Unique festivals from your country
By Porcospino
@Porcospino (31366)
Denmark
October 30, 2011 1:27pm CST
Do you have any unique festivals in your country (festivals that other countries don't celebrate)? What are they called and how do you celebrate them?
The Danish children celebrate a festival called Fastelavn. The children dress up in costumes and "slaar katten af toenden" which means "hit the cat out of the barrel". In front of the children there is a wooden barrel full of candy. One after one the children hit the barrel with a bat and the child who knocks out the bottom of the barrel has won the game and receives a crown made from paper. He or she becomes "king of cats" The expression "hit the cat out of the barrel" is very old and in the past there was a real cat inside the barrel 
Fortuneately that has been illegal for many years, but the name still remains. Today there is only candy inside the barrel and when "the king of cats" has been found the children eat the candy.
Fortuneately that has been illegal for many years, but the name still remains. Today there is only candy inside the barrel and when "the king of cats" has been found the children eat the candy.8 responses
@umabharti (3972)
• India
30 Oct 11
what was the main reason or moral behind this festival,may i know?
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Oct 11
The old days they put a cat in the barrel, because they believed that it was a way to avoid evil spirits. The cat represented the evil spirits and when they hit the barrel with the cat inside, they believed that they were able to chase away the evil spirits. The people in my country were very superstitious at that time. It makes me sad and angry to think about the poor cat, it is a good thing that it has been illegal for many years. Today they only draw a picture of a cat on the barrel.
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@umabharti (3972)
• India
30 Oct 11
Do u think an innocent animal can represent evil.It itself might not knowing anything.We humans really are such an evil thinkers that we do harm many animals thinking of all the nonsense.,
It is said Egyptians think cat as a god and a cat can drive away the evil spirits.
Anyways i am not with any of these just i would say that an innocent animal is not to be hurt.
May be the actual thing of the festival is different .This might not be the story for making or celebrating the festival.
making the cat out of the barrel means may be they are trying to save the cat which got stuck in the barrel.
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@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Oct 11
I agree. I think that it is a cruel tradition. The tradition with a real cat inside the barrel doens't exist anymore, but it makes me angry to think about the cats that were hurt because of that kind of superstition. I don't believe that a cat reprents evil, it sounds like nonsense to me, but in the past they actually believed in it.
People in the past believed that the cat got scared when they hit the barrel while the cat was inside. When they knocked the bottom out of the barrel the cat was free, and it ran away because it was scared. They believed that when the cat ran away, the evil spirits also ran away (because the cat represented the evil spirits according to them), and when the evil spirits were gone they were protected against bad things. Yes, it sounds like complete nonsense and I find it hard to understand why they believed in it.
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@KOSTAS499 (1624)
• Greece
8 Nov 11
Hard to say, because in Greece we have a lot of festivals. Different in every village or town. But i have some advice for everyone. If you should visit Greece, be sure to visit villages and not only towns and ask information for festivals at the time of your stay. I think this applys for villages around the world.
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@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Nov 11
It is interesting to hear that you have many festivals in Greece. I went to Greece last year and I spent some days in Thessaloniki. Unfortuneately I was ill while I was there and I didn't get the chance to do as much sightseeing as I had planned, so I want to return to Greece another time. Next time I would like to visit other parts of Greece as well for instanse Athens and some of the villages. Which part of Greece are you from?
@KOSTAS499 (1624)
• Greece
9 Nov 11
I have read other responses, most of them from India and realised THEY have more festivals than Greece :). Still, as all countries, we have a lot of traditions around the year that you can check. Usually around a holiday (Easter, halloween, Christmas and others). You should search for info before coming here. I am from Volos, a town in the middle of Greece. 200km south of Salonica and 300km north of ahthens. Volos is by the sea an used to be an importand port. That always means cultural growth from people coming and going. But the best we can show is the mountain close to Volos, actually above it, and the beautiful villages. If you come to my town I would be glad to show you around. Athens is a must because of the archaeological sites, but it has some level of criminality in certain places. Always ask an not be carefree.
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@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
31 Oct 11
It is nice to hear that you have many fiestas in your country. How do you celebrate those fiestas? We have some festivals in my country, but as I can understand from this discussion the number of my festivals are smaller than the number of festivals in many other countries. I can see that you are from the Philippines. I visited a website about the festivals in the Philippines last nigt and I was amazed to see how many different festivals you have.
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
31 Oct 11
Hi Porcospino 
Visit India anytime and I am sure you will find some festival or the other happening in some part or the other. We are a country of varied religions, traditions and almost every month there is some reason to celeberate.
To me, finding that festivals unique comes from the fact that a majority of Indians are facing problems meeting both ends per day but still we find the time to celeberate and be festive almost every month
Visit India anytime and I am sure you will find some festival or the other happening in some part or the other. We are a country of varied religions, traditions and almost every month there is some reason to celeberate.
To me, finding that festivals unique comes from the fact that a majority of Indians are facing problems meeting both ends per day but still we find the time to celeberate and be festive almost every month@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
31 Oct 11
It sounds very interesting that you have so many festivals in India. The number of different religions, traditions and cultures are one of the things that I have always found very attractive about India and I would be excited to live in a place where so many different cultures are represented. I have always been very interested in meeting people from other cultures than my own. I often visit the international house in my country where there are event from many different countries and I try to find as many friends from around the world as I can, because I love learning more about their countries through our friendship.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
31 Oct 11
Do you have many of the same festivals in Indonesia and Malaysia? I don't know much about the festivals that you celebrate in Indonesia, could you tell me about some of them? I think it could be interesting to hear about it. We also have some festivals in my country like the ones that I mentioned when I started the discussion and I think it is interesting to hear about the festivals that other countries celebrate, because in many ways the traditions are different from the traditions in my own country.
@Pushhyarag2000 (1416)
• India
31 Oct 11
Hi Porcospino! In India we celebrate far too many festivals throughout the year and each festival has a unique story & basis. The festivals mainly celebrate a mythological event but some festivals are for celebrating the joy of nature and in reverence for nature's gifts to mankind. These have been celebrated through the ages. The actual observance may have changed especially in big cities due to several factors but in the tier II cities, semi urban areas as well as villages, the celebration is elaborate and with full fervor.
It is difficult to mention any one as unique over many others. Each one has has a special reason & special significance and rituals attached. And most are celebrated all throughout the country though some are either limited to a region or there is variation in the way some are celebrated.
In fact the Hindu new year starts with the festival called 'Ugadi' [solar calendar] and the name has some variations too. The main theme of the festival is to emphasize to partake of the good & evil in life with equanimity.
There is the 'Ganesha Festival' celebrating the glory of the lord who is believed to be remover of all obstacles in life.
There is the nine day festival of 'Navaratri' culminating in 'Dussera' which commemorates the victory of Good over Evil in the battle of 'Mahabharata'.
The festival of lights or 'Deepavali' is celebrated to signify the killing of demon 'Narakasura'
All festivals are celebrated with the involvement of families & communities, new attire, exchanging greetings, prayers and special foods [sweet being the core!]
All festival days are generally holidays from work for most people. So there is enough time for people to regale & relax.
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@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
31 Oct 11
Thank you for your long and detailed response It was very interesting to read you description of the Indian festivals. One of them (Deepavali) I have heard a little about, but the other festivals that you described are new to me. I am very interested in your country and I hope to visit it one day. In my own country we don't have as many festivals as you do in India, but we have some festivals that we celebrate every year. The biggest celebration is christmas. There are Danes who don't celebrate christmas, but most people exchange gifts on Christmas Eve.
It was very interesting to read you description of the Indian festivals. One of them (Deepavali) I have heard a little about, but the other festivals that you described are new to me. I am very interested in your country and I hope to visit it one day. In my own country we don't have as many festivals as you do in India, but we have some festivals that we celebrate every year. The biggest celebration is christmas. There are Danes who don't celebrate christmas, but most people exchange gifts on Christmas Eve.
@jricky1 (6800)
• China
31 Oct 11
We do have a special festival called 'Spring Festival".We do love it and it is the most important and meaningful festival in China.People get together on that day and it is the most important day for people to get a reunion with family in a whole year.People do celebrate and the importance of the festival is like Christmas that westerners do.
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@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
31 Oct 11
It sounds very nice to have a reunion with the family. I live in Europe and in my country christmas is the time of the year when we spend time with family members that we don't see every day. Christmas Eve I usually spend with my husband, my parents or my mother-in-law, but in the days after Christmas Eve I meet the rest of the family and I spend time with my aunts, uncles and cousins. It is always very nice to see everyone again, but we don't meet that often.
@WakeUpKitty (8694)
• Netherlands
30 Oct 11
The only festival we have is St. Nicolaas on december 5th.
This year he will arrive at the harbour by steamship from Spain (Madrid) at November 13. From that moment on children are allowed to put down their shoe which will be filled with pepernoten/kruidnoten (very small cookies size of a candy or a present. They can put their wishing list in their shoe (the presents they like to get) and also put a carrot or some sugar down for the horse of St Nicolaas who is riding on it on the roofs of the houses.
His black helpers (all called: Piet) are listening every where if the kids are brave, throw the pepernoten at them, fill the shoes and come through the chimney.
At Dec. 5th it's present night. So at that night the kids (and adults) get a lot of presents, unless you did not behave well. Then Piet will take you in his bag back to Spain. (At the time my granny was a kid, kids where told if they were not sweet enough they would be beaten and they only got a small bag with salt in their shoe).
At Dec. 6th St Nicolaas will leave again, this is his birthday btw.
I think this is the only celebration I really like. At that time of the year you find all kind of candies and sweets and cookies you can't buy the rest of the year. I do believe that makes it extra special and ofcourse the bad weather and the fact you can stay inside.
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@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
30 Oct 11
It was interesting to read your description of St Nicolaas, it sounds like a nice celebration. It doesn't exsit in my own country, but I am sure that the Danish children would have loved it. You wrote about some cookies called pepernoten, and I wonder if they are similar to the cookies that we have in Denmark. They are called pebernoedder (= pepper nuts in English) They are very small and we only eat them at christmas.
