Atlantica - 01.12.2006, Qupperneq 12

World Party
10 AT L A N T I CA
Four continents celebrate.
DAY OF THE DEAD
Throughout Mexico. November 1-2.
Do you like hanging out in cemeteries? Better yet, do you enjoy stuffing your face
with spicy meat dishes and egg-battered bread while hanging out in cemeteries?
If so, then El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is your festival.
Celebrated on All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2), Day of the Dead
is a national holiday when Mexicans honor their deceased loved ones with a bit
of prayer, a bit of spot cleaning and decoration of the graves, and one big party
which includes feasts, drink and chocolate, and sugar candies shaped like animals
or skulls.
The Latin American origins of Day of the Dead can be traced back to the Aztecs
and Mayans, when the festival fell on the ninth month of the Aztec Solar Calendar,
around the start of August. Back then, rituals celebrating the lives of dead ances-
tors lasted an entire month.
Then came the Europeans. The Conquistadors invaded America in the early 16th
century, bringing disease and war as they pillaged for gold. Bernal Diaz and com-
pany were appalled by the pagan practices of the indigenous people they were
“conquering,” and later the festival was moved to November to coincide with the
more “civilized” Catholic All Saints and All Souls Day.
SONEPUR CATTLE FAIR
Sonepur, Bihar, India. During November.
If you happen to be in Calcutta in November, hop aboard the Gorakhpur Express
train and roughly 15 hours later you can walk across the Gandhi Bridge, over the
Ganges River, to enjoy the Sonepur Cattle Fair, the largest cattle fair in Asia.
The cattle fair begins with the full moon day of November (Kartik Purnima) and
is said to commemorate the ancient accord accomplished at Sonepur, between the
opposing sects of Hinduism, Vaishnava and the Shaiva.
The confluence of cattle is just half of the fair. People gather from across India,
including saffron clothed holy men who blow their conches and bang their gongs.
There are folk shows, artists painting elephants, trumpeters, and food, although
don’t expect to find hamburgers. Then, after you’ve checked out all those people
reincarnated as cattle, take a bath in the Ganges as the sun sets.
THE FESTIVAL DI MORGANA (Puppet’s Festival)
Film Festival
Palermo, Sicily. November 9-26, 2006.
UNESCO has apparently proclaimed the “pupi”, classic Sicilian marionettes, to be
“masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.” What does that
mean? The Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity is a list of
intangible culture considered relevant by UNESCO.
You may think that’s heavy praise to attach to a bunch of puppets, but then you
haven’t experienced the Festival di Morgana (Puppet’s Festival) taking place on the
gorgeous, sunny island of Palermo.
Here, puppeteers from all over the world gather to participate in the time-hon-
ored tradition of the “pupari”, the master puppet show experts who have been
putting on shows with their elaborately costumed marionettes for centuries. The
Sicilian puppeteers are said to have performed in the Athens of Socrates.
ROYAL FLORA RATCHAPHRUEK
Chiangmai, Thailand.
November 1, 2006 – January 31, 2007.
Sure, their country’s military just staged a bloodless coup, booting out the demo-
cratically elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was in New York City,
at the UN. But that doesn’t mean you should skip the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek,
a floral bonanza celebrating the 60th anniversary of Thailand’s King Bhumibol
Adulyadej’s accession to the throne.
Hosted by the Royal Thai Government, over 30 countries are expected to partici-
pate in the festival, featuring innovative landscaping and horticultural highlights.
The festival will have a total of 2,500,000 plants, including over 2,200 species of
tropical plants and flowers.
Surely one of the festival’s highlights is the Orchid Pavilion, showcasing over
50,000 orchid plants on display in the 6,400 square meter pavilion. For those keep-
ing score at home, the “Orchids of the World” exhibit will last 92 days, the longest-
running orchid exhibition and competition ever held in Thailand. a
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009 airmail Atlantica 606.indd 10 20.10.2006 9:40:11