Festivals / Fairs / Events

Thailand's songkran Festival. This event, rather like Christmas in the West, has been diluted somewhat from what it was originally meant to be. Celebrated across Indo-China, Songkran is a primarily Buddhist religious occurence, that also has strong astrological overtures. Whilst it relates to ths sun moving into any zodiacal sign, it more specifically refers to entry into Aries, hence its celebration in April, alias the ram zodiac sign. Its full derivative name is Maha Songkran, or Major Songkran to clearly delineate it from other similar festivals. It is the Thai's traditional New Year celebration, and they approach it with the same kind of ...  Read the complete review

NAME OF FESTIVAL Stainsby Festival is held every July on a field, in Stainsby, Derbyshire overlooking the M1, provided by Paddy Lane who stepped in to buy the site, after the previous owner Dot Brunt died. **************** UPDATE 2008 This year's festival is on 18 July until 20th and I for one hope that the car parks are in better condition than last year's! I had to be towed off and it took my dad and me all day Monday to clean it before its MOT!!! ************************** BACKGROUND The festival celebrated its 39th festival last year on the weekend and commemorative glasses for the 35th festival were made by ...  Read the complete review

Everyone loves a good party and no race can party like the Spanish. If you happen to be in Spain on the 23rd-24th June you should not expect to sleep because the whole country will be celebrating the festival of San Juan. The history of the celebration seems to date back to Pagan times and many of the rituals and customs are therefore of Pagan origin. The San Juan rituals are also inherent in the people of Spain and the celebrations go on long into the night. If you have no knowledge of this festival then you will be pleasantly surprised if you arrive during the celebrations. The 23rd June is the transition between the dark nights of winter and ...  Read the complete review

As Bloc Party where saving the world at Wembley, Americas elite artists flown into New York on Concorde and British acts the other way, it was left to the great Spinal Tap to expose this hypocrisy for what it was by suggesting:” hello Wimbledon, don’t exhale’ for the next year”! The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who were the first act with any energy on stage, also saw the event for what it was and stormed off with a couple of swear words that were less than complimentary on the current atmosphere in the Wembley ionosphere, polluted with all sorts of noxious substances back stage no doubt, the ‘Chilies’ off-setting their carbon footprint by planting a couple of fields of the ...  Read the complete review

Diwali is a perfect time to visit India as the whole country is full of celebration and splendour (although if you're like me and don't like the sound of fireworks, it could get a bit too much to handle). Banks close around Diwali time in India so be warned about banking and even though businesses close their books and open new books, people are so busy celebrating that a lot of businesses will be closed during the Diwali period - a bit like a lot of businesses close here in the UK between Christmas and New Year. ~*~*~ WHAT IS DIWALI/DEEPAVALI? ~*~*~ Diwali is one of the most important (if not the most important) festivals in the Hindu ...  Read the complete review