The most famous festivals of the world

Hello, today I’m going to introduce a presentation about the famous festivals
around the world. At first I have to clarify the meaning of the word “festival”.
Festival is a special time or event when people gather to celebrate something in
order to remove their negativities and to seek pleasure. Many people celebrate
religious festivals as it is considered compulsory in their religion and also many
people celebrate festivals according to their traditions and culture. So, no
matter where you go around the globe everybody loves to celebrate and when
it comes to celebration, festivals offer some special things for everyone. There
are following festivals people celebrate all around the world. Here I discuss
some of the most famous festivals of the world.

1. Carnaval in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It’s the biggest festival in the world,
because this festival is widely considered “the greatest show on the
Earth”. The carnaval attracts nearly 5 million people each year, with a
half million visitors travelling to see the spectacle. Historically, Carnival
is a religious celebration. It takes places in February or March. Besides
the colours, costumes, dancing and music, it is also special, because it’s a
truly citywide party taking place in every shape and form in every corner
of Rio. The most special thing in festival is that you can not only have to
watch the parade – you can actually take part. Just book a parade ticket
with a costume, giving you the chance to dress up and show your
dancing skills to people.

2. The next one is Chinese New Year – It’s the most important holiday in
China and to Chinese people all over, because this festival is celebrated
by more than 20% of the world. This festival has some interesting facts
that you probably didn’t know about Chinese new year. For example,
Chinese new year is also known as the spring festival: in China you’ll
hear it being called Chunjie, which means spring festival in Chinese
language. This festival marks the end of the coldest winter days. People
welcome spring. This festival also celebrate countries such as North and
 South Korea and Vietnam celebrate it as well. Chinese new year ranges
from January 21 to February 20. The spring festival is originally a
ceremonial day to pray to gods for a good planting and harvest season.
It’s also important to mention that it is the longest Chinese holiday, that’s
around 40 days of celebrations.

3. Next festival called La Tomatina is one of the oldest festivals on our list.
It’s Spanish festival and the whole point is to throw tomatoes at people.
The Spanish festival was banned for much of the 1950s but in 1957 locals
protested with a mock funeral carrying a coffin with a huge tomatoe
inside. And if you want to go to festival, there are some simple rules that
you have to follow: Don’t throw hard objects, stay a safe distance away
from tomato trucks. In other words, have fun, but don’t hurt anybody
and don’t be a jerk. It is held on the last Wednesday of August.

4. Obon festival in Japan – Obon is one of the most important Japanese

traditions. People believe that their ancestors spirits come back to their
homes to reunite with their family during the holiday. For that reason, it
is an important family gathering time, as many people return to their
hometowns to pray together with their extended family and await for
their ancestors spirits to return. This festival was celebrated around the
15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, which is called
Fumizuki or the “Month of books”. Before the start of the holiday,
Japanese people clean their houses and place a variety of food
offerings such as vegetables and fruits to the spirits of their
ancestors. The most beautiful part of this festival is floating lanterns,
nowadays it has gained popularity globally, they are known as “toro
nagashi”. Inside each toro nagashi is a candle and the lantern will
float down a river that runs to the ocean.
And that’s all. I hope you enjoy by my presentation. Thanks for
attention.