How does the World Celebrate?
Celebrations! Celebrations! Celebrations! They are those minutes of leisure, ticks of relief and sometimes duty. They are the product of liberation, freedom, hope.
“According to webster’s dictionary the term festival means a day or time of religious or other celebration, marked by feasting, ceremonies or their observances”
Festivals or Celebration can also be the reason of long-term oppression or foreign rule. The Lion’s share of countries around the world have been ruled or were oppressed by the English or The British Rule. As an example, in India, by the course of 150 years of British Rule, there occurred a conversion from Hinduism to Christianity and the introduction of Christian festivals or celebrations such as the Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, New Year, etc. The peculiar regime of Aryans in India also introduced festivals celebrated to honour gods, trees, mountains, the forth coming monsoon, the end of winter or the spring.
Categorizing major Celebration or Festivals in the world by months we have Chinese New Year and Hogmanay in January and February, Holi, Songkran, Passover and Easter in March and April, May Day and Kodomono-hi in May and June, O-Bon, Esala Perahera, Ramadan and Iriji in July and August, Thanksgiving and Trung Thu in September and October, Day of the Dead, Hanukkah, St. Lucia Day, Christmas and Kwanzaa in November and December.
While researching on celebrations, I could understand the fact that, celebrations marked – the onset of cleaning spree, having food together, healthy competitions as in the Rio Carnival in Brazil in the Samba Parade, the samba schools compete with each other, samba – is an African-Brazilian dance style, emphasizing good values and bonfires and fires. The festivals or celebrations in the world with these particular characteristics could be listed as-
In the Streets,
At the Kite Festivals held around the world, the beaches or the streets are the backdrop. The Sagami Giant Kite Festival in Japan – where giant kites made of bamboo and paper lift off from ground by the teams of hundred people, The Cervia International Kite Festival and The International Kite Festival in the state of Gujarat in India is part of the Uttarayan Celebration are the major celebration in the world where the kite found the center stage.
The Rio Carnival held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a length of several days is one of the most spectacular festivals in the world. The celebration is filled with dancing, parades, and music. In this celebration too the streets found the center stage. The celebration starts when the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro gives the key to the city to a man dressed as King Momo, the mischievous king of Carnival. When The Momo starts dancing, the fun begins. In the city there will be street parties, concerts and costume balls.
When The Venice Regata happens, the canals of Venice which are its streets are consequential. The event begins with a parade of 16th-Century-style boats rowed by rowers, or the so-called gondoliers dressed in traditional costumes. It’s a rowing competition along the shores of Venice where the spectators gather. This is the Venice Regatta where the rowers compete for bandieri (flags).
With Family and Friends,
The Indian celebration of Holi is a classic example of a celebration which cherishes the bonds of friendship and family. People gather around the bonfires to pray and perform Hindu traditions. Holi lasts for one night and one day. There will be a huge paint fight happening on the day of Holi, people throw colored powder called gulal at each other and splash people with coloured water from water jets and balloons. In the evening they clean up and put on clean clothes ending the day with the visit to friends and family to exchange greetings, gifts, and special Holi sweets.
The mid-eastern influenced global celebration Eid Al-Fitr is an important event where the feast, the product of the ritual, is shared with neighbors, friends, and family. People wish each other a happy holiday, exchange cards and gifts and give money to those in need. Eid begins at sunset as the moon is spotted in the sky. Muslims put on new clothes and perform prayer at the mosque which is most auspicious done outdoors.
Of Independence and Freedom,
The Fourth of July celebration marks the day when the US became independent. The celebration happens across the country, at noon, soldiers on army bases fire the “salute to the union” – 50 gunshots are fired to represent the union of 50 US states. People spend the day having picnics, barbecues, and parties or watching sports on TV. People show their unity dressing up in red, white, and blue. There are also parades conducted by people dressed in historical costumes.
Bastille Day celebration marks the second in list of celebrations for independence and freedom. The revolution against the more than 200 years old rule of King Louis XVI created the modern Republic of France. People spend the day with their family as it is a national holiday, and they attend parties or concerts. A huge military parade happens on the Champs-Elysees Avenue in Paris. Massive tanks roll down the avenue and army planes fly overhead when thousands of Soldiers, Police, and the Paris Fire department march while the president inspects the march.
There are over 200 countries in this world and these countries can say 200 thousand big and small stories of repression and oppression and these chronicles are celebrated in small and big ways but summarizing it in a short essay would be preposterous.
New Beginnings,
Japanese New Year Festival is called Shogatsu. People clean their homes and decorate them with ornaments and pine, plum, and bamboo branches. They visit temples and shrines to pray. At midnight the bells in the temple are rung to welcome the New Year.
In Scotland, The New Year’s Eve is called Hogmanay, songs are sung, friendships are cherished and feasts are savoured.
During the Chinese New Year celebrations in the cities around the world, there are colourful parade of acrobats, jugglers, dancers, and musicians. The streets fill with life, the aroma and sounds of fire crackers and the colour red.
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur celebrations. It is the Jewish New Year and they celebrate what they believe as the creation of the world. A trumpet made of a ram’s horn called as shofar is blown to mark the start of Rosh Hashanah. Time is spent as prayers in synagogue and with families. A candlelit feast with special food is enjoyed.
Mid-Autumn Festival also known as the Moon or Harvest Moon Festival, celebrated in China, Vietnam, and other Asian Countries. Decorated mooncakes are a central part of the festival. Performers dressed as lions and dragons dance to scare away evil spirits and bring good luck. Beautiful coloured lanterns are hung for decoration, floated on water, or released into the sky.
Dongji, the Korean festival of mid-winter. Food of peculiar nature is prepared – a red bean porridge with small balls of rice in it called patjuk. It is thought that the red beans protect against evil spirits and bad luck, while the rice symbolizes new life.
Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States and Canada. In this event food too finds the center stage. Thanksgiving dinner includes such dishes as turkey with stuffing, mashed potato, beans, corn, and pumpkin or apple pie. People watch football games, there will be parades where giant balloons float above the crowds. The world’s biggest parade happens on this day in New York- Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
May Day, it celebrates the beginning of summer. In the Northern Europe, the evening before May Day is called Walpurgis Night. In Finland, people have parties and enjoy a special spiced drink called sima. The celebration include a maypole with colored ribbons tied to the top. The ribbons are held by dancers who weave in and out, creating a pattern as they go. In Britain, English morris dancers perform traditional dances with bells tied to their legs. They wave colourful handkerchiefs and knock sticks together in time to the music.
For the dead,
Halloween, also known as All Hallows Eve. A Christian festival to remember the dead. Tradition states that, the ghosts of the dead return to our world on the night of this day. Halloween is a time for bonfires, scary movies, haunted houses, and pumpkins. Children dress up in costumes to go trick-or-treating. Candles are put inside pumpkins to turn them into lanterns to ward off evil spirits. In China, the day is celebrated as The Feast of the Hungry Ghosts.
Day of the Dead, a Mexican festival on December beginning held over two days. The spirits of the children are believed to return on the first day and that of the adults on the second day. People set-up altars (raised platforms) in their homes or on the graves of their loved ones. The altars are decorated with candles, marigold flowers, and gifts. Lots of food is put out for the spirits. On the streets, there are parades and parties with singing and dancing. People dress up in skeleton costumes and paint skulls on their faces.
Of Light,
Diwali, a hindu festival of light. On the night of the new moon, homes and temples are lit up with hundreds of candles and small lamps filled with oil called diyas. People clean their homes and decorate floors with beautiful patterns called rangoli. People dress at their best clothes and pray at the temples. People get together with family and friends exchanging gifts and sweets, enjoy feasts and watch firework displays.
Hanukkah, A Jewish festival of lights. The jews light up their temples with oil lamps. The festival lasts for eight days.
Humans have been beautiful and absurd from the beginning of their times. Human beauty comes in a great variety of forms. There is beauty in virtuous character—in acts of courage, justice, and compassion, for instance. There is absurdity in these same humans when they use these acts of courage and bravery to do actions of self-destruction.
For a start and to marvel at the beauty of humans let me jot down some of the particularly beautiful styles of celebration of humans –
- Before the celebration of Eid Al-Fitr, there is something known as the fasting, where the Muslims starve from sunrise to sunset. They claim this process to acknowledge the value of food.
- During the Jewish celebration of creation of world – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the believer indulges in prayer in the synagogue refusing to eat or drink for 25 hours.
Now allow me to dispel the aforementioned beauty of the human actions by insinuating few paradoxes of celebrations –
- In Spain, an annual cultural fest called “La Tomatina” is held, which is considered to be the world’s largest food fight where 110-155 tons of tomatoes are destroyed. This has inspired many other countries such as Columbia, Costa Rica, China, and Nevada to celebrate similar cultural practice
- In Africa there is a cultural celebration, where wealth is show offed by a group of youngsters by destroying expensive clothes and food. This phenomenon is called Izikhotane. People such as izikhotane deem this behaviour to be necessary to show their improved or high-ranking socio-economic standing.
- In Nigeria, funerals have become an extended weekend-long party where large amount of food is prepared continuously to feed the guest and these events show an example that all over the world in any event or ceremony, shortage of food for the guest is looked upon badly.
In South Africa, 12 million people go to bed hungry every night and 90% of poverty marginalized people spend their annual budget on festivals contrasted with Pakistan, Indonesia and Cote d’Ivoire 50% of them do likewise.
Many celebration events and episodes are a display to the rest of the community that one can also afford a certain lifestyle even if it gets one into debt.
Let there be a day when celebrations happen in equality. Your happiness and pride are important but the privilege you have shouldn’t question what one else doesn’t have.
By: Mufeed Ibrahim
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