22803 festivals

Festivals around the World
New Orleans Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, America is a carnival celebration where people from all over
the world go to celebrate the end of Christmas and the New Year.
The festival starts on January 6th of each year. There are many parades and parties. Mardi
Gras festival lasts for 2 weeks. There is a parade each day when people dress up in colourful
and beautiful clothes and walk through the streets so crowds of people can see them. The
traditional colours mostly warn at this festival are Purple, which represents ‘Justice’, Gold,
‘Power’ and Green, ‘Faith’.

Running of the Bulls
The Running of the Bulls happens in a town called Pamplona in Spain. This is when crowds
of people run from many bulls (usually twelve bulls). People don’t do this to celebrate
anything; they just do it for fun, trying not to get hurt. The first bull running is on July 7 th of
each year. Participants must be 18 years old, run in the same direction as the bulls.
Every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run although most injuries due
to falls and are not serious. Since 1910, 15 people have been killed in Pamplona.

Tomatina
The Tomatina is a food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the
town of Bunol in Spain. Thousands of ripe Tomatoes are thrown at people in the streets in
exactly one hour. More than 150 000 Tomatoes are used by people who come from all over
the world.
The week-long festival features music, parades, dancing, and fireworks. On the night before,
participants of the festival compete in a paella cooking contest. It is tradition for the women to
wear all white and the men to wear no shirts. The festival is in honour of the towns Saints and
the Mother of Christ.

Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling
The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling Festival happens every year on the Spring Bank Holiday
at Coopers Hill in Gloucester in England. From the top of the hill a round of Double

Gloucester cheese is rolled, and people race down the hill after it. The first person over the
finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese. There is no purpose to this festival; people
just do it for fun, though many hurt themselves.

Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest is a 16- to 18-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany, beginning from
late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in
Germany and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year.
People drink lots of beer and eat lots of food such as Sausages and Chicken, whilst singing
and dancing to traditional German music.