015, the used. The Wimbledon tennis tournament years a row from 1999 to 2005. It is a three- Cricket World Cup was hosted jointly by is the only one that is still held on a grass week tournament where cyclists race over Australia and New Zealand. It was the 11th court. It is a two-week tournament taking 2200 miles (3500 km). The route changes Cricket World Cup, held on Valentine’s place at the end of June and beginning of every year, but it stays within the French Day February 14th through March 29. The July. Expect certain traditions to be held in countryside. There are 20 to 22 teams current competition consists of 14 teams place as you attend – strict dress codes for comprising of nine competitors each. who played in 49 different matches in 14 the athletes, strawberries and cream for the This is not an event you want to miss. different venues. England Will Host the attendees, and because it takes place in the 2019 the Cricket World Cup. UK, the British Royal family will be there. Formula One Racing Formula One is a series of motorsport races that take place around the world. T hey feature some of the fastest cars ever made. They have races in Europe, North America, Australia, the Middle East, Asia, South America, and Indonesia. Just like any racing video game, the Formula One Champion title will be granted to that the driver with the most points. You’ll have to log on to their website to find out when and where the next race will take place.

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Val d’ Isère The Alpine World Ski Championships is another major international sporting event featuring several countries. Many of these countries participate in the Winter Olympics. For several decades, this event was directly connected to the Winter Olympics, but in the 1980s, they were held independently. Currently, they are held biannually in the odd-numbered years. In 2015, they are scheduled to be hosted by the United States followed by Switzerland, Sweden, and then Italy in 2021. Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men’s international tournament. Inaugurated in 1987, Australia and New Zealand initially co-hosted the tournament. The award for the Rugby World Cup is the Webb Ellis Cup. Originally, 16 international teams were invited to participate, but since 1999, 20 teams have been competing. The next championship that will take place in 2019 will feature Japan’s first entry. If you’re not familiar with Rugby, think of it like American football with fewer rules.

Daytona 500 One of the most famous NASCAR races, this one takes place in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is 500 miles long and part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It is the first of the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, with the second one being the Coke Zero 400 that is held at Daytona. The Daytona 500 is considered the most prestigious NASCAR race and the one where the most prize money is won. It has been dubbed as the “Great American Race” as well as the “Super Bowl of Stock-Car Racing.” PART CULTURAL TWO FESTIVALS Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany Oktoberfest is a 16-day Folklife Festival held every year in Bavaria, Munich in Germany. It has become such an international event that every year around October, you’ll see your local grocery store stocked with beer advertising the event. Of course, the version you see your local grocery store can be official Oktoberfest beers. In order to be considered official Oktoberfest beers, they must have been brewed within the city limits of Munich, Germany. It has a long history – starting back in 1810. Running of the Bulls, Pamplona, Spain No one quite knows when the running of the bulls began in Pamplona, Spain. However, it became such a widespread tradition that you may find the event being held in several cities in Spain and Mexico. The mayor Pamplona wrote a book entitled Fiesta: How to Survive the Bulls of Pamplona. He tells of the origin event stemming from the need to transport the bulls from the fields just outside the city to the bullring. The Spaniards say the true tradition began in northeastern Spain in the early 14th century. Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Camden Windjammer Festival Mardi Gras Festival in NOLA As one of the world’s oldest carnivals, this Camden has a deep maritime history “NOLA” is slang for “New Orleans.” Enter tradition began in 1723. In the almost 300 and they keep it alive every year with the the world’s largest Mardi Gras festival in years since it began, if you were to attend Camden Windjammer Festival. Experience New Orleans. It is a carnival held on Shrove today, you’d see over 2 million people on the the great age when sailing by sea was the Tuesday in some countries. However, it is streets every day. It is the biggest carnival main mode of transportation throughout most notably celebrated with the largest of the year and begins every year just before the birth of the windjammer business in celebration being held in New Orleans. Lent. The entire city is full of floats, samba the 1930s. They have a huge windjammer They have parades, court jesters and schools, song and dance. The event takes fleet, elegant yachts and sailing ships that masquerades. It is a cultural event like no place in the Sambadrome that was built adorn their vibrant community. Stay for the other with food, music and dancing. Mardi in 1984. You will only find this carnival in whole weekend for a lobster crab race, a fish Gras can be traced to medieval Europe the Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. relay race, a build-a-boat contest, a chowder celebrations in both Rome and Venice in the challenge and more. 17th and 18th centuries. Be in China for the Sapporo Snow Festival Be in Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day Chinese New Year The Sapporo Snow Festival is a festival The first St Patrick’s Festival was held on 17 Chinese New Year is an important Chinese held annually in Sapporo, Japan, over seven March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day festival celebrated at the turn of the Chinese days in February. Odori Park, Susukino, event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. calendar. It is also known as the Spring and Tsudome are the main sites of the By 2006, the festival was five days long; Festival, the literal translation of the festival. The 2015 Snow Festival dates are more than 675,000 people attended the modern Chinese name. Chinese New Year 5 to 11 February. 2009 parade. Overall 2009’s five-day festival celebrations traditionally run from Chinese saw close to 1 million visitors, who took part New Year’s Eve, the last day of the last This is one of the largest and most distinctive in festivities that included concerts, outdoor month of the Chinese calendar, to winter events. In 2007, about two million theater performances, and fireworks. Skyfest the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds forms the centerpiece of the festival. It takes the first month, making the festival the of snow statues and ice sculptures at the place every year in Dublin, Ireland. longest in the Chinese calendar. The first Odori Park and Susukino sites, in central day of the New Year falls between 21 Sapporo, and at the Satoland site. An January and 20 February. International Snow Sculpture Contest has been held at the Odori Park site since 1974, and 14 teams from various regions of the world participated in 2008. Winterlude & Skating on the Rideau Canal Winterlude is an annual festival in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec that celebrates winter. Winterlude is run by the National Capital Commission and was started in 1979. The event is one of Ottawa’s most important tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. In 2007, it set a new attendance record of an estimated 1.6 million visits to one of the four Winterlude sites. The focal point of Winterlude is the Rideau Canal Skateway, which at 7.8 kilometers (approximately 5 miles) is the largest skating rink in the world.

Midsummer’s Eve Pagan Festival (Tallberg, Svealand, Sweden) Given Scandinavia’s long, dark winters, it’s not surprising that the arrival of summer is a big deal throughout the Nordic countries. In Sweden, Midsummer’s Eve is one of the most important days of the year, rivaling Christmas with its festive spirit and traditions. Raising and dancing around a maypole (majstång or midsommarstång) is an activity that attracts families and many others. In earlier times, small spires wrapped in greens were erected; this probably predates the maypole tradition, which is believed by many to have come from the continent in the Middle Ages. Bloomsday (Dublin) Carnival of Venice Diwali, Festival of Lights (India) Bloomsday is a commemoration and The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival, Diwali (or Deepavali, the “Festival of celebration of the life of Irish writer James held in Venice, Italy. The Carnival ends with Lights”) is an ancient Hindu festival Joyce during which the events of his novel the Christian celebration of Lent, forty days celebrated in autumn every year. Ulysses (which is set on 16 June 1904) are before Easter on Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Deepavali is the biggest and the brightest relived. It is observed annually on 16 June Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. The festival in India. The festival spiritually in Dublin and elsewhere. Joyce chose the festival is world-famed for its elaborate signifies the victory of light over darkness. date as it was the date of his first outing with masks. Approximately 3 million visitors The festival preparations and rituals typically his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle; they walked come to Venice every year for the Carnival. extend over a five-day period, but the main to the Dublin suburb of Ringsend. The One of the most important events is the festival night of Deepavali coincides with name is derived from Leopold Bloom, the contest for la maschera più bella (“the most the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu protagonist of Ulysses. The day involves a beautiful mask”) placed at the last weekend Lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian range of cultural activities including Ulysses of the Carnival and judged by a panel of calendar, Deepavali falls between mid- readings and dramatizations, pub crawls and international costume and fashion designers. October and mid-November. other events, much of it hosted by the James Joyce Centre in North Great George’s Street. Elephant Festival The Ganesh Celebrations in India Snow & Ice Festival – Harbin, China (Jaipur, Rajasthan, India) Ganesh Chaturthi is the Hindu festival The annual Harbin International Ice and Diwali (or Deepavali, the “Festival of Lights”) celebrated in honor of the elephant-headed Snow Sculpture Festival is an annual winter is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in god, Ganesha. Celebrations are traditionally festival that takes place with a theme in autumn every year. Deepavali is the biggest held on the fourth day of the first fortnight Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, and now is the and the brightest festival in the month of Bhaadrapada in the Hindu largest ice and snow festival in the world. At in India. The festival spiritually signifies the calendar, usually August or September in the first, participants in the festival were mainly victory of light over darkness. Gregorian calendar. The festival generally Chinese. However, it has since become The festival preparations and rituals typically lasts ten days, ending on the fourteenth an international festival and competition. extend over a five-day period, but the main day of the fortnight. The public celebration The festival includes the world’s biggest ice festival night of Deepavali coincides with involves installing clay images of Ganesha sculptures. During the festival, there are ice the darkest, new moon night of the in public pandals (temporary shrines) and lantern park touring activities held in many Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika. In the group worship. At home, an appropriately- parks in the city. Winter activities during the Gregorian calendar, Deepavali falls between sized clay image is installed and worshiped festival include Yabuli alpine skiing, winter mid-October and mid-November. with family and friends. swimming in the Songhua River, and the ice- lantern exhibition in Zhaolin Garden. Holi – India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cascamorras – Baza, Spain Tomorrowland – Boom, Belgium and other Hindu regions The Fiesta de Cascamorras is a festival that Tomorrowland is one of the biggest electronic Holi is a spring festival, also known as the takes place in the towns of Guadix and Baza music festivals held in the world, taking festival of colors or the festival of love. It is in the province of Granada, Spain, annually place in Belgium. The festival takes place in an ancient Hindu religious festival which has on September 6. The two towns fight for the town of Boom, 16 kilometers south of become popular with non-Hindus in many possession of a statue of the Virgen de la Antwerp, 32 kilometers north of Brussels, parts of South Asia, as well as people of other Piedad. In 2006, the festival was declared and has been organized since 2005. communities outside Asia. It is primarily a “Fiesta of National Tourist Interest of Tomorrowland has since become one of observed in India, Nepal, and other regions Spain.” The festival surrounds the recalling the most notable global music festivals. of the world with significant populations of the events that unite and oppose Baza 2011 marked the festival’s expansion to of Hindus or people of Indian origin. In and Guadix, two sister towns with a history three days. 360,000 people attended recent years, the festival has spread to parts of a buried sacred image of the Virgen de la Tomorrowland 2014 on the 10th anniversary of Europe and North America as a spring Piedad (Our Lady of Mercy). The celebration, of the festival. celebration of love, frolic, and colors. the Fiesta de Cascamorras, lasts for three days in the late summer of each year. PART MUSIC & ART THREE FESTIVALS South by Southwest, Austin, TX South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual set of film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas, United States. It began in 1987 and had continued to grow in both scope and size every year. In 2011, the conference lasted for 10 days with SXSW Interactive lasting for 5 days, Music for 6 days, and Film running concurrently for 9 days. The music event grew from 700 registrants in 1987 to over 28,000 registrants. SXSW Film and SXSW Interactive events have grown every year, most recently bringing over 51,000 registrants to Austin every March.

Austin City Limits, Austin, TX Austin City Limits (ACL) is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas, by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States. The show helped Austin to become widely known as the “Live Music Capital of the World”, and is the only television show to receive the National Medal of Arts, which it was awarded in 2003. The show inspired the creation of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual live music festival at Zilker Park in Austin. Tomorrowland – Boom, Belgium Coachella Music Festival Sasquatch Music Festival Tomorrowland is one of the biggest electronic The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Sasquatch! Music Festival is an annual music music festivals held in the world, taking (commonly referred to as Coachella or the festival held at the Gorge Amphitheatre in place in Belgium. The festival takes place in Coachella Festival) is an annual music and George, Washington. In recent years, it has the town of Boom, 16 kilometers south of arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club taken place on the Memorial Day weekend, Antwerp, 32 kilometers north of Brussels, in Indio, California, located in the Inland running for three to four days. In 2014, and has been organized since 2005. Empire’s Coachella Valley in the Colorado Adam Zacks decided to expand the festival Tomorrowland has since become one of Desert. It was founded by Paul Tollett in to two weekends due to the high demand for the most notable global music festivals. 1999 and is organized by Goldenvoice, a tickets in 2013.[1] Rather than expanding to 2011 marked the festival’s expansion to subsidiary of AEG Live. The event features two four-day weekends, the festival instead three days. 360,000 people attended many genres of music, including rock, indie, only expanded to two three-day weekends. Tomorrowland 2014 on the 10th anniversary hip-hop, and electronic dance music, as well Sasquatch! typically features a range of of the festival. as art installations and sculptures. musical genres, with the emphasis being on indie rock bands and singer-songwriters, but also including alternative rock, hip hop, EDM, and comedy acts. Leeds Music Festival Tanglewood Music Festival New Orleans Jazz & Heritage The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair The Tanglewood Music Festival is a Festival of annual music festivals that take place in music festival held every summer on the The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Reading and Leeds in England. The events Tanglewood estate in Stockbridge and often known as Jazz Fest, is an annual take place simultaneously on the Friday, Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire celebration of the music and culture of Saturday and Sunday of the August bank Hills in western Massachusetts. The festival New Orleans and Louisiana. Use of the holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The consists of a series of concerts, including term “Jazz Fest” can also include the days Reading Festival is held at Little John’s Farm symphonic music, chamber music, choral surrounding the Festival and the many on Richfield Avenue in central Reading, near music, musical theater, contemporary music, shows at unaffiliated New Orleans nightclubs the Caversham Bridge. The Leeds event is jazz, and pop music. The Boston Symphony scheduled during the Festival event held at Bramham Park, near Wetherby, the Orchestra is in residence at the festival, weekends. Jazz Fest is currently held during grounds of an historic house. Campsites are but many of the concerts are put on by the day, between the hours of 11 am and 7 available at both sites and weekend tickets to other groups. It is one of the premier music pm, at the Fair Grounds Race Course, a horse include camping. Day tickets are also sold. festivals in the United States and one of the racing track located in historic Mid-City. It top in the world. is held on the last weekend of April (Friday- Sunday) and the first weekend of May (Thursday-Sunday) each year. Wexford Opera Festival The Wexford Festival Opera is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. The festival began in 1951 under Tom Walsh and a group of opera lovers who quickly generated considerable interest by programming unusual and rare works, a typical festival staging three operas. This concept has been maintained over the company’s history under the direction of seven different artistic directors. From the beginning, the company embraced new and upcoming young singers, many of whom were Irish, but it also included new international names that made first appearances there.

The Summer Music Festivals (Germany) Germany has festivals for every taste, but tickets are sold out long in advance. If you want to snag one, don’t procrastinate. There are over 15 music festivals to please every musical palate. Overall, it is completely possible to attend each and every one over the course of a single summer. Let your summer begin with Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig (May 22-25) and end with Reeperbahnfestival (September 23-26). Even if you can’t attend all of them, it will be a summer you won’t ever forget. Bregenz Festival (Austria) Bregenzer Festspiele (Bregenz Festival) is a performing arts festival which is held every July and August in Bregenz, Austria. Founded in 1946, the festival presents a wide variety of musical and theatrical events in several venues: • Seebühne (or floating stage), with its 7,000 seat open-air amphitheater, is the location for large-scale opera or musical performances on a stage over water on the shores of Lake Constance. • Festspielhaus presents performances of rarely performed opera and concerts. • Werkstattbühne presents performances of contemporary theater and opera. • Theater am Kornmarkt presents operetta and drama performances. • shed8/Theater Kosmos venue for drama and cross-cultural performances. Since December 2003, David Pountney has been the artistic director of the festival. In 2010, the festival offered about 100 performances that drew an audience of close to 200,000.

Lucerne Festival The Lucerne Festival is a summer music festival in Lucerne, Switzerland. It was founded in 1938 and, since 2004, it has taken place at the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre designed by Jean Nouvel. The two resident ensembles of the festival are the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Strings, which had most recently been led by the Italian conductor Claudio Abbado until his death. In addition to the performances, the Lucerne Festival Academy was founded by the composer Pierre Boulez in 2004 to train young musicians in the performance of modern music. Cork Jazz Festival North Sea Jazz Festival Venice Biennale The Cork Jazz Festival is an annual music (Netherlands) The Venice Biennale is an arts organization festival held in Cork City, Ireland in late The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual based in Venice, and also the original and October every year since 1978. The festival festival held each second weekend of July in principal exhibition it organizes. is Ireland’s biggest jazz event and attracts the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to The organization changed its name to the hundreds of musicians and thousands be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been Biennale Foundation in 2009 while the of music fans to the city each year. The held in Rotterdam. The festival has grown exhibition is also called the Art Biennale country’s first jazz festival successfully to fifteen stages, 1,200 artists and about to distinguish it from the organization attracted thousands of jazz fans. Guinness 25,000 visitors a day. The festival is known and other exhibitions it organizes. The became the major sponsor in the 1980s. worldwide for the many music styles it Art Biennale, a contemporary visual art Over 40,000 people now visit the festival presents, from traditional New Orleans Jazz exhibition, is so called as it is held biennially, each year from many parts of the world. to Swing, bebop, fusion, blues, gospel music, in odd-numbered years; is the original funk music, soul music and drum n bass. biennale on which others elsewhere in the world are modeled. Cannes Film Festival Oregon Shakespeare Festival Salzburg Festival (Austria) The Cannes Festival, named until 2002 as The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) The Salzburg Festival is a prominent the International Film Festival (Festival is a regional repertory theater in Ashland, festival of music and drama established International du Film) and known in English Oregon, United States. The festival annually in 1920. It is held each summer (for five as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual produces eleven plays on three stages during weeks starting in late July) within the film festival held in Cannes, France, which a season that lasts from February to early Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of previews new films of all genres, including November. From inception in 1935 through Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. One highlight documentaries, from around the world. the end of the 2014 season (excepting the is the annual performance of the Everyman Founded in 1946, it is considered the most war years 1941–1946), the Festival has (Jedermann) dramatization by Hugo von prestigious film festival in the world and is presented all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays a Hofmannsthal. Since 1967, there is also an one of the most publicized. The invitation- total of 303 times and 293 other plays a annual Salzburg Easter Festival, organized only festival is held annually (usually in May) total of 327 times for a total of some 29,200 by a separate organization. The 2006 festival at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. performances to an audience totaling also saw the opening of the Haus für Mozart. approximately fifteen million. Sundance Film Festival (Utah) The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute, is an American film festival that takes place annually in Utah. With 46,731 attendees in 2012, it is the largest independent film festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature-length films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, and Park City at Midnight.

Art Deco Weekend (USA, Miami, Florida) Art Deco Weekend is a community festival presented by the Miami Design Preservation League, celebrating architecture, preservation, education, history, advocacy, art, culture and entertainment. It is a community festival held on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach that welcomes over 150,000 people to Miami Beach every year over the 3-day event. Art Deco Weekend is committed to the Miami Design Preservation League’s mission to preserve, protect & promote historic preservation in the Art Deco District and throughout South Florida through the over 85 educational events held during Art Deco Weekend’s 3-day festival. PART OFFBEAT FOUR AND UNIQUE Albuquerque International Balloon Festival The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly festival of hot air balloons that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, during early October. The Balloon Fiesta is a nine-day event and has over 500 balloons each year. The event is the largest hot air balloon festival in the world. Balloon Fiesta Park, from which the balloons are launched, is located on the northern edge of the city. In 2005, the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum was opened on the grounds; it focuses on the last three decades of the festival, and on the history of ballooning.

Cooper Hill’s Cheese Rolling Festival The Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper’s Hill, near Gloucester in England. It is traditionally done by and for the people who live in the local village of Brockworth, but now people from all over the world take part. The Guardian called it a “world-famous event”, and indeed, in 2013, a 27-year-old American man and a 39-year-old Japanese man each won one of the four races. The event takes its name from the hill on which it occurs. Burning Man Manhattanhenge Texas Sandfest Burning Man is an annual gathering that Manhattanhenge – sometimes referred Sand sculptors from all over the world make takes place at Black Rock City – a temporary to as the Manhattan Solstice – is an event their way to Port Aransas each year for the community erected in the Black Rock Desert during which the setting sun is aligned with annual Texas SandFest. The event includes in Nevada. The event is described as an the east–west streets of the main street sculpting contests for professionals and experiment in community and art, influenced grid of Manhattan, New York City. This amateurs, food and live music. Spanning by 10 main principles, including “radical” occurs twice a year, on dates evenly spaced three days and including five competitive inclusion, self-reliance and self-expression, around the summer solstice. The first divisions, SandFest offers a great outlet for as well as community cooperation, gifting Manhattanhenge occurs around May 28 sand sculptors, as well as plenty to see for those and decommodification, and leaving no while the second occurs around July 12. The more interested in looking at - rather than trace. First held in 1986 on Baker Beach in term “Manhattanhenge” was popularized by building - sand sculptures. The event is free San Francisco as a small function organized Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist at the to the public and various vendors are onhand by Larry Harvey and a group of friends, it has American Museum of Natural History and a selling refreshments, curious and souvenirs. since been held annually, spanning from the native New Yorker. last Sunday in August to the first Monday in September (Labor Day). Lantern Festival in Hawaii Memorial Day in America is a day when people remember and honor those who have fallen in service to their country. In Hawai‘i, with its diverse population, traditions become easily adopted and assimilated into its rich cultural fabric. It is the norm for people in Hawai‘i, on Memorial Day, to place flowers and offerings on gravesites of loved ones who served their country as well as those of others who have passed away.

With the wish of creating cultural harmony and understanding, Her Holiness Shinso Ito, Head Priest of Shinnyo-en, officiated the inaugural Lantern Floating Hawaii ceremony on Memorial Day, 1999. For the first three years, the event was held at Ke’ehi Lagoon on the south shore of O’ahu. In 2002, the ceremony was moved a few miles down the coast to Ala Moana Beach where it has been observed every year since.

Punkin Chunkin World Championship World Championship Punkin Chunkin (WCPC) was the name of an annual contest held the first full weekend after Halloween in Delaware from 1986 through 2013. It is governed by the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association (WCPCA). The event originated in 1986, and early in its history convened in Lewes, Delaware. Due to increasing space requirements (distance of shots, the number of teams, and the number of spectators) new locations in Sussex County had to be found. In 2007, WCPC moved to Bridgeville, near the intersection of Seashore Highway and Chaplains Chapel Road. About 75 teams competed; the event drew more than 20,000 people, and grossed more than $800,000 in ticket sales and associated revenues. Toro Nagashi Rubber Duck Race (Baden- Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Tōrō nagashi is a Japanese ceremony in Wurttemberg, Germany) Parade from Herald Square which participants float paper lanterns Although the dazzling idea of the duck The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an (chōchin) down a river; tōrō is traditionally race is thought to come from Canada, it’s annual parade presented by the U.S.-based another word for lantern while nagashi big business in Germany, where there are department store chain Macy’s. means “cruise, flow.” This is primarily done corporate duck-racing specialists. The The tradition started in 1924, tying it for on the last evening of the Bon Festival based season begins in March, with more than 150 the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the on the belief that this guides the spirits of competitions taking place in towns such as United States with America’s Thanksgiving the departed back to the other world. The Erfurt, Bielefeld and Göttingen, as well as Parade in Detroit (with both parades being Bon Festival takes place on the thirteenth to smaller villages. The first synthetic contender four years younger than the Dunkin’ Donuts sixteenth of August or July, depending on the past the finishing line at Neckarbrücke wins Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia). calendar you go by. its patron a €1000 holiday voucher, with The three-hour Macy’s event is held in New plenty of other prizes for runners-up. York City starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952. Spend Yom Kippur at the Western Wall Yom Kippur, also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with an approximate 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur is “the tenth day of [the] seventh month” (Tishrei) and is regarded as the “Sabbath of Sabbaths”. Rosh Hashanah (referred to in the Torah as Yom Teruah) is the first day of that month according to the Hebrew calendar. On this day, forgiveness of sins is also asked of God.

Up-Helly-Aa (Shetland, Scotland) Up Helly Aa refers to any of a variety of fire festivals held in Shetland, in Scotland, annually in the middle of winter to mark the end of the yule season. The festival involves a procession of up to a thousand guizers in Lerwick and considerably lower numbers in the more rural festivals, formed into squads who march through the town or village in a variety of themed costumes. According to John Jamieson’s Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1818), Up is used in the sense of something being at an end, and derives from the Old Norse word Uppi which is still used in Faroese and Icelandic, while Helly refers to a holy day or festival. Anastenaria Firewalking Ceremony () The Anastenaria is a traditional fire-walking ritual performed in some villages in Northern Greece and Southern . The communities which celebrate this ritual are descended from refugees who entered Greece from Eastern following the Balkan Wars of 1911–12 and the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923. Today, the rituals of the Anastenaria are performed in five villages of northern Greece: Ayia Eleni, Langadas, Melike, Mavrolefke, and Kerkine. In addition, the ritual is still performed in six Bulgarian villages in the Mountains: , Gramatikovo, Slivarovo, , Kosti, and .

Take Part in the Hajj Pilgrimage The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims, who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence. It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm. The gathering during Hajj is considered the largest annual gathering of people in the world. in Mexico Sun Festival at Abu Simbel Icarus Cup Masquerade Flights Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday (Egypt) (France) celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular, Ramses II built his temple at Abu Simbel Coupe Icare (Icarus Cup) is an annual festival the Central and South regions, and so that the internal chamber would light up of free flight held between Saint-Hilaire (on the acknowledged around the world in other two times a year: once on the anniversary border of Chartreuse Mountains) and Lumbin cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of his ascension to the throne (in February, (in the valley of Isère in France). The festival of family and friends to pray for and around the 22nd), and once on his birthday typically lasts four days and is held in the early remember friends and family members (in October, around the 22nd). autumn. Coupe Icare is best known for its who have died and help support their Every year on the Sun Festival, crowds Concours de déguisements (Masquerade Flight spiritual journey. In 2008, the tradition was gather before sunrise to observe the stream contest), in which paraglider and hang glider inscribed in the Representative List of the of light gradually sneaking through the stone pilots fly in costume to compete for prizes. Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by and enlightening the statuettes of Ramses, Coupe Icare features aerial acrobatics, hang UNESCO. In Spanish, the holiday is called Ra and Amun in the central chamber. Only gliders, paragliders, and hot air balloons. Día de los Muertos. the statue of Ptah – the god of darkness In addition to flight competitions, live – remains in the shade even on these two entertainment, and street performances, the special days of the year! festival offers children’s activities and a flight museum. It is held in conjunction with a commercial exposition and a film festival. Throw Tomatoes at La Tomatina La Tomatina is a festival that is held in the Valencian town of Buñol, a town located in the East of Spain 30 km / 19 miles from the Mediterranean, in which participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for entertainment purposes. Since 1945, it has been held on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of festivities of Buñol. The fight lasts for an hour, after which the whole town square is covered with tomato paste. Fire trucks hose down the streets and participants use hoses that locals provide to remove the tomato paste from their bodies. Some participants go to the pool of “los peñones” to wash. After the cleaning, the village cobblestone streets are pristine due to the acidity of the tomato disinfecting and thoroughly cleaning the surfaces.

Bathe in the Ganges River during the Purna Kumbh Mela Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage of faith in which Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. It is considered to be the largest peaceful gathering in the world where around 100 million people were expected to visit during the Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 in Allahabad. It is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad (Prayaga), Nashik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year. Cervia International Kite Festival The Cervia International Kite Festival is a unique gathering of kite artists from all over the world and the event is in its 33rd edition, meaning that the Festival has been running for quite some time now. There are only a handful of festivals in the world that can show off such a long history and still have the same organizers. Also, the event takes place in a beautiful place: along the beach of Pinarella di Cervia, a popular summer destination in Italy with very warm weather and gentle onshore breezes, making it ideal for kiting. It takes place from 20th April to 1st May. CONCLUSION

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