From the 14th July 2008 the visually stunning 11th annual World Body Painting Festival will start in Seeboden, Austria, and run for a week.
One of the headline events is the 'BodyCircus' fantasy ball which will take place on 16th July at the medieval castle Sommeregg. Visitors wear fantasy costumes combined with amasing body paint and masks, but there are only 600 tickets available for visitors. Tickets are 22 euros on the door (if you can get in) or 15 euros if bought in advance. Thereafter the festival starts in earnest when artists display their creations from 11.00am onwards in the public park to be judged by a panel for the World Bodypainting Awards in different categories. Over 40 countries compete for awards.
The best thing is to let some of the photo's 'speak' for themselves.
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This festival (Parada Ng Lechon) is definitely unusual!
In Balayan on the south coast of the Luzon (Phillipines) the night before the festival an anniversary ball is held at the town plaza when the ‘lechon queen’ is crowned. Then, on the 24th June some 50 roasted suckling pigs are blessed in the name of St John the baptist (their patron saint). The pigs are then paraded through the streets dressed in their finest (T’Shirts, ceremonial clothes, raincoats and sun glasses). After the end of the parade the pigs are devoured in a feast (make sure you are hungry!).
But be prepared to get wet as well as fed. As the parade coincides with / marks the feast of John the Baptist and the theme of baptism spills (sic) over to this parade. After lunch the town embarks on a huge water fight with water pistols and water thrown from moving cars.
This festival started in 1963 in Harbin (the capital city of the Heilongjiand Province in northeast China), this festival lasts over a month starting on January 5th. Some exhibits start to go up as early as November depending on the weather in which case they can be viewed early. There were a number of interruptions during the cultural revolution, but the event was resumed in 1985 and has been annual ever since. Today many ice sculpture experts and artists from America, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Russia and China congregate in Harbin to participate in competitions and network with each other.
The arctic (Siberian) climate provides the perfect environment with plenty of snow and ice for the festival ice artworks, which are combined with coloured lights and music. There are other forms of entertainment too such as ice-skating, ice hockey, skiing and sledding and many weddings and parties are held too.
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This 10 day festival (end of October) was started in 1979 to boost tourism, and hence the economy, of the Keys. October boasts a beautiful climate for seeing the region, but was previously a slow time when retailers traditionally boarded up their shops and went away themselves.
The festival started life primarily as a gay party, but is now a lot more besides including balls, costume competitions, family-friendly parades, pet parades (where dogs, cats ducks and even ferrets have costumes), street parties, drag queen contests and AIDS fundraising events. Some even say the event rivals the New Orleans Mardi Gras.
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Muff? Let’s look that up in the dictionary; a short tube like covering of fur etc. into which both hands are thrust from opposite ends to keep them warm! Now that fooled you…I expect some of you had different connotations for it’s meaning!
Ireland’s Muff festival is held in the town of Muff – yes it really exists! It’s starts on the first Friday of every August and must not be missed, this year it’s 3rd – 6th August. This four four-day event is a public party where laughter is the order or the day…flowing as freely as the Guinness! It’s a tribute to everything barmy, and really has to be seen to be believed.
What are the ‘Muffonian’s’ objectives of this four-day event? To make merry, let their hair down, and to ensure that it’s a definite remedy for anyone with low spirits as it plays stage to a mixture of traditional and extremely silly competitions, parades, parties and the excuse to consume copious amounts of beer.
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