Monday, June 23, 2014 at 7:39PM In Latvia starting the evening of June 23 going into the beginning of the 24 Jāņi is celebrated. This is a time to start to enjoy the summer. People head to the country to enjoy specially made beer and cheese as well as sit around and enjoy the company of friends and family.
Friday, January 17, 2014 at 1:53PM
A festival held in Japan in the Akita Prefecture where people carry Bonden (large bamboo markers and colorful baskets) to the foot of the mountain as markers to the gods for them to know where to come.
Teams of people will form, including children and work groups, to race to the place these markers so they might get a blessing for the upcoming year. These races can get very heated and and violent so much so that people will sometimes call this the “Bonden fight”.
The main deity that is referenced is Miyoshi Jinja, who is the god of power, which might also explain the violence that can happen.
Links: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/spot/festival/bondensai.html
http://www.insidejapantours.com/japan-news/2947/bonden-sai-festival-gets-date/
Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 3:58PM
This festival is held in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It is a festival to bring together the people of the the four countries the boarder the northern part of the Mekong River;Laos, Thailand, Burma(also known as Myanmar) and China.
The festival includes foods, dancing and what would a festival be without being able to buy things. According to one blog I found you could get many different things from artisan items to fake Prada.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 12:49PM
Maghe Sankranti is the first day of the month of Magh. A calendar system based on the movement of the sun into different zodiac signs. The calendar system used by most western countries is that of the Gregorian system and do not align with the Nepalese system. For the group of peoples known as the Tharu it is also the first day of the new year.
This is the time of the ending of winter and inauspicious time. Holly(I think the author may have meant holy but hard to tell from the writing) baths are taken. This is typically done where three rivers converge. Foods, such as brown sesame seed fudge (Till ko laddu), molasses (Chakku), clarified butter (Ghee), Tilauri as well as spinach and yam curry. The Tharu people will also eat pigs, boars, ducks and hens.
As this is a time to look towards the sun being around more and the weather warming, it is a festival of the Sun.
As this is the new year of the Tharu people they elect new leaders to govern for the following year. These include a Bhalmansa, who will serve as the judge and leader of the community; a Guruwa, who carries out the punishment when people do not follow the orders of the Bhalmansa as well as acting as medic and chief priest of the village and a Chiragi who might be compared to a police person.
Links: http://www.weallnepali.com/nepali-festivals/maghe-sankranti
Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at 9:38AM I have not found any indication from any source other than Wikipedia that today is flag day in the country of Georgia but I thought it would give me a good reason to go a head and at least mention this former Soviet Bloc country. Situated south of Russia and bordering on the Black Sea, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, this area has been a cross road for those going from east to west and back again for many many years. With such a position it has a very long history and one that I can not do justice to in such a short amount of time but I recommend taking a look here to get a flavor.
