Horseradish Festival

 Horseradish Festival

   Since 1988, Collinsville has celebrated its zippy crop grown here in the bottomland beneath the bluffs – horseradish. This year will be no different when the annual festivities are held on June 4-5 at Woodland Park.

     The celebration helps spread the word on the usefulness and whimsy of the hottest root around with plenty of music, games for all ages, demonstrations and – what else – plenty of food vendors offering up entrees served up with horseradish as a main ingredient.

     In addition to Root Sacking, Root Derby, Root Golf, Bloody Mary Contest, amateur recipe contest and other staple events, this year’s activity line-up includes the new Root Relay Race, root grinding demonstrations and an expanded children’s area.

     Visitors who want to savor the root’s distinctive aroma and flavor can buy it freshly grated and processed without preservatives at the festival from a secret recipe made once a year for the festival.

     This year the root of every Collinsville resident’s heart has finally gotten some much deserved international attention. The International Herb Association named the 2011 the year of the horseradish. IHA members were in Collinsville in July 2010 to celebrate their herb of the year during the group’s annual conference.

             

The Shocking Fireball Festival of Nejapa

The Shocking Fireball Festival of Nejapa

The Fireball Festival is an old tradition celebrated each year, on August 31st, in the town of Nejapa, El Salvador.

“Las Bolas de Fuego”, as the locals refer to this bizarre event, is actually a reenactment of the fight between San Jeronimo and the devil. In 1922, the people of Nejapa and the surrounding area were forced to evacuate, by the eruption of a nearby volcano. As they were leaving, locals saw great balls of fire spewing out of the volcano, and believed their patron saint was actually fighting the devil with them.

Ever since they witnessed the fight between good and evil, the people of Nejapa have celebrated it each year, by organizing their very own fireball fight. If you didn’t know this was an organized celebration, you’d be tempted to think you’ve been dropped in the middle of a war-zone. Two teams of young men, with their faces covered by war paint, throw flaming fireballs at each other, surrounded by hundreds of bystanders who watch their every move.

Equipped with gloves and clothes soaked in water, the brave combatants throw and at the same time, evade the flaming fireballs made from rags and dipped in fuel. Some of their clothes do catch on fire, and some of the participants are often hit right in the face, at point blank, but despite all the health hazards, few injuries have been reported during the Fireball Festival.

It’s definitely a shocking display, but un a country like El Salvador, where gangs and violence are everywhere, getting hit by a flaming fireball, during “Las Bolas de Fuego” is the least dangerous thing that can happen.

The Monkey Buffet Festival

The Monkey Buffet Festival 

The monkey buffet festival is a celebration that takes place in Thailand and it´s held every November 25^th. The local peoples believe that monkey´s bring good fortune to the visitors. It has been held done since 1989, and it main public are the tourist from different parts, which offers proximally 4000 kilograms of food and drinks every year. It has also representative music and dances and different activities throw-out the day with young people dress like monkeys, as a shown of thanks because of they great value. As well it has become a very important colorful tradition to the Thailand people because the meaning of the monkeys, and the worth goals. (Alexandra)

The monkey feast is the ingenious concept of a hotelier, Yongyuth Kitwattananusont, who first feted the monkeys in 1989. Now, with the sponsorship of Thailand’s Tourism Authority, his spectacle attracts thousands of tourists. Yongyuth attempts to outdo himself each year. He once stuffed himself into a monkey suit and arrived via parachute. The November of 1999, he promises to up last year’s offering: 4,000 kilograms of food. A longstanding second-tier tourist draw, Lop Buri is the site of 10th-century Hindu temples built by a Khmer dynasty. The main temple, strongly resembling the architecture of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, is headquarters for the macaques. (Sebastian)

As the name of the festival itself indicates, this is a festival where the monkeys along with the food are the protagonists. In Thailand, there is the belief that King Rama gave a piece of land known as Lopburi to Hanuman who was the Monkey King. For that reason, nearly 2000 monkeys each year receive thousands of pounds of food (like fruits and desserts) in a big table where public enjoy seeing them. People from Thailand also believe, thanks to their history, that monkeys bring good fortune so this is also made in their honor. Besides of being a local celebration, the monkeys attract a lot of tourists and the country receives benefits with the visits. (Miguel)

In this festival the ones who enjoy the buffet are the monkeys them self. They enjoy with a large buffet of food, ranging from sweet desserts to fruits, vegetables, and sodas. In the monkey buffet you can watch the monkeys drink coke directly from the can. In the past years the monkeys have consumed over four tons of food, not many people are agree with the type of diet that this monkeys have on this event, but what it is a fact is that this animals certainly enjoy their annual special meal. (Maria Ximena)

This bunch of things make this festival a colorful and a very happy event, it has a variety of delicious odors, and a very beautiful, green landscape, that is why it is recommendable for any kind of people, it doesn’t matter you will have a pretty good time and you will enjoy your stance in here every minute. (Sopia)

La Tomatina

La Tomatina

La Tomatina is a festival that is held in the Valencian town of Buñol, a town located 30 km from the Mediterranean, in which participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for fun. It is held on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of festivities of Buñol.
Facts The most popular of many theories about how the Tomatina started is that, in 1945, during a parade of the "Little Rabbit" some woodland animals were eating all the watermelon so, the people at the parade threw tomatoes at the animals; one missed and hit a person. Then, they started throwing the tomatoes. The police had to attack everyone. There are many theories.
The following year the young people repeated the fight on the same Wednesday of August, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in subsequent years, the tradition was established. In 1950, the town allowed the tomato hurl to take place, however the next year it was again stopped. A lot of young people were imprisoned but theBuñol residents forced the authorities to let them go. The festival gained popularity with more and more participants getting involved every year. After subsequent years it was banned again with threats of serious penalties. In the year 1957, some young people planned to celebrate "the tomato's funeral", with singers, musicians, and comedies. The main attraction however, was the coffin with a big tomato inside being carried around by youth and a band playing the funeral marches. Considering this popularity of the festival and the alarming demand, 1957 saw the festival becoming official with certain rules and restrictions. These rules have gone through a lot of modifications over the years.
Another important landmark in the history of this festival is the year 1975. From this year onwards, "Los Clavarios de San Luis Bertrán" (San Luis Bertrán is the patron of the town of Buñol) organised the whole festival and brought in tomatoes which had previously been brought by the local people. Soon after this, in 1980, the town hall took the responsibility of organizing the festival.

san fermin festival (running of the bulls) in pamplona spain

san fermin festival (running of the bulls) in pamplona spain

The fiestas of San Fermin are celebrated in Irunea/Pamplona, in the region of Navarra, every year from the 6th to the 14th of July. They have become internationally known because of the running of the bulls, where the bulls are lead through the streets of the old quarter as far as the bull ring by runners.

The fiestas are celebrated in honor of San Fermin, patron saint of Navarra, although the religious aspect would seem to have taken on a secondary role over the last number of years. Nowadays, the fiestas are seen as a mass gathering of people from all the corners of the world and where the partying, the fun and the joy of it all are the most outstanding ingredients.

The Encierro ... The Running of the Bulls
The Encierro is the event at the heart of the Sanfermines and makes the fiesta a spectacle that would be unimaginable in any other place in the world. It was born from need: getting the bulls from outside the city into the bullring. The encierro takes place from July 7th to 14th and starts at the corral in Calle Santo Domingo when the clock on the church of San Cernin strikes eight o"clock in the morning. After the launching of two rockets, the bulls charge behind the runners for 825 metres, the distance between the corral and the bullring. The run usually lasts between three and four minutes although it has sometimes taken over ten minutes, especially if one of the bulls has been isolated from his companions.

Cheese Rolling Festival

Cheese Rolling Festival

The Cheese Rolling festival is one of the most unique events observed in the world till date. It is organized every year during the month of May in England. It's held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester county in the Cotswolds region of United Kingdom. This traditional festival was started primarily for by and for the people of Brockworth - the local village, but has now evolved as popular world event.

The festival traces its origin way back in history, at least 200 years before. The event involves one of the most unique celebrations of its kind in which a round of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled from the top of the Copper's hill. Participants race down the hill after it and the first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. The cheese used in this festival is Double Gloucester, a hard cheese typically manufactured in cylindrical blocks. Each year the event becomes more and more popular with contestants coming from all across the world to compete or even simply to explore the sensational experience. The popularity and paticipation in Cheese Rolling Fetsival has grown to such an extent that the 2010 event was officially cancelled due to safety concerns over the number of people visiting the event. However, despite the ban and a lack of paramedics, about 500 people showed up again in 2010 to hold some unofficial races. A notifying factor of this event is that the cheese rolls down and can reach speeds up to 70mph (112 km/h), enough to knock over and injure a spectator.

Tunarama Festival

Tunarama Festival

The Tunarama Festival began in 1962 and is primarily aimed at the family market, with free entertainment, competitions and contests being organised for all age groups. Traditionally the Tunarama Festival has been held over the Australia Day long weekend with the original idea to help promote the Tuna Industry which was just emerging in Port Lincoln. This date also coincided with the fishing fleet putting to sea. Nowadays, with increased technology and the advent of the aquaculture industry, (which has seen the end of the tuna poling method) the tuna fishing operations in Port Lincoln have changed, but the Festival has remained and is in its 52nd year. The Tunarama Festival is organised by Port Lincoln Tunarama Incorporated and overseen by a Board, a hard working committee, funded 100% by sponsorship, grants and donations from businesses, tourism bodies and the local council with dozens of volunteers all assisting to help make the Festival come alive.  Tunarama is the longest running FREE festival in South Australia, and this would not be possible without our generous Sponsors who have continued to support the festival for the benefit of the whole community

To know more about the festival:

http://www.tunarama.net