Fantastic Festivals

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1 General Information
2 Cover
3 Information
4 Screenshots
5 Technical Specs
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[edit] General Information

Arts Documentary published by Discovery Channel, Others in 2004 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

Highlights of festivals and the area

[edit] Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival, Hong Kong

The festival origins go back to the 14th Century uprising against the Mongols. The rebels smartly wrote the call to revolt on pieces of paper and hid them in pastries that they smuggled to compatriots.
Today, during the festival, people eat those special pastries known as "Moon Cakes". They are made of ground lotus, sesame seed paste, egg-yolk and other ingredients. Along with the cakes, shops sell colored Chinese paper lanterns in the shapes of animals, and more recently, featuring popular cartoon characters. On this family occasion, parents allow children to stay up late, prepare a special meal and take them to public places to light their lanterns. Hong Kong light up with thousands of lanterns in all colors, sizes and shapes.
Off the Beaten Path: Exploring magical Hong Kong: Visits to the giant Buddha on Lantau island, a sampan driver in Aberdeen among traditional house boats, Chueng Cheu, a charming Island where cars are forbidden and Tai O village where all the homes are built on stilts. Autumn season bring believers to Wong Tai Sin temple where locals make offerings for the Moon festival.
For our Food Segment we will explore a Kowloon tofu factory to learn about this ancient culinary custom of the East along with street market stalls with their unique variety of dried sea food. We also visit the famous and very typical Tai Chong bakery for its incredible egg tarts.
Hong Kong's other specialty markets are highlighted with the Goldfish market, the Yuen Po Bird market, the Mong Kok flower market and the Jade market in Yau Ma Tei.

[edit] Festival des Marionettes, Charlevile-Mezeries, France

The art of puppet theatre is celebrated at a dedicated festival in the French town of Charleville-Mezieres. The festival was started in World War Two by local youth who wanted to make children laugh during those hard times. Today, visitors fill the streets of this friendly town to meet the world's best puppeteers.
"It's the Mecca of the puppet world. Every puppeteer has to come here at least once in their lifetime," says Eric Bass, a festival performer.
The Festivals program visits this 17th century town located in the heart of the Champagne-Ardennes region of France. Puppets come in all shapes and sizes at this festival. Some shows are designed to criticize, some to steer emotions, others to simply entertain and of course to make audience nostalgic for their childhood memories. Performers from all over the world show their craft in the city's narrow streets, in the beautiful main square, along the river bank and inside traditional theaters.
Off the Beaten Path: The Festivals program finds a medieval city named Troyes that looks just the same as it did 800 years ago. In Reims, a visit to underground cellars of Champagne maker Madame Pomery, and the impressive Cathedral where Joan of Arc was present along with France's kings. They are still picking pinot noir in the Drappier vineyards when the crew arrives. Two up and coming Michelin one star restaurants and their young chefs are profiled.

[edit] The World Buskers Festival, Christchurch, New Zealand

Busking, which dates back to 1852, includes any street entertainment performed for the public.

The city of Christchurch comes alive when street performers from all over the world converge on this beautiful location on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island. The Festival's program captures the live performances of some of the best "buskers", hand picked by the Festival's director, Jodi Wright, from around the world.

[edit] Festival Las Fallas, Valencia, Spain

Celebrated from the 13th to the 19th of March every year, the Fallas are giant creations of styrofoam, wood and paper mache, created in honor of St. Joseph, patron of all carpenters. They are built by an ensemble of Valencia's competing clubs. The Fallas represent a huge investment of money and personnel during a whole year. Fantastic Festivals of the WorldThe creations are burned to the ground on the last night of the festival in huge bonfires. This act of faith and pyromania brings tears to the women and evokes strong emotions from the men. The whole town of Valencia participates with a week long celebration of parades, bands, firework displays and the daily Mascaleta. The Mascleta is a long tradition of the loudest kind. The event takes place every day at 2pm in the city hall square. It features firework artists competing on who can be the best "noise maker" by creating a symphony of sound. All is done to the applause of the adoring Valencians.

[edit] Carnival US Virgin Islands

"It's Carnival baby!" Those words sum up this April finale to Carnival season. Non-stop action to the beat of calypso music, this show is lively and definitely colorful. This Fantastic Festivals program covers a variety of fun activities: The food fair with its Caribbean tasty dishes, the Calypso King contest, the wild early morning J'ouvert party and the race boat competition. The two highlights of the Carnival are the children's parade followed the next day by the very impressive and action filled adult's parade. Off the Beaten Path: Leaving St Thomas, the crew travels to the Island of St John where they visit an ecologically friendly resort called Maho Bay. Next stop is the Island of St. Croix for some deep sea sport fishing, a visit with bush doctor Ras Mulumaba who shows off the natural "pharmacy" that grows wild around the ruins of an old sugar plantation, and some local cooking at Harvey's restaurant in Christiansted.

[edit] Gypsy Festival, San Marie de la Mer, France and The Medieval Fair, Sedan, France

In the month of May two amazing and very different festivals occur in France. One is a "Medieval Festival" in the Champagne Ardennes region.

The other is the Gypsy Pilgrimage in Provence.

Fantastic Festivals of the WorldFirst stop will be in the historical fortress (the largest in Europe) town of Sedan, a city that hosts a medieval festival each year. Walking around this huge castle with knights, ladies and even a medieval torture chamber takes one back in time. The locals compete in games for the honor of their neighborhood in this beautiful city.

Fantastic Festivals of the WorldSecond stop is the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the beloved region of Provence. Every year in May, Gypsies from all over the world gather in the tiny city of Saint Marie de La Mer. They take their patron Saint Sara through the narrow streets of this charming village and deliver her to the sea. The name of this place, which is a peaceful tourist destination during the summer, suggests the city's religious importance. It means Saint Mary of the Sea.

[edit] Rath Yatra, Puri, India

Every year, in late June or early July, Hindus celebrate the Rath Yatra festival. Rath means chariot, Yatra - a pilgrimage or procession. It is one of the oldest festivals in the world and is still celebrated today in the same way it has been for hundreds of years. Though this festival is celebrated all over India, it originated in the city of Puri, one of the holiest places in India, on the coastal shores of the Bay of Bengal. Every year the deities of Jagannath, his brother Balaram and sister Subhadra are traditionally installed on huge, beautifully decorated chariots up to three stories tall. Fantastic Festivals of the WorldDevotees pull the chariots in a Yatra (procession) through Puri's main street. The local King performs a ritual, like his ancestors traditionally did for a thousand years, by humbly sweeping the chariot's floor with a broom. It is as a symbolic act of serving the deities. Over a million pilgrims gather to pull the Giant chariots in honor of Lord Jagannath, whom many Hindus believe is the creator of universe.