Winter Solstice, Cusco, Peru.
By VirtualTourist.com
The holidays are quickly approaching and hopefully those who are traveling have already done their planning. And for those adventure seekers thinking about 2016, members of travel website www.virtualtourist.com have come up with a list of holidays and festivals to celebrate in 2016.
New Year’s Day, Pasadena, California
Looking for a place to celebrate New Year’s Day? Look no further than Pasadena, California. This city has played host to the annual Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1 since 1890 and the Rose Bowl Game since 1916. The Rose Parade features meticulously decorated floral floats along with marching bands and other passers-by along a 5-1/2-mile route down Pasadena’s main street, Colorado Boulevard. The parade starts at 8 a.m. and they require viewers to be in their seats by 6:30 a.m., so grab a hot cup of coffee and a blanket and come out to watch. Afterward, head over to the Rose Bowl Game for a collegiate American football showdown. Tickets for both events are required.
Jaisalmer Desert Festival, Jaisalmer, India
The Jaisalmer Desert Festival is like nothing you’ve seen before. A colorful three-day festival held every February, it features a variety of traditional events involving music and dance, but also has more unusual ones like camel races, turban tying and even a best moustache contest. Other audience favorites are the snake charmers, puppeteers, acrobats and folk performers. It’s held in the middle of the golden Sam Sand Dunes just 26 miles from Jaisalmer, and is accessible by SUV or camel safari. The festival runs from February 20 to February 22 in 2016.
Mardi Gras, Mobile, Alabama
This year, VirtualTourist members recommend Mardi Gras revelers celebrate Fat Tuesday in Mobile, Alabama, the oldest annual Carnival celebration in the United States. Mobile held the first-known Mardi Gras celebration in 1704, 14 years before New Orleans was even founded. Mobile’s 39 parading societies hold their parades in the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras and this year from January 22 until February 9, visitors will see the streets of downtown Mobile filled with colorful floats and live bands while crowds collect beads, doubloons (coins embossed with the parade society’s name on them), candy and other trinkets. The biggest part of the celebration is the lavish, ultra-formal balls, which are known to have Broadway-caliber performances and up to 6,000 people in attendance.
Chinese New Year, Guangzhou, China
Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important holiday for the Chinese and this year begins on February 8. One of the best places to take part in some generations-old traditions is in China’s big southern city of Guangzhou, known as the “flower city.” Guangzhou will hold its annual Flower Fairs prior to New Year’s, from February 5 to 7, and visitors will find city streets are decorated with beautiful fresh flowers while the eight major markets across the city provide a bountiful opportunity for flower shopping. Another highlight in Guangzhou are the celebrated lion dances, performed to bring good fortune and to ward off evil spirits.
Greek Easter in Crete, Greece
Nowhere in the world is Greek Easter more celebrated and intense than in Greece itself and VirtualTourist members say the island of Crete really comes alive during Easter. Easter is always in spring, this year on May 1, and nature on the island is most beautiful at this time. The week-long celebrations include Good Friday’s Procession of the Bier where members of Greek Orthodox churches carry a coffin symbolizing the tomb of Christ through its local village. A band or choir follows while performing traditional hymns. Afterward, it is customary to have a late-night seafood dinner. Holy Saturday sees crowds at churches, each person carrying a candle that gets lit by the priest’s Holy Light, creating a beautiful scene celebrating that Christ has risen. Easter Sunday is reserved for the gathering of friends and family for a feast and dancing. Even if you have no friends or family on the island of Crete, plenty of bars and restaurants welcome travelers as part of their family.
Summer Solstice, Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England
Be one of the 30,000 expected attendees to watch the sun rise over the Neolithic site on the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which happens to fall on June 20 in 2016. Thousands flock here in hopes of getting a spot in just the right place inside the monument to see the sun rise above the Heel Stone. In fact, it’s become so popular that the attraction holds a four-day camping and music festival. Summer Solstice marks the only time there is open access to the stones without payment, so get there early, meaning, the night before between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Winter Solstice, Cusco, Peru
Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere, VirtualTourist members say to check out Cusco, Peru, for its nine-day winter solstice festival, Inti Raymi, which celebrates an Incan god. Those attending will see Incan re-enactments of rituals with participants in brilliant costumes and they can also partake in lavish feasts and enjoy an abundance of music. On June 24, the actual day of Winter Solstice, the city sees a nonstop party with constant parades in the streets. If you’re looking for a more spiritual experience, head over to Machu Picchu. Sun worshipers gather there to watch the sun pop over a mountaintop and shine through the Temple of the Sun’s window where it lights up a large ceremonial stone.
Heiva I Tahiti, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
If you want to experience a month of festivities, such as dancing, singing and sporting competitions set amongst the clearest of blue waters and soft black sand beaches, then head to the island of Tahiti in July for Heiva. The festival was originally a one-day celebration held on the same day as Bastille Day, July 14, and was the only day of the year that people could publically dance. In 1977, when French Polynesia gained greater political autonomy from France, they started the festival as a celebration of Polynesian culture and pride. The highlight of the festival is the professional dancers and live musicians who use traditional instruments. VirtualTourist members also say that singing competitions are not to be missed. Heiva begins July 7 and concludes on July 23.
Mount Hagen Cultural Show, Mount Hagen, Papua, New Guinea
One of the largest festivals in all of Papua New Guinea, the Mount Hagen Cultural Show provides an opportunity for all the tribes of the area to come together and put on an exciting extravaganza of their cultures, including traditional dances, singing and rituals. Watching the tribes in their masks or elaborate face paint with feathers flying, while stomping their feet to the beat of drums can be quite an awesome experience. And if you go, be sure not to miss the Asaro Mudmen, always a crowd favorite. Next year’s festival takes place August 20 and 21.
Diwali, Mumbai, India
If you want to see one of the most amazing displays of lights, then celebrating Diwali in Mumbai is for you. Meaning the Festival of Lights, Diwali, which is rooted in religion and celebrates the welcoming of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Good Fortunes, into your life, is open to anyone who wants to share in this ancient celebration. From October 30 to November 3, enjoy thousands of lit oil lamps, traditional food and dance, and, of course, not to be missed is the fantastic display of lights in the fireworks show.
(c) 2015 Virtualtourist.com, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
This was printed in the December 13, 2016 – December 16, 2015 edition.
