Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in China starts in early January and lasts till February, usually Jan 5 – Feb 15. Harbin is located in northern China and receives cold winter winds from Siberia. Therefore the festival is a celebration of ice and snow in the region. Ice is taken from the Songhua River cut into blocks and then carved into ice sculptures. The sculptures include buildings, animals, people, ice slides, and lanterns. They are decorated with lights making spectacular scenery.

Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan

Sapporo Snow Festival is one of the largest festivals in Japan that lasts for seven days in February. During the festival hundreds of small and massive snow statues and ice sculptures are displayed featuring famous building or person. Most of the statues are illuminated during the night. The festival offers snow and ice slides, snow maze, sports events, play ground for children, and regional foods. It also includes the Opening and Closing Ceremony of Snow Transportation and the International Snow Statue Contest. It is an international event that promotes international relations and turns the city of Sapporo into a winter dreamland for a week.

Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival starts on the first day of the Chinese calendar, which changes every year, and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15^th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar (January or February). It is the longest and most important festival within Chinese population (not only China). Traditionally, people clean their houses thoroughly to sweep away the bad luck from the last year and to make space for good luck in the coming year. Some people paint their door and window frames in red to keep the evil spirits or bad fortunes away. Some buy new clothes symbolizing a fresh start or having enough to wear throughout a year. Families have dinner together, traditionally fish, dumplings, and a cake. Dragon and lion dances are common, which eliminate evil spirits. Lantern Festival ends the celebration with people lighting candles outside their houses and families walking the streets with lighted lanterns. Children take lanterns to temples and solve riddles on them. Today lanterns are in varied designs and different shapes of animals. Traditional lanterns are made of paper or wood. Modern more sophisticated lanterns are electric or neon. The most popular is Dragon Pole 27 meter-high spewing fireworks from its mouth. This is popular in such cities as Hangzhou and Shanghai. One of the beliefs of the origin of the Lantern Festival is that it is a celebration of positive relationships between people, families, and nature.

International Hot-Air Balloon Festival in Chateau-d'Oex

The International Balloon Festival in the picturesque alpine village of Chateau d’Oex in Switzerland happens every January since 1979. The festival attracts tourists from around the world with the amazing display of about 80 hot air balloons of different sizes, colors, and patterns.  

http://www.lake-geneva-region.ch/en/news/loisirs/FestivalsFestivities/TopEvents/FestivalInternationalBallons

In the Land of Blood and Honey

In the Land of Blood and Honey is a directorial debut of Angelina Jolie. The movie is about the conflict that erupted in 1991 between Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia. The ethnic cleansing left an estimated 100,000 people dead. The movie depicts the isolation of war: the humanitarian trucks being rocketed, the old people being abandoned in their beds, women being repeatedly violated, kids being rocketed for building snowman. The Bosnian desperately wanted help. But the world stood by and did nothing. The US didn’t want to get involved, under a pretext that it was a European problem. As the fighting spread, the UN got involved in ’94-95, bringing US to the table.

The movie shows the sad side of human nature, the cruelty and betrayal of war. What happens to neighbors who once loved each other, only ethnicity separated them. The urge to protect your own blood relatives, turns the love for the neighbors into vengeance.

It is a great history lesson that we all should participate in and be aware of the genocides that we were ignorant of when it happened.

Dundarave Festival of Lights

Dundarave Festival of Lights at Dundarave Beach in Vancouver through 4 Saturdays in December. In the true spirit of Christmas, the festival brings the best of local community by raising money to end the homelessness. The festival is celebrated with 20 meter bonfire on the beach, music, joy and food. It features a forest of lavishly decorated trees, the Bonfire Night, Christmas Fair, and Nativity Paddle Songs. The festival starts with Christmas tree decorating at the beach, which includes carol singing and lighting ceremony. The spirits are lifted when all the trees are lighted.

Woodford Folk Festival

Woodford Folk Festival is one of the biggest cultural festivals in Australia, bringing artists from around the world and lasting for six days over the New Year period (December 27 to January 1). It includes Aboriginal culture, which is one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world. The spiritual life of Aboriginal Australians has been based on understanding their environment, the land, plants and animals, which shaped their culture. They have developed many plant and animal based medicines. The ceremonial performances are the core of their cultural lives bringing together all aspects of art: song, dance, and body decoration.  The festival brings hundreds of tribes from all over Australia together to share their traditions, ceremonies and beliefs. The festival features music, dance, and theatrical performances. Fire Event on the New Year’s Day is a spectacular closing ceremony of the festival.