Rio Carnival - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Fest300. Essentials Official Site Get in the parade. Join a samba group and rent a costume for the grand parade. Party with a bloco. Hundreds of street parties carry on during Carnival, so if you’re not in one of the traditional venues, don’t worry, there’s a party just around the corner. The best view of the parade is from the grandstand. Attend a masquerade ball. Bahia, Olinda and Paraty are other fantastic Carnivals in Brazil if you want to try something different. Practicalities Rio is an international city accessed by most major airports. Once considered dangerous due to crime and violence, the city of Rio has increased security in an effort to promote tourism in anticipation of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. Make your hotel reservations very early because Rio’s hotels fill up quickly. Taxis are a preferred form of transit because the metro doesn’t run all night long.
Earplugs are a good idea for those who tire of the sound of drums. Details Party Like a Pagan Getting Schooled in Samba. Trinidad Carnival - Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | Fest300. The worldwide phenomenon of Carnival — that raucous party that occurs just prior to Lent in the Catholic tradition — has many manifestations depending on where it’s celebrated. But while Brazil gets all the attention for its party, the Caribbean island of Trinidad puts on an epic celebration of its own that’s not to be missed.
Every year on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, this tiny island nation lets loose in a unique and colorful burst of tropical love that’s a year in the making. Origins Carnival in Trinidad is a true hybrid celebration, originating when West African slaves began mimicking (and mocking) the lavish ballroom festivities of their French masters with their ornate costumes and dances. The West Africans adopted the elaborate masks and costumes while creating their own music using household items like sticks and pans. In 1950, the National Carnival Commission formed to secure the event’s place in the national heritage. A Feast for the Senses J’Ouvert Wine Up.
Fiesta de Merengue - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | Fest300. Essentials Official Site Dance on the beach. It is a merengue festival after all. If you're inexperienced, stay to the edges of dance areas to give the more experienced performers their space. The city is the scene. Break away from the malecon to tour the Zona Colonial. This 12-block area is the launching point for Spanish Colonialism into the rest of the Western Hemisphere; Columbus himself walked the streets here. Drink some Mamajuana.
Try some Dominican beer. For some alternative music, try "Cuban son. " Practicalities Travelers arrive at Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas (SDQ), lying 13km east of Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo is the oldest city in the Caribbean, founded by Christopher Columbus' brother, Bartolomé, in 1496 as New Isabella (the name was later changed). Details Merengue is deeply rooted in the Dominican Republic. Evolution of a Style Then Came Trujillo Today The Festival, The Dance. Crop Over - Bridgetown, Barbados | Fest300. In Barbados, life is sweet—literally. The end of the sugar season is cause for celebration, and Crop Over, which refers to the crop being over at the end of the back-breaking summer harvest, was originally formed as a way to close out the once-thriving sugar industry, when workers would have a final blowout before conserving wages until the next crop.
While tourism has replaced sugar as the main source of income on the islands, Crop Over is still celebrated with reckless abandon. Planting Seeds Crop Over’s roots as a harvest festival run as deep as the sugarcanes themselves. At one time, Barbados was the world’s most important producer of sugar, a form of granulated white gold. Plantations hosted annual harvest celebrations dating back to the 18th century, which included singing, dancing and all manner of improvised instruments typical of Caribbean music. Calypso music scores the entire event, which runs for 24 days every summer. Dance Until Dawn. New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - New Orleans, USA | Fest300.
Jazz fan or not, the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is the place to celebrate music. During the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May, the Big Easy opens to the page in its history book that’s filled with tribal African beats, harmonic church hymns, and American pop music, filling 12 stages with everything from jazz and blues to rock and folk. This soulful festival has a relaxed vibe, perfect if you want to experience New Orleans culture without the madness of Mardi Gras. The Birth of Jazz Jazz Fest has been celebrating New Orleans music for more than 40 years, but jazz got its start long before that.
During the 1800s, America’s slave trade was booming, bringing almost half a million Africans to the South, largely from the region near the Congo. Music from West Africa was mostly percussion-heavy tribal beats played almost exclusively for rituals or to keep work moving. Founding of the Festival. Wanderlust - North Shore, Oahu, USA | Fest300. Essentials Be prepared for an emotional free-for-all. This isn’t just a festival about holistic health and acro-yoga, it’s a festival full of authenticity, intimacy, and a “we’re in this together” vibe. This could be partly due to the large female-to-male ratio and the fact that many women friends come to Wanderlust together. It’s a welcome respite from the masculine mosh pit atmosphere at many music festivals. As Joah Spearman put it on Huffington Post, “Wanderlust is light on laser shows and heavy on hula hoops.” You don’t have to be an expert yogini. Experience Yoga In The City.
Bring the kids. Practicalities Since there are currently eight different locations, we recommend just navigating the Wanderlust website to determine the best means of getting to the site you’re going to. Typically, there is both camping and indoor lodging options, ranging from affordable to deluxe. Details It’s encouraging to see how a simple idea, executed well, can create a global festival phenomenon. Events and Festivals in Africa. African People & Culture Introduction | African Tribes | Art & Craft | Music & Dance | African Weddings | African Festivals & Events | People & Culture Books | People and Culture Posters | People & Culture Photographs | African Language Books | Choose a region or country from the list below: Click for African Events outside the African continent Burkina Faso Fespaco African Film Festival - Festival Panafricain du Cinema et de la Television de Ouagadougou - FESPACOThe week-long festival is the largest African film festival more than 40,000 people are expected to attend.
Ghana Many festivals include thrilling durbars of chiefs, when tribal leaders and Queen Mothers process in decorated palanquins, shaded by the traditional umbrellas, and supported by drummers and warriors discharging ancient muskets. Aboakyir festival - May each yearThis Festival is celebrated by the people of Simpa or Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. Ivory Coast Mali Nigeria Kenya Tanzania/Kenya Uganda Zanzibar Egypt Ethiopia. Ghana Cultural History of the Ashantis, Festivals. Day 1 Our expert cultural tour guides will meet with you on your arrival at the Kotoka International Airport Accra, which is situated on the beautiful gold coast of Western Africa. Look out for our sign board when you leave the main terminal building after passing through customs. Make yourself known to your guides who will be accompanying you for the duration of your time in Ghana and they will take care of you from here.
After boarding our air conditioned vehicle, which will be your mode of transport for the duration of your tour, we transfer you to your hotel which is situated in Accra. Once we have checked you in, our experienced guides will offer you Akwaaba (welcome) and brief you on all aspects of your trip. Day 2 Your first full day in Ghana, after breakfast we load up our vehicle and depart Accra, Ghana’s busy capital city.
At the top of the range we find the relaxed and friendly Aburi craft village, where traditional African drums and crafts have been carved for generations.