The Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated mainly in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage (and others) living in the United States and Canada. The celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November.

People go to cemeteries to be with the souls of their dead relatives and build private altars containing the favorite foods and drinks as well as photos and personal possessions. The idea of this is to encourage the souls of their dead relatives to visit so they will hear their prayers.

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico have their origins in the pre-Spanish cultures of America. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors had been followed by these civilizations for as long as 2,500–3,000 years. In these cultures was common to keep skulls and display them during celebrations to symbolize death and rebirth.

Songkran

The Thai New Year (Songkran) is celebrated every year on 13 April to 15 April. The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. People walk around the streets with containers of water or water guns, or stand at the side of roads with a garden hose and soak each other and passersby. The water is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad away and is sometimes filled with fragrant herbs when celebrated in the traditional manner.

The throwing of water began as a way to pay respect to people, by catching water after it had been poured over the Buddha and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. More recently, young people started to throw water at strangers to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand. 

In recent years there have been calls to moderate the festival to lessen the many alcohol-related road accidents as well as injuries attributed to extreme behavior such as water being thrown in the faces of traveling motorcyclists.

The Running of the Bulls

The Running of the Bulls involves running in front of bulls that have been let loose in the streets of sectioned-off areas of towns and villages across Spain during the festival season. The most famous running of the bulls is that of the nine-day festival of San Fermín in Pamplona. 

The origin of this custom was the transport of the bulls from the places where they were kept to the bullring where they were killed in bullfights in the evening. Youngsters would run along with the bulls to show off their bravery. Since 1924, 15 people have been killed in Pamplona, the most recent an American tourist who was attacked by a bull in 1995. 

La Tomatina

La Tomatina is a food fight festival held on a Wednesday towards the end of August each year in the town of Buñol in the Valencia region of Spain. The week-long festival features music, parades, dancing, and fireworks.  The festival is in honor of the town's patron saints, Luis Bertràn and the Mare de Déu dels Desemparats (Mother of God of the Defenseless), a title of the Virgin Mary.

The tomato fight has been a strong tradition in Buñol since 1944 or 1945. No one is completely certain how this event originated. Possible theories on how the Tomatina began include a local food fight among friends or the result of an accidental lorry spillage. One of the most popular theories is that angy townspeople attacked city local politicians with tomatoes during a town celebration. 

Guy Fawkes Night

Guy Fawkes Night is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605. This was a terrorist plan by a man called Guy Fawkes to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, England. Soldiers found Guy Fawkes in the basement of the building preparing explosives and arrested him before he could do any damage.

The main part of the celebration involves building large fires in the open air and putting a model of Guy Fawkes on top. The Guy Fawkes model is usually made of old clothes stuffed with newspaper. At the same time, fireworks are let off. 

It is mainly celebrated in the United Kingdom and also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean. 

Guy Fawkes Night

Guy Fawkes Night is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605. This was a terrorist plan by a man called Guy Fawkes to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, England. Soldiers found Guy Fawkes in the basement of the building preparing explosives and arrested him before he could do any damage.

The main part of the celebration involves building large fires in the open air and putting a model of Guy Fawkes on top. The Guy Fawkes model is usually made of old clothes stuffed with newspaper. At the same time, fireworks are let off. 

It is mainly celebrated in the United Kingdom and also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean. 

Guy Fawkes Night

Guy Fawkes Night is an annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November. It celebrates the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605. This was a terrorist plan by a man called Guy Fawkes to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, England. Soldiers found Guy Fawkes in the basement of the building preparing explosives and arrested him before he could do any damage.

The main part of the celebration involves building large fires in the open air and putting a model of Guy Fawkes on top. The Guy Fawkes model is usually made of old clothes stuffed with newspaper. At the same time, fireworks are let off. 

It is mainly celebrated in the United Kingdom and also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean.