Carnival: Battle of the Oranges

The medieval town of Ivrea, near Turin in Piedmont,Italy comes alive in February. Its historic carnival commemorates the rebellion of the people against a tyrant who ruled the town in the middle ages. It gives a new twist to Italian cuisine by culminating in the symbolic – and messy – Battles of the Oranges.The one and only Orange Battle in .

During the carnival the streets are lit up and filled with the scent of oranges. And regional specialities are served in the streets – particularly fagioli grassi (fat beans). These are enormous pots of beans, boiled with sausages and pork rind. They’re served free. Other speciality dishes include cod with polenta, and delicious carnival pastries. Italian wines on offer include white Erbaluce, sparkling Barbera and sweet Passito di Caluso.

The Carnival of Ivrea draws on legends of the 12th-century. It’s said to be the only Carnival in the world that has a real plot and tells a story featuring idealised and historic figures – rather than carnival characters.

The Carnival of Ivrea mixes fact and fiction. It had its origins in the middle ages, when a tyrant Raineri di Biandrate became lord of the town. In 1194 the people, rebelled against his cruel regime – and destroyed his castle. He was later replaced by another tyrant, the Marquis Gugliemo of Monferrato – and the people rebelled again. Over the years they’ve become merged into one ‘baddy’ and their downfall is celebrated in the Battles of the Oranges – which take place in the town squares. Those who throw oranges from carts symbolise the tyrants’ guards – and those on foot, the rebels.

The story goes that Raineri gave himself the right to sleep with any bride on her wedding night: jus primae noctis. Legend has it that he got his punishment when Violetta, the beautiful daughter of a miller, refused to sleep with him, cut off his head with a dagger and showed it to the people gathered beneath the castle walls. She’s known as the Mugnaia – and is the heroine of the carnival.

So why oranges? Well, originally the people threw beans. However, around the 19th century girls began to throw oranges – a precious fruit that isn’t native to Ivrea – at boys they fancied. And if the boys liked them – they threw an orange back. Today it’s a contest, with rules and town teams.

All the different districts of the town used to celebrate the Carnival of Ivrea separately – and the mock battles sometimes turned violent. So when Napoleon took control of that part of Italy in 1808 he declared there could only be one event – and the organisers had to wear Napoleonic army uniform. The French influence is celebrated in the carnival today – and if you want to avoid the flying oranges you wear a red hat, like a French revolutionary.

The carnival begins in January but starts in earnest early in February every year. A torch-light procession leaves the Town Hall with the Mugnaia and orange-throwers. After that the battles commence in the town squares. The main battles are on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of February – with the final battle on 5th February.

Burning Man festival fires up the heat

THIS years Burning Man festival in the received a record attendance, despite many revellers experiencing a bare bum blasting of sand.More than 49,599 people attended the week-long Nevada desert festival, known for its radical self-expression of art, music .However, the attendance could have been higher had many partygoers not been chased away by a sand storm, which occurred before the festival’s explosive climax.US Bureau of Land Management officials said the crowd stood at 36,260 at noon Sunday after thousands of participants had headed home. However, event organisers said they were still able to go ahead with the traditional torching of its 40-foot signature effigy, complete with fireworks and music.

London’s carnival atmosphere

MORE than a million revellers packed the streets of west London as masquerade floats entertained party-goers at the Notting Hill Carnival, ’s biggest street festival.Massive crowds danced and clapped in the streets to Caribbean music and steel drums, while colourful masquerade floats moved through Notting Hill, with several stalls selling Caribbean food a short walk away This year’s carnival was themed “Welcoming the World”, while the floats had themes including “Back From Space”, “Tutti Frutti Sweeties” and “Creatures Of The Earth”.I have watched the Notting Hill Carnival go from strength to strength each year to become an internationally acclaimed event,” said London Mayor Boris Johnson.”Nothing beats the sounds of the steel pans, the aroma of delicious Caribbean food and the dazzling colours of the costume parade.”Michael Williams, marketing director for London Notting Hill Carnival Ltd said that more than one million people attended the festival, though London’s Metropolitan Police estimated that a total of 850,000 revellers visited the street carnival over the two days.The carnival did not go entirely without incident, though – 165 people were arrested for a variety of offences, including 54 drugs-related crimes, as well as 22 arrests in connection with possession of weapons, in addition to another 110 arrests.

Reading Festival 20-24 August 2008

Reading Festival
Now in its 20th year!

This year is special being festival’s 20th birthday and the starting line-up reflects that. Across the stages we have every new buzz band you have read about this year, every band you want to hear play across the twin sites and three headliners of such colossal size and importance they are probably visible from space. All exclusive performances, you won’t see our headliners on any other festival stage in England, or indeed the UK in the case of two of the three.

Away from the Main Stage expect some real surprises on the NME / Radio One Stage, the A to Z of punk, hardcore and ska that is the Lock Up Stage and the headliners of the future on the smaller stages. Last year was a secret gig by the Kaiser Chiefs at Leeds, the irresistible rise of The Enemy and The Pigeon Detectives on the NME/ Radio One Stage as both bands moved on to platinum album sales, a Kate Nash show on the Carling Stage that was packed to the rafters and three of the biggest bands in the world headlining the Main Stage. The Reading and Leeds Festival has always been the moment of the summer when bands rise to prominence and last year was no exception.Over 3 days, over 150 acts, this is the Reading and Leeds Festival, back again to make the summer worthwhile.

Dour Festival : Belgium

This summer we’ll celebrate the 20th Dour Festival. The event has been sold-out for the past 3 years and was even sold-out a few days early last summer. In 2007 the festival beat all its previous crowd records with a total of 144.000 kids over 4 days. Of those, more than 32 000 have slept in the camping site which the team was forced to open on Wednesday night. Indeed it was up to 23.000 festival-goers who arrived a day early! For the first time in its history the team had to turn away about 15.000 festivalgoers every day.

Dour has something for everyone

One of the strongest draws of Dour is without a doubt its programme. Every year at Dour you get a unique international bill (bands were coming from 28 different countries last year) that’s different, alternative, independent, ambitious and sharp with an accent on new discoveries. All that at a very low price that can’t be beaten.

Dour Festival is a meeting place for like-minded people

Since its beginning the Dour Festival has owed much of its appeal to its incredible atmosphere. A multi-cultural audience that shares a love for music and partying creates a fun vibe throughout the site. The Dour Festival has become the unmissable music event of the summer for thousands of kids across Europe.

A festival that listens to its audience

Last year we asked our audience to tell us their best and worst moments of the festival. Around 1200 of you took the time to get back to us. We’ve listened to your feedback and we’ll make sure to use them to offer you a festival that’s even closer to your expectations. We will send you regular updates on new improvements for the Dour 08

A festival with a conscience

The festival’ social agenda is not a sideshow anymore. People come to Dour to get informed as well thanks to our NGO village. This summer will be the 4th time the festival will welcome many social and political associations to inform the festivalgoers about NGO’s and what can be done to help the planet.

Dour Festival = More than 200 bands, 4 days, 6 stages

Like every summer the festival will be held on the 3rd weekend of July, by the spoil heaps of the old coal mining site ‘La Plaine de La Machine a Feu’. Dour the village is situated in the south of Belgium, by the French Border. For 4 days over 200 bands will play their tunes on 2 open-air stages and 4 marquees in front of an avid audience. This is the festival that never sleeps with non stop music from 12am until 5am the next day.

The 20th Dour Festival

The Dour festival is a unique concept that has already seduced 1.255.000 festival-goers across Europe. Why should we change a winning formulae now? What about an even better bill in an even better atmosphere?Would you miss that?

Homowo Festival

This harvest festival is celebrated by the Ga people from the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.It begins with the sowing of millet by the traditional priests in May. After this, thirty-day ban on drumming is imposed on the land by the priests.The festival is highlighted at varying times by different quarters of the Ga tribe. The Ga-mashie group of the tribe will celebrate theirs’ a little earlier than the La group.

Homowo recounts the migration of the Gas and reveals their agricultural success in their new settlement. According to Ga oral tradition, a severe famine broke out among the people during their migration to present day Accra. They were inspired by the famine to embark on massive food production exercises which eventually yielded them bumper harvest.

Their hunger ended and with great joy they “hooted at hunger” this is the meaning of the word HOMOWO.

Love Parade : Berlin, Germany

Love Parade is the largest techno gathering in the world. The tradition started 10 years ago with a few hundred ravers and has grown to a million and a half people. That’s right: 1.5 million people. Held in downtown Berlin, the parade features dozens of floats, each with its own soundsystem. The floats go up and down a long street (Unter Den Linden), going through Brandenburger Tor, a gate that used to divide East and West Berlin. Love Parade is a massive celebration of techno, the re-unification of Berlin, and all things wacky, tacky, and wild. Wish you could be there? Well, close your eyes and come with me.

Imagine catching a train at 6 am on a Saturday. It’s filled with ravers and as it snakes towards Berlin, each station becomes more densely packed with kids sporting “Run Lola Run” hair and Buffalo boots. Imagine arriving in Berlin to find the station screaming with the sound of hundreds of whistles, which were being sold by vendors outside. Unlike American whistlers who go for rhythm (tweet-tweet, tweet-tweet-tweet!), German whistlers go for a long maintained shrill (tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!).

Now, imagine being stuck in a huge line outside a party. You can hear the music in the distance and everyone is excited, so you know you’re somewhere good, but you can’t see past the armpits of the person in front of you. Now, imagine that the line you’re stuck in is 1.5 million people long, and that you’re in that line for NINE HOURS. Imagine that it’s hot and sunny. Now imagine that everyone in that line knows a secret… like a secret language perhaps, like German. Imagine the sound thousands of whistles going on and on, screaming in a never-ending tweet. Imagine dogs’ heads exploding all over Berlin from that sound.

As for the floats, imagine 40 huge trucks with soundsystems on them, each one decked out to suit the sponsor. People told me it would be commercial, but this was over the top! The Camel float featured men dancing in red G-strings and women dancing in red hotpants. The Fanta float featured men dancing in orange hot pants and women dancing in orange G-strings. Imagine the music pumped from the floats being decent, but imagine the records perpetually skipping as dancers in G-strings and hotpants bump the DJ.

Imagine that every time a float gets within thumping distance (as in, you can feel that hard German techno thump somewhere between your chest and your groin) people throwing their hand in the air, shrilling their whistles, and dancing like concrete has been bad and needs to be punished.

Imagine six miles of ravers, clubbers, acid casualties, and boring people dressed up as freaks-for-a-day. Imagine all these people brought together to enjoy the music they love. Imagine the energy. Imagine the smell of urine in the Tier Garten, the park that surrounds Unter Den Linden.

Imagine the TWO THOUSAND METRIC TONS of garbage the ravers dropped on the street. Imagine that it is just windy enough to blow the garbage all over and fuel a massive trash fire. Imagine 1500 DJs. Imagine the day that beat-freaks take over the streets and eat every pill in a three-country radius. Imagine that the Mayor says it’ll happen again next year, despite the fact that many Berliners intentionally go on vacation to avoid the chaos every July.

Imagine the train ride home. Thanks to shedding feather boas on the shoulders of thousands of disco queens, every train station looks like flocks of small, brightly colored birds have been slaughtered there. Imagine whistles still blowing the next morning at stations eight hours out of Berlin.

A million and half techno fans brought together for a day is something you just don’t see in America. If you look up “awe-striking” in the dictionary, you should see a picture of Love Parade. It’s something every American dancer should experience just to see and feel that many people brought together for one party. The experience made me appreciate the small, relatively underground scene in America. Sure, we have big parties of 25,000 people in California and Florida. But if you imagine 60 of those parties happening all at once in one place, you will understand why, although I’m glad I went, I will never go to Love Parade again.

The Running of the Bulls

PAMPLONA’S main square was turned into a sea of red and white as thousands filled the streets to kick-off Spain’s most famous bull-running festival.

Revellers wearing traditional white trousers and shirts with red bandanas celebrated the beginning of the nine-day festival by spraying one another with champagne, red wine and sangria.

Town councillor Uxe Barkos started proceedings in traditional fashion from the Town Hall balcony overlooking the crowd, yelling: “Men and women of Pamplona, all hail to San Fermin.”Fireworks were set off to herald the festivities and the crowd responded by tossing people into the air to celebrate the Chupinazo.

Residents poured buckets of water over the crowd from their balconies to help cool down the revellers, while others took the more traditional approach of pouring red wine, sangria and sparkling wine over one another.

“I love it. I’d heard a lot about it, but seeing it in person is truly moving,” said Australian Anna Stampy.

Held since 1591, the fiesta is famous for the nerve-wrecking bull-run, where participants test their skill and courage by racing alongside six fearsome fighting bulls along 800m of narrow cobblestone streets linking the city’s stables to the bullring.

On the afternoon of each day, the bulls must face matadors in the ring.During the celebrations, police found the body of a young man who apparently died by falling 30m from an ancient wall, but the tragedy had no effect on the fanfare.

Since 1924, 13 people have been killed in the running of the bulls. The last victim was a 22-year-old American gored to death in 1995.

But not everyone in Pamplona is there for the revelry. Every year hundreds of animal rights activists protest against the bull fights.

The half-naked protestors lie down along the route of the bull-run before the fiesta, covered in fake blood and bearing placards in different languages asking for the cruelty to stop.

This year the activists wore on their backs imitation banderillas, the long barbed darts that are stabbed into the bull’s neck as part of the bullfighting ceremony.

Spain : Festivals , Celebrations and Fiestas

Not only are Spanish people blessed with a large number of National Holidays, there are also numerous holidays for each region, city and town throughout the whole of Spain. Because of this, it is easy to find yourself in the middle of a Spanish celebration while here on holiday. Spanish people love to party and are also very accommodating to visitors to their lovely country. Grab yourself a drink and join in with the fun. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

NEW YEAR’S DAY (January 1st)
New Year’s Day is a public holiday celebrated throughout Spain to welcome in the beginning of a New Year. Each Spanish town and city throughout the country will have some festival arranged in the main square, typically the Plaza Mayor, often accompanied with music and fireworks. Many Spanish people celebrate the passing of the old year by eating 12 grapes, one for each month of the year, during each ring of the twelve bell tolls as the New Year approaches. This is considered to bring good luck, but only if all twelve grapes are eaten in time. Not as easy as it sounds, as many grapes are bought in a small glass flute, with the very last one squashed and difficult to dislodge at the bottom.

DAY OF THE THREE KINGS (January 6th)
Christmas for children in Spain falls on the 6th of January, twelve days after Christmas Day, with the coming of the Three Kings. Children place their socks outside for the Kings to deliver them presents, but only if they have been good. Naughty children have the fear of finding black coal in their socks instead of presents. On the eve of January 6th, it is tradition for three men to dress as the Kings and ride around the town in a colourful procession, scattering sweets to all the children who eagerly follow.

SEMANA SANTA HOLY WEEK (March – April)
Semana Santa is a very religious time for many people in Spain and in all the cities both large and small, processions of hooded penitents carrying religious icons of Jesus and Mary held high, are paraded solemnly throughout the streets. It is a truly emotional and colourful experience for the participants and the many thousands of people who come to watch the procession well into the night.
Processions begin on Palm Sunday and will last until Easter Sunday. Processions in the main towns of all regions of Spain are huge and excel in grandeur. Because this is a deeply religious experience for many Spanish people, fireworks and excessive drinking is frowned upon.

LABOUR DAY (March 1st)
Dia del Trabajo is celebrated as a national holiday throughout Spain.

MONTH OF FERIAS (April)
April is the month of exuberant ferias in Andalucia, with Seville holding what is considered to be the biggest and best in Spain. The festivals last up to two weeks with colourful processions held in traditional costume, bullfights, firework displays, flamenco shows and partying well into the early hours.

SAN JUAN (June 24th)
San Juan is celebrated throughout Spain and particularly in the costal regions with bonfires on the beaches that last all night on the 23rd. It is tradition to rush into the sea at midnight to wash away your sins, symbolising the baptism of Saint John the Baptist. It is the one time when camping is allowed on many beaches, and celebrations typically last all weekend with loud music, fireworks and a lot of noise.

SAN ISIDRO (May / June)
Each city celebrates this fantastic festival differently. Typical Spanish events will involve processions, bullfights, concerts, funfairs and spectacular processions of horses and decorated carts throughout the city. Traditional costumes are normally worn with sweets and local drinks handed out to the many locals and tourists who follow the procession and join in the merriment. This is a great party atmosphere that lasts 2-3 days. In Nerja on the Costa del Sol, the procession leaves the centre of the town and heads towards the famous Nerja Caves, one of the most visited holiday attractions in Spain.

CORPUS CHRISTI (June)
Many large cities hold magnificent processions to celebrate the body of Christ in the holy water by bearing the consecrated host through the streets. This is a solemn and religious festival of great importance to many Spanish people.

ASUNCION (August 15th)
Catholics observe this feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating Mary’s body being taken to Heaven after her death.

FERIA DE MALAGA (August)
Festival held in the city of Malaga on the Costa del Sol. The festival lasts 10 days and includes a huge number of fairground rides, processions of horses, stalls selling food and wine, and spectacular firework displays on the first and final night.

ALL SAINTS DAY (November 1st)
Relatives spend the day at the graves of their loved ones, to remember them, and adorn them with beautiful flowers.

CONSTITUTION DAY (December 6th)
National holiday throughout Spain in commemoration of the 6th December 1978 when the Spanish people voted in a national referendum to approve the draft constitution, thus providing the way forward for the creation of a democratic system in Spain.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (December 8th)
On the Roman Catholic Church calendar of holy days, today is celebrated as a holy day of obligation, commemorating the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

CHRISTMAS DAY (December 25th)
Christmas Day is a national holiday in Spain, but there is not the huge commercial occasion here as celebrated in other western cities. Children may receive a small gift on Christmas Eve (Nochebuena), as the day for presents is 6th January, Epiphany, when the Three Kings come bearing gifts.

DIA DE LOS SANTOS INNOCENTS (December 28th)
Similar to April Fools Day that falls on April 1st in England, this is an opportunity for people to play practical jokes on friends and generally get away with doing silly things.

If a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, it is known as a Bridge because many Spanish people like to take either the Monday or Friday off to give a long weekend. Public holidays falling on both Tuesday and Thursday, is commonly known as an Aqueduct, bridging both weekends together. Obviously this is a great opportunity to take all the days off, leaving the whole week free to party. No wonder Spanish people love to celebrate.

Capri Tango Festival , Italy

More than 500 people, coming from 18 different countries, attended first edition of Capri Tango Festival last year.Much more are expected for its second edition, with many new friends coming from all over the world to the Blu Island.People will dance from early in the morning untill night, enjoing wonderful locations and best clear Mediterranean sea.Stages will take place straight at La Canzone del Mare, so people can spend
3 full days dancing, studing, tanning and swimming.