Loi Krathong is a Thai festival celebrated annually throughout the Kingdom of Thailand and in nearby countries with significant southwestern Tai cultures. The name could be translated as "to float a basket," and comes from the tradition of making krathong or buoyant, decorated baskets, which are then floated on a river.
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Diwali, Deepavali or Dipavali is the Hindu festival of lights, which is celebrated every autumn in the northern hemisphere. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolises the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance." Light is a metaphor for knowledge and consciousness. During the celebration, temples, homes, shops and office buildings are brightly illuminated. The preparations, and rituals, for the festival typically last five days, with the climax occurring on the third day coinciding with the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika. In the Gregorian calendar, the festival generally falls between mid-October and mid-November.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 will be the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The contest is scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv, Israel, following their victory at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal with the song "Toy", performed by Netta. The contest will be held at the Tel Aviv Convention Center and will consist of two semi-finals on 14 and 16 May, and the final on 18 May 2019.
The Woodstock Music & Art Fair—informally, the Woodstock Festival or simply Woodstock—was a music festival in the United States in 1969 which attracted an audience of more than 400,000. Scheduled for August 15–17 on a dairy farm in the Catskill Mountains of southern New York State, northwest of New York City, it ran over to Monday, August 18.
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Holi is a Hindu spring festival, originating from India, celebrated predominantly in India but has also spread to Nepal and many other Western countries, also known as the "festival of colours" or the "festival of love". The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships. It is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest. It lasts for a night and a day, starting on the evening of the Purnima falling in the Vikram Samvat Hindu Calendar month of Phalgun, which falls somewhere between the end of February and the middle of March in the Gregorian calendar. The first evening is known as Holika Dahan or Chhoti Holi and the following day as Holi, Rangwali Holi, Dhuleti, Dhulandi, or Phagwah.
A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. Harvest festivals typically feature feasting, both family and public, with foods that are drawn from crops that come to maturity around the time of the festival. Ample food and freedom from the necessity to work in the fields are two central features of harvest festivals: eating, merriment, contests, music and romance are common features of harvest festivals around the world.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place for the first time in Portugal following the country's first victory at the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine with the song "Amar pelos dois", performed by Salvador Sobral. The contest was held at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, and consisted of two semi-finals on 8 and 10 May, and the final on 12 May 2018. The three live shows were hosted by Filomena Cautela, Sílvia Alberto, Daniela Ruah and Catarina Furtado.
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Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi or Vinayaka Chavithi is the Hindu festival that reveres the god Ganesha. A ten-day festival, it starts on the fourth day of Hindu luni-solar calendar month Bhadrapada, which typically falls in the months of August or September of the Gregorian calendar. The festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha clay idols privately in homes, or publicly on elaborate pandals. Observations include chanting of Vedic hymns and Hindu texts such as Ganapati Upanishad, prayers and vrata (fasting). Offerings and prasadam from the daily prayers, that is distributed from the pandal to the community, include sweets such as modaka believed to be a favorite of the elephant-headed deity. The festival ends on the tenth day after start, wherein the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or ocean. In Mumbai alone, around 150,000 statues are immersed annually. thereafter the clay idol dissolves and Ganesha is believed to return to Mount Kailash to Parvati and Shiva.
Tomorrowland is an electronic dance music festival held in Boom, Belgium. Tomorrowland was first held in 2005, and has since become one of the world's largest and most notable music festivals. It now stretches over 2 weekends and usually sells out in minutes.
The Eurovision Song Contest, often simply called Eurovision, is an international song competition held primarily among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio, then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the winner. At least 50 countries are eligible to compete as of 2018, and since 2015, Australia has been allowed as a guest entrant.
The Cannes Festival, named until 2002 as the International Film Festival and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.
Oktoberfest is the world's largest Volksfest. Held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid or late September to the first weekend in October, with more than six million people from around the world attending the event every year. Locally, it is often called the Wiesn, after the colloquial name for the fairgrounds, Theresa's meadows (Theresienwiese). The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since the year 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations that are modeled after the original Munich event.
The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute, takes place annually in Park City, Utah. With over 46,660 attendees in 2016, it is the largest independent film festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, Midnight, Premieres, and Documentary Premieres. The 2018 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 18 to January 28, 2018.
Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemporary music, the festival hosts dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other arts. Leading pop and rock artists have headlined, alongside thousands of others appearing on smaller stages and performance areas. Films and albums recorded at Glastonbury have been released, and the festival receives extensive television and newspaper coverage. Glastonbury is the largest greenfield festival in the world, and is now attended by around 175,000 people, requiring extensive infrastructure in terms of security, transport, water, and electricity supply. The majority of staff are volunteers, helping the festival to raise millions of pounds for charity organisations.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, located in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Live. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, indie, hip hop, and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music. The main stages are the: Coachella Stage, Outdoor Theatre, Gobi Tent, Mojave Tent, and Sahara Tent; a smaller Oasis Dome was used in 2006 and 2011, while a new Yuma stage was introduced in 2013 and a Sonora stage in 2017.