FESTIVALS by samah https://padlet.com/samah_thabet/cdisbt308mv7 Made with a wink and a smile en-us 2018-12-16 09:43:33 UTC 2018-12-17 07:42:59 UTC hello@padlet.com The Snake Festival https://padlet.com/samah_thabet/cdisbt308mv7/wish/314950566  
Every year on the first Thursday in May the small village of Cocullo in Italy sees thousands of visitors. They are all arriving to see the annual Snake Festival. The festival is held on Saint Dominic’s Day. St Dominic lived in the town in the 11th century. At that time there were many snakes in the village and many people died of snakebite. Saint Domenic got rid of the snakes and the people of Cocullo hold this festival every year to remember him. For some weeks before the festival, people collect snakes and then, on St Dominic’s Day, they put all the snakes on a statue of St Dominic. At midday they carry the statue and the snakes in a procession through the village. At the front of the procession is a band playing music and at the back are women in costume who give sweets and bread shaped like snakes to the people who are watching. At the end of the procession there are fireworks. 
]]> 2018-12-16 09:45:43 UTC https://padlet.com/samah_thabet/cdisbt308mv7/wish/314950566 The Land Diving Festival https://padlet.com/samah_thabet/cdisbt308mv7/wish/314950623 Pentecost Island in Vanuatu is famous for the Land Diving Festival, which takes place every Saturday in May. This festival celebrates the harvest, but there is an old story which says that it began when a woman had an argument with her husband and ran off into the forest. He followed her and she climbed a tree to get away. He climbed the tree after her and she jumped down. He jumped after her and was injured. She was unhurt because she had tied a vine to her ankle which stopped her hitting the ground. Now the men of the island hold this festival every year. They build a wooden tower, 20 to 30 metres high. They climb the tower and tie vines to their ankles. Then they jump off the tower. The people below sing and dance to encourage them. The islanders believe that the higher you jump, the better the harvest will be. In the 1980’s the New Zealander AJ Hackett developed the modern sport of bungy jumping, based on this festival. ]]> 2018-12-16 09:46:31 UTC https://padlet.com/samah_thabet/cdisbt308mv7/wish/314950623 The Hong Kong Bun Festival https://padlet.com/samah_thabet/cdisbt308mv7/wish/314950656 This festival is held on the island on Cheung Chau in Hong Kong in early May every year, around the time of Buddha’s birthday. The festival celebrates the god Pak Tai, who drove pirates and illness away from the island. In the festival, the islanders pray for safety from pirates and illness. The festival lasts for seven days. For three of those days everyone on the island is vegetarian. There is a procession through the village with lion dances, dragon dances and musicians. In the procession children in colourful costumes are carried high above people’s heads. The islanders make three 20-metre high bamboo towers and cover these with buns. At midnight on the last day people light fires and then climb the towers to get the buns. They wear bags on their backs to collect the buns and when they come down from the towers, they give them to everyone who is watching. Then everyone celebrates with fireworks. ]]> 2018-12-16 09:47:01 UTC https://padlet.com/samah_thabet/cdisbt308mv7/wish/314950656