Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Carnival in Rio attracts more than half a million visitors from all over the world every year and is rightfully considered the largest carnival in Brazil.
The carnival begins with a “coronation”, during which the mayor of the city hands over the reins to King Momo, chosen from all the inhabitants of Rio for his weight (in no case less than a hundred kilograms) and the ability to dance samba, the main dance of the carnival. For all five days of the carnival, the city really is subordinate to the new king — with the exception of the police.
The carnival itself throughout the five days is filled with loud music, lots of girls dancing samba in extremely open and unusually beautiful costumes, street festivals, beautifully decorated parades, circuses and masquerades.
The carnival takes place just before the beginning of Lent and was conceived as a way to give people the opportunity to have a last noisy fun before the long days of abstinence and repentance.
Semana Santa, Guatemala
In Antigua Guatemala, you can see one of the brightest and most unusual Easter celebrations. The holiday begins on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and lasts a week, during which processions and parades with figures of various saints are arranged on the streets of the city, covered with a carpet of flower petals and beautiful patterns of colored sand. Almost the whole city is draped in black crepe and the smell of incense wafts from everywhere. During the holiday, performances are held to illustrate the sentencing and crucifixion of Jesus.
All the performances are executed so skillfully, and the scope of the holiday is so great that it cannot but touch even convinced atheists.
Palio, Italy
Palio is one of the main holidays in Italy. These are grandiose horse races that are held in the city of Siena twice a year — on July 2 and August 16.
The tradition of holding equestrian competitions in the city originated a long time ago, back in the XIV century. Their main feature is that they are not held at the racetrack, as usual, but right in the city, on the main square. Another feature is that these races are completely alien to the idea of fair play. Riders push, shove and build obstacles to their opponents, which is why the excitement among the audience increases by an order of magnitude (as, unfortunately, the frequency of accidents).
Contards representing different districts of the city compete in horse racing. Each of them has its own coat of arms and each exhibits one rider. The most successful of them were the goose contard, which has already won more than 60 victories, and, contrary to the name, the snails, which has won more than 50 victories.
But the races themselves, no matter how fascinating they may be, last only a few minutes, and the rest of the time guests are entertained by performances of jugglers and acrobats, parades and rich feasts.
Tomatina, Spain
At first glance, this holiday looks very strange — crowds of people screaming and floundering in thick red mud only suggest thoughts of a terrible battlefield. But in fact, it’s not like that at all, it’s just a huge tomato battle.
Tomatina has long been one of the most visited and fun holidays in all of Spain. The first time it was held in 1945, but no one could find the exact reason why the Spaniards suddenly decided to start laughing at each other with overripe tomatoes. The battle lasts for one hour, when a lot of trucks full of tomatoes arrive in the city. According to the rules, the battle should begin immediately after someone manages to climb a greased five-meter pole, on top of which a pork ham is left for the winner. After that, tomato chaos begins, as a result of which all the walls of the surrounding houses and sensibly closed cafes and shops turn red, and the level of tomatoes on the ground reaches the ankles.
Do not forget about security. Each tomato must be crushed before throwing — this is a mandatory rule.
Tomatina is held every year in the last week of August in the Spanish city of Bunyol, Valencia region.
Burning Man, USA
Perhaps this is one of those holidays, the exact description of which is simply impossible to give. It has been held for 25 years in Northern Nevada and from year to year its sole purpose is self-expression.
Visitors should remember that the organizers have taken it upon themselves to provide them with entertainment only for the duration of the show. You should take care of food, drink and overnight accommodation yourself.
A huge number of musicians, dancers, designers, artists and other creative people of all kinds and stripes gather at the venue and begin to build something there, decorate and paint, make installations and dress up with the sole purpose of showing themselves and their art in all its glory. The resulting structures often have a completely fantastic look, and the participants wear unusual costumes, so that the feeling of an eight-day vacation in a magical land is provided to absolutely all visitors.
Some works are burned by the creators even before the end of the show, which is also an amazing sight.