What is a Festival?
"A festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on some unique aspect of that community."
"Among many religions, a feast or festival is a set of celebrations in honour of God or gods. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. However, the term "feast" has also entered common secular parlance as a synonym for any large or elaborate meal. When used as in the meaning of a festival, most often refers to a religious festival rather than a film or art festival."
"In the Christian liturgical calendar there are two principal feasts, properly known as the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas) and the Feast of the Resurrection, (Easter). In the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican liturgical calendars there are a great number of lesser feasts throughout the year commemorating saints, sacred events, doctrines, etc."
Types of festivals
"There are numerous types of festivals in the world. Though many have religious origins, others involve seasonal change or have some cultural significance. Also, certain institutions celebrate their own festival (often called "fests") to mark some significant occasions in their history. These occasions could be the day these institutions were founded or any other event which they decide to commemorate periodically, usually annually."
Seasonal festivals
"Seasonal festivals are determined by the solar and the lunar calendars and by the cycle of the seasons. The changing of the season was celebrated because of its effect on food supply. Ancient Egyptians would celebrate the seasonal inundation caused by the Nile River, a form of irrigation, which provided fertile land for crops. In the Alps, in autumn the return of the cattle from the mountain pastures to the stables in the valley is celebrated as Almabtrieb. A recognized winter festival, the Chinese New Year, is set by the lunar calendar, and celebrated from the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice. An important type of seasonal festivals are those related with the agricultural seasons. Dree Festival of the Apatanis living in Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh is one such important festival, which is celebrated every year from 4th to 7th July praying for bumper crop hurvest."
"Fests"
"Certain institutions decide to annually commemorate certain special events significant to their history. These institutions are usually educational institutes such as colleges and senior secondary, secondary, or high schools. Such festivals are usually called "fests". Examples of such fests are Mood Indigo and Techfest at IIT Bombay, Mumbai or Springfest at IIT Kharagpur or Saarang at IIT Madras, Chennai"
Renaissance Fair
"A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and generally commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are short-term events in fairgrounds or other large public or private spaces. Renaissance fairs generally include an abundance of costumed entertainers, musical and theatrical acts, art and handicrafts for sale, and festival food."
The Mother Earth
The Mother Earth Gathering is a three day camp out, celebrating the Summer Solstice at Silver Falls State Park. It is a family friendly, earth awareness festival, promoting world peace and harmony among people and the environment. The festival includes live music, belly dancing, drum circles, bardic circles, workshops, and traditional solstice rituals.
Chinese Traditional Festivals
Wild Festival (Agriculture Calendar March 3)
Cold Food Festival (Agriculture Calendar one day before Solar term Qingming)
Mourning Festival (Ancestor Worship, Agriculture Calendar Solar term Qingming around Apr.5)
Dragon-boat Festival (Rice-Wrap Day, Agriculture Calendar May 5)
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