Spring equinox in Teotihuacán
The festival takes place around March 20 and 21, at the pre-Hispanic site of Teotihuacán, Mexico. Similar events are held in Chichén Itzá and Malinalco, Mexico State.
Visitors are wear white clothes with a red scarf or other accessory. dance, burn incense and chant.
But, the most important ritual is to stand atop the Pyramid of the Sun with their arms outstretched, facing the sun, to receive positive energy. Most of the people climb the pyramid between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Those who arrive early enough see the sun rise over the Apan Mountains to the east of the Pyramid of the Sun, with its red rays colouring the landscape and the onlookers’ clothing. It is believed that these rituals connect them with Earth. While many come following the tradition of their ancestors, yet others come as they claim that at the point of the equinox, they are at a unique place in the cosmos, when portals of energy open. Climbing the 360 stairs to the Pyramid of the Sun allows people be closer to this energy.
Walpurgis Night
It is a traditional holiday celebrated on April 30, in northern Europe and Scandinavia. In Sweden, the holiday includes activities such as singing traditional spring folk songs and lighting bonfires.
In Germany, people dress in costumes, play pranks and make loud noises. This is done in the belief that it keeps evil at bay. Many people also hang sprigs of foliage in houses and barns to ward off evil spirits, or leave pieces of bread spread with butter and honey, called ankenschnitt , as offerings for phantom hounds.
In Finland, Walpurgis Night and May Day are effectively merged into a single celebration called Vappu, one of the country’s most important holidays. While initially, Walpurgis Night was celebrated mostly by the Finnish upper class, in the late 19th century, students participated too. Today, merrymaking begins on the evening of April 30, and festivities go on to the next day, frequently taking on a family dimension, as friends and relatives picnic in parks among balloons and drink sima , a homemade low-alcohol mead.
The origins of the holiday date back to celebrations of the coming of spring.
Later on, the celebration combined with the legend of St. Walburga, an English-born nun who lived at the Heidenheim monastery in Germany. She became the abbess there and she is believed to have cured the illnesses of local residents
Venice’s Carnevale
The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival held in Venice, before Lent and is renowned for its elaborate masks.
The carnival is said to have begun in 1162, with the victory of the Venice Republic over the Patriarch of Aquileia, Ulrico di Treven.
To celebrate this victory, people began to dance and gather in San Marco Square. In the 17th century, the baroque carnival was a way to save the prestigious image of Venice in the world. It was famous during the 18th century.
In 1797, the festival was outlawed, and the use of masks was strictly forbidden. It was banned and revived several times before finally returning in 1979 as the Italian government wanted to bring back the history and culture of Venice, and sought to use the traditional Carnival for this. The redevelopment of the masks began as the pursuit of some Venetian college students for the tourist trade. Since then, approximately three million visitors come to Venice every year for the Carnival. One of the most important events is the contest for “the most beautiful mask”, which is judged by a panel of international costume and fashion designers.
Las Falles
Every March, Valencia, in Spain, gets ready to welcome spring. The streets are abuzz with activity, revolving around the Las Falles Festival, a traditional celebration held in commemoration of Saint Joseph. During this festival, everything that is bad is burnt and brought back from the ashes to welcome a new season. The term Falles refers to both the celebration and the monuments burnt during the celebration.
Just before spring, workers stop working at night and burn the rustic parot (a wooden device used for lighting) in front of each workshop. To feed the fire, the artisans accumulate strips and chips of wood together with junk collected from the neighbourhood. Afterwards, the parot would be brought to life with rags giving it a human form, with a hat as the head, and thus, Ninot figure (dolls or puppets) was born.
While the festival is celebrated for five days and nights, one of the most prominent events is the “ninot indultat” (pardoned ninot). It exhibits the best figures, with the public as the jury, and these puppets are saved from being burnt. All the pardoned ninots are exhibited in the Fallas Museum.
Then there’s the night for bursting of firecrackers — Nit del foc (Night of Fire), with a fireworks display, as part of the revelry.
