As many other parts of the United States do, of course my hometown has traditions like sledding, building snowpeople and drinking hot cocoa, but a number of stranger traditions have evolved too. Half a mile away from my house, the night of the 21^st of December many people from the area build a bonfire with a pile of wood larger than two cars sitting next to each other. People bring dead wood to burn, but occasionally old furniture as well. My neighborhood is especially fun to walk or drive around in the winter, since most people decorate their homes for Christmas or other holidays. Streams of lights, inflatable Santa Clauses and wire reindeer on rooftops are common, plus multicolored disco balls and signing robotic elves on front porches to welcome greeters and onlookers. 

 

The lakes on either side of my hometown freeze over in the winter, and you can walk out onto them sometimes all the way across. Hundreds of people take vacations from work, pick up tents from their garages and camp out on the ice. They make and fish through small holes. It looks almost like a military camp from the 19^th century, there are so many “ice fishers”, as they are called, out there. The truly bold and daring people strip down to swimsuits and jump into the lake through holes in the ice; they immediately hurl themselves back out! 

Another tradition occurs on February 3rd, called Setsubun. Setsubun is the eve before the first day of Spring according to the Japanese lunar calendar. This holiday is accompanied by a traditional ritual called "Mamemaki," which literally translates to the "scattering of beans." This ritual involves throwing beans around the home (and later picking them up) to both cleanse away the evil from the former year and drive away evil spirits for the upcoming year. While throwing the beans, one yells out "oniwa soto, fukuwa uchi" -- which translates to "evil spirits go out, luck/fortune enters" (the home). This custom shares a similar idea as Harae, which are the rituals associated with purification in the Japanese traditional Shinto religion, which oftentimes uses salt as a form of warding off evil spirits and protecting the home. 

Another notable tradition in Japan takes place on Children's Day on May 5th. On this day, wind socks that look like carps (or koi) are hung up on buildings, outside of homes and off ceilings. The significance of the carp stems from an ancient Chinese story about a carp that swims against the river's current to become a dragon. The wind that these wind socks (representations of kois) face represent the current in this old tale -- which overall symbolize a healthy childhood and progression into becoming a grand adult dragon. 

Thanksgiving is a way of celebrating the arrival of the Pilgrims, an early group of immigrants who fled England because they didn’t agree with the Church of England. They came to Plymouth, which is in the south of Massachusetts, my home state, and founded a settlement there. They came on a boat called the Mayflower, which has become a somewhat legendary name in the United States. Because of this, when my uncles were younger, my grandmother, who was cooking for Thanksgiving dinner and wanted to keep them distracted and out of the kitchen, decided to give them a squash and have them carve it into a boat like the Mayflower and decorate it. The tradition has since grown and now every year on the night before Thanksgiving day, my family will gather at my grandmother’s house and we’ll make several squash boats decorated with beautiful cut-paper sails. Everybody brings something from their house, and in past years we’ve had dolls, Egyptian statues, and even real butterfly wings to decorate the boats with. It’s a very fun tradition, but as far as I know it is unique to my family. However, similar to Halloween, squashes and pumpkins are an important part of the Thanksgiving dinner. 

Most families gather for Thanksgiving and use it as an opportunity to see relatives who live far away or to talk with the weird uncle you forgot you had. In my family, since we have so many people coming, we have a lot of rituals in setting up the table and preparing the meal. For many years (although recently we haven’t had to), peeling chestnuts was an important albeit arduous ritual. In addition, we make well-decorated name cards for each guest. We generally spend the entire morning preparing, then take a break before the actual meal.

Thanksgiving is notorious for being the holiday where political disputes and other quarrels surface in families, mostly because everyone comes and they may not all agree on everything (or even anything). Luckily, in my family, we keep our disputes to one thing: a game of charades. While many families go out and play football, my family fights over who knows more book, song, and movie titles, and the game can be a little terrifying to those who have never played before. Sometimes the titles come easily and sometimes they have to be acted out all the way (like Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe). It’s a fun way to end the night, though, and I enjoy it a lot.

Although not every family shares in the quirky traditions of mine, many families have their own Thanksgiving traditions that make the day unique for them. Traditions or not, Thanksgiving is a great way to transition into the winter season!
(Here is a squash boat)

At Aste Nagusia, Basque culture is celebrated at its fullest. There is traditional Basque music and dancing, as well as Basque rural such as wood chopping and stone carrying competitions. The streets are lined with tents offering a wide variety of food and drinks. And for the kids there are parades of giants and the Gargantua, who devours the children who enter into his mouth. But don’t worry, inside the Gargantua is a slide and the children exit safely from his posterior.

There are of course bullfights and you can even join in the fun. The bulls are, however, really calves and have their horns padded. So while it isn’t perhaps completely without danger, it is a much safer alternative to the  running of the bulls in Pamplona.

Marijaia – Protagonist of Aste Nagusia

All of the daily events are followed up by a nightly fireworks competition that lights up the city’s sky. Afterwards, there are loads of concerts and even more partying.

The Semana Grande festival comes to an end with a strange twist of fate, when Marijaia is lovingly set ablaze. They say that her hands are raised into the air as a sign of optimism and to symbolize dancing. But maybe its also because she ends up being set on fire. In any case, check out the Aste Nagusia festival in Bilbao and follow Marijaia’s lead. Throw your hands into the air and party like you just don’t care – just skip the burning part.

The most famous running of the bulls is held during the nine-day festival of Sanfermines in honor of Saint Fermín in Pamplona,

The festival of San Fermín is a week-long, historically rooted celebration held annually in the city of Pamplona, Navarre.

 The celebrations start at noon on the sixth of July, when the opening of the party is marked by setting off the pyrotechnic chupinazo, and continue until midnight, on the fourteenth of July, with the singing of the Pobre de Mí. While its most famous event is the encierro, or the running of the bulls which happens at 8:00 AM from the 7th of July to the 14th July, the festival involves many other traditional and folcloric events. It

Its events were central to the plot of The book called The sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English-speaking people. It has become probably the most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain. Over 1,000,000 people come to participate in this festival.

As their boats pass underneath, young men attempt to jump off and grab the goose (which has been coated in grease) and remove its head. To add to the challenge, spectators on either side of the harbor pull the rope taut and then let it fall slack, dunking the participant in the bayThis is repeated until either the young man has been shaken loose - in which case the next participant takes his place - or he has successfully removed the head of the goose. Any dispute as to who has won is resolved by a rowing race around San Nicolas Island in the middle of Lekeitio Bay. As a prize, the winner of the competition gets to keep the goose.

Among the parades taking place on the occasion of Santa Águeda, we will highlight three processions. The prior Sunday to February 5th, on February 5th and the following Sunday, the inhabitants set course for the Sanctuary of Santa Águeda, which is located in Kastrexana (Barakaldo). The most predominant procession is the one taking place the following Sunday to Santa Águeda Day, as thousands attend the celebration.

Santa Águeda was a Sicilian virgin and martyr from the 3rd Century. She is the patron saint of women and fertility that is why so many mother-to-be women turn to her. She is believed to have great many powers such as the ability to prevent fires and volcano eruptions, protect from bad spirits and cattle diseases and increase cattle production. Among the Basques, Santa Águeda also has the ability to cure cephalalgia and migraines.

As you would expect even Basque Christmas traditions dig deep into their pagan past.  Here, during the winter months, the flint-grey skies linger over the Baztan Valley while the ember-red autumn leaves burn out slowly and silently on the forest floor. Even the mighty autumn winds, which have hunters darting for their guns in October, have run out of breath and are too lazy to scatter the leaves in their wake. The mood is changing, winter is approaching, and its dark, steely, misty nights slowly throttle village after village in the Basque Pyrenees.

Basque tradition of Olentzero – a model in the village shop

This is the time of dread, and the moment when Olentzero, the only survivor from the times of the giant Jentillak of Lesaka, comes down from the mountains. He is a man of strange appearance, his hair is wiry and straw-like, virtually fossilized under his Txapela (Basque beret). He has open, way-worn eyes and a straggly, unkempt beard. His face is haggard and tanned from its exposure to the charcoal he burns and his fingers are gnarled and knobbly. The Atorra (Basque shirt) he wears is musty and foul-smelling.

Olentzero gets down from his Pottoka (semi-wild horses that roam the Basque mountains) and his Abarkak (shoes) crunch through the crisp leaves detonating tiny displays of fire-crackers at each step. Something special is about to begin the forest is crisp and tense.

As the story goes, Olentzero, the charcoal maker, used to tour the Basque villages with his sickle, beheading those who ate too much on Christmas Eve.  (However, these gruesome acts seemed to do little to dampen his own appetite for food and drink for he was known, paradoxically, for his gluttony and drunken ways, feasting on rich meats and strong local liqueurs – usually Patxaran, the Basque liqueur made with sloe berries and aniseed).

With the Christianization of the Basque lands, Olentzero’s personality no longer fitted with Christian values and those personality traits considered too pagan were removed. Today’s Basque Christmas traditions portray Olentzero as a self-effacing and humble man with a kind and generous heart who carves wooden animals, toys and dolls. Once he has filled his big charcoal sack with toys he hikes down to the village in the valley to hand out the wooden figures amongst the children.

One day he came down to the village to find a house in flames and immediately ran into the house to save the children. Having saved everyone he was just about to save himself when the roof collapsed and buried him. As the people from the village gathered outside the burning ruins they witnessed a white flash leaving the flames, darting upwards and heavenwards. Apparently the fairy that had raised him in the woods had come to save him saying:  “Olentzero you have such a good heart, you even gave your life for others. You should not die. You shall live forever, making toys and other presents for all the children in this village and in the whole Basque country.”  And that is how the story is told today, every 24th December, when Olentzero stars in the Basque Christmas traditions in every Basque Country town.

Olentzero on Christmas Eve in Ituren

 

The word “olentzero” is the combination of two words : olesen and aroa which gives us an indication of the figure’s significance: “aroa” means “time” or “season”. “Oles” means to “call” or “ask”.

Now, despite attempts to eradicate all Basque traditions during Franco’s dictatorship, Olentzero is a popular character in all Basque villages. He visits almost every village of the Basque provinces, often by cart or wagon, or leading a donkey laiden with presents and is represented as a fat jolly peasant with his wide-brimmed black Txapela, puffing a pipe and – not atypically and most probably to his great relief – still surrounded by copious quantities of food and wine!

Many towns of the Basque Country celebrate carnivals in a special way but the most popular and overcrowded are held in Tolosa.

The big party starts officially on "Big Thursday". At noon the opening speech is given followed by the burst of fireworks. Within the next day ("Weak Friday") programme the Festival is the most remarkable activity: Leidor Theatre stages a performance when the protagonists are the town inhabitants. 

On Saturday, "Zaldunita bezpera", Tamborradas (parades led by adults and the children) take place across the streets of Tolosa. On Sunday, the streets will be packed with inhabitants dressed in pyjamas and slippers as if they had recently woken up. That day, as well as on Monday ("Astelehenita") and on Tuesday ("Asteartita") floats and bands parade across the streets accompanied by music and dances. The celebration concludes on Tuesday with "the burial of the sardine", although "Piñata Igandea" comes along with the rhythms of street bands.

Look! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Mary Poppins! No, it is actually Celedón, the protagonist of the Virgin Blanca Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz, descending from the San Miguel Church over a packed crowd in the square below. This along with the chupinazo (fireworks) signal the start of the festivities.

The tradition of Celedón is actually a fairly recent development in the history of Vitoria’s festival. It began in 1957, when a few citizens wanted to create something special for their celebrations. The character of Celedón is supposedly based on a real person named Juan Celedonio de Anzola from the village of Zalduondo in Alava. With his typical clothing and umbrella in hand, he is a reference to the villagers from the past who would travel to Vitoria to join in with the celebrations. Since his incarnation, there have been four people who have played the role of Celedón. The most recent is Gorka Ortiz de Urbina who has been Celedón since 2001.

Celedón is of course, most famous for his descent over the Virgin Blanca Square. However, this role is not played by Ortiz de Urbina but rather a stunt dummy. The dummy is attached to a rope where he careens toward a balcony in the square while the crowd reveals below. Once he arrives to the balcony, the real, human version of Celedón appears and the crowd goes wild. Celedón gives his speech while around 20,000 cigars are lit and 30,000 bottles of cava (Spanish champagne) are popped open. If you plan on being in the crowd, its probably best to wear clothes you don’t care about!

After Celedón gives his speech, encouraging the attendees to have fun, he makes his way through the crowd. All the while people try to touch his Txapela (hat) for good luck. Once the opening ceremony is complete, the party-goers make their way through the streets of the old town, asking for buckets of water to be thrown onto them from the people in the balconies above. This is a perfect way to cool off on a hot, August day.

The next 5 days of the Virgin Blanca Festival are a huge mix of various activities and events. Like other city festivals in the Basque Country, the Virgin Blanca Festival features fireworks competitions, cooking competitions, free concerts, Basque rural sports and bullfights. There are also vaquillas (calfs) that are brought into the bullring in the mornings and attendees can run around in the ring with them. 

Another important feature of the festivities are the “cuadrillas de blusas.” These are groups of men, similar to teams, that get together and wear traditional basque clothes and particular blusas (shirts). The blusas compete against each other in various anecdotal games and even have parades throughout the city. The parades are basically a party on the go.

Just like the city itself, the Virgin Blanca Festival is often overlooked. There aren’t many tourists there because most only know about Pamplona’s San Fermín Festival. But there is really a lot to do and see and the festival has something to offer everyone. Check it out for yourself.