A vernal equinox Friday Afternoon Challenge for you: The Rites of Spring!

[CTyankee]

Below are images of six rites of spring from around the world. Can you identify the place and the name of these “rites”?
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.
IMG]
6.

[Brickbat]

1. No. 3 is Holi, the festival of color celebrated in India, and No. 6 is Fasching, a German festival.

[CTyankee]

4. #3 is right.

But #6 is not Fasching...

[Motown_Johnny]

18. did you watch "Outsourcing" last night?

[CTyankee]

20. No, was that mentioned?

My source was one of my travel resources that tells me where all the seasonal celebrations are going on both in the U.S. and abroad. Very helpful in this Challenge!

[Motown_Johnny]

36. yes, the entire episode was centered around the holiday

[Brickbat]

22. No, I just remember it from a National Geographic, I think.

[CTyankee]

35. I get LOTS from NG! A wonderful resource...

[suffragette]

28. Reminds me I shoud rewatch "Water"

Amazing film.

It has a scene that takes place during this festival.

[CTyankee]

37. It looks wonderful!

[suffragette]

54. Stunning film

part of Mehta's elemental trilogy.

Here's the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R0pRl18js8

If you watch it, be sure to watch the director's commentary after. Amazing they got the film made at all.

[xchrom]

2. ...

1 -- venice?

2 -- wow

3 -- india

4--argentina

5--thailand?

6 -- germany?

[CTyankee]

5. Yes, #3 is in India.

What is the celebration in 6?

The others are elsewhere, though...

[xchrom]

7. octoberfest? nt

[CTyankee]

10. wrong season...it's all about Spring here...

[xchrom]

11. ah! -- so it must be a german or austrian spring festival?

i wouldn't know what that would be necessarily.

[CTyankee]

14. well...

[xchrom]

16. lol! -- is 4 the mustang roundup?

i would think that would be too early.

m

[CTyankee]

17. I don't think this is what you'd call a "mustang roundup." Do you have a location?

[xchrom]

19. ok -- to me if it was the mustang roundup -- it would be nevada.

but -- it could be the horses off the carolina coast?

but i don't think so.

[CTyankee]

21. What a great guess...sadly, not either nevada or either of the carolinas....

[blogslut]

3. Is #2 Zurich's Sechseläuten?

?

[CTyankee]

6. No, but your answer is interesting...I'll have to look that one up!

[blogslut]

8. Well, I suppose I could make the obvious but probably wrong guess for #2

Burning Man?

[CTyankee]

9. Oh, it isn't...but I can see why you guessed that!

[blogslut]

34. Okay, one last guess

Las Fallas in Spain?

[CTyankee]

39. which one?

I mean which picture...

[blogslut]

41. #2

Las Fallas -Valencia, Spain. Each neighborhood builds a papier mache statue called a falla and at the end of the festival they burn them.

[CTyankee]

46. Yes! Woo hoo! Have you been there for Fallas?

[blogslut]

56. Nope

The only foreign country I've been to is Mexico and considering I live in Texas, Matamoros and Juarez really don't count.

:hi:

[CTyankee]

59. It would be great to go just for that! I'd love to see it!

Hmm, I wonder if I could get a cheap flight and accommodations combined...

[Call Me Wesley]

23. In the 'Ulysses', James Joyce refers to it as

'Sextaloiten.' ;)

It's the burning down of a big snowman filled with explosives in his head. The faster the fire gets to the head and it explodes, the sooner Spring arrives.

[CTyankee]

55. Wow, I love it!

[virgogal]

12. .

[pinto]

13. Is #5 Argentina?

:hi:

[CTyankee]

15. Nooo...there is no Argentina here...sadly...

[Call Me Wesley]

24. No. 5. Original Buddha's birthday.

Held around May. In 2011, it'll be May 10. :hi:

[CTyankee]

30. Where is this?

[Call Me Wesley]

38. I have to guess:

Macau?

[CTyankee]

40. Wow, interestingt! But no...

[Call Me Wesley]

43. Then I have to go with either Nepal or Sri Lanka,

given the ethnicity. :)

[CTyankee]

49. well...close...but...

[Call Me Wesley]

57. See horseshoecrab's reply downthread.

Buddha figures are distinctive between cultures, so I mainly guessed about the location.

[gratuitous]

25. Number 5 is the George Clinton annual festival

Commemorating his immortal 1993 album:

[CTyankee]

33. Oh dear...that is my only response....

[gratuitous]

47. Does that mean I'm right or wrong?

I'd hate to snap my perfect streak.

[CTyankee]

50. What is the George Clinton gig? I have no idea what it's all about and maybe it

happens at the same time as one of these, but I sure don't know it...

[Call Me Wesley]

26. No. 6 Maifest in Bavaria, Germany.

I think, although they often don't need any festivities to have a reason to gather and drink beer. ;)

[suffragette]

29. Mmmm, Maiwein!

[CTyankee]

31. Maifest? No...

[Call Me Wesley]

42. Strange, the decorations look like it.

But it has to be Bavaria, yes?

[CTyankee]

45. It is.

[Call Me Wesley]

52. Pentecost?

That's right after May, but I didn't know they gather and drink beer beer then. ;)

But as I said, they take every opportunity to do so. Bavarians are so hardcore. :rofl:

[CTyankee]

58. Don't know about Pentecost but I don't this thing has anything to do with a religious festival.

I could be wrong, but I read up on it and I never encountered that religious theme. You are right about the Bavarians, tho. They seem to love every "moment" in a beer's development...and that is a clue...

[Call Me Wesley]

65. You don't mean 'Auer Dult?'

If so, then I'm really :rofl:

[CTyankee]

67. What is that?

[Call Me Wesley]

69. The end of my Bavarian beer festivus knowledge.

http://www.auerdult.de/englisch.html

[CTyankee]

70. Actually there is one more and it is a spring festival so...you were on the right track before...

[Call Me Wesley]

73. Does it happen on March, 23?

It's really like every day is a beer day for them. No insults to my Bavarian friends intended. ;)

[CTyankee]

75. Sorry, I don't know. I'll research and get back to you, promise...

[CTyankee]

76. Yes, it is at the end of March. You are correct.

[eleny]

61. Oktoberfest in perhaps, Munich?

[CTyankee]

64. No, this is about Spring festivals only, not fall festivals...

[eleny]

68. Frühlingsfest?

[CTyankee]

71. no...I'm so sorry...I had no idea there were all these beer fests going on in Germany...

I thought this one would kinda stand out...guess I was wrong...

[eleny]

74. Don't be sorry - this is always fun even when we can't figure it out!

[CTyankee]

78. Thanks, you are kind! My hubby thinks I "torture" people here!

Well,not really. He says he "feels sorry" for you guys. I tell him nobody is "forced" to participate in the Friday Challenge.

Crickets from him....!!!

[Call Me Wesley]

27. No. 1 looks like carneval in Venice. (nt)

[CTyankee]

32. You know, it DOES look like that...but...no...not Venice...

[shanti]

81. carnaval, but don't know where...

[Brickbat]

44. Is No. 2 Walpurgisnacht?

[CTyankee]

51. No, it was guessed. It's is Las Fallas in Valencia Spain....

[horseshoecrab]

48. #5

Hi CTyankee! :-)

#5 looks like a Cambodian Buddha. The festival is called Tet, and is the lunar New Year, aka Spring festival.


horseshoecrab

[CTyankee]

53. Hey crab, how ya doin'?

It is not Cambodia, though...

[horseshoecrab]

63. hmm...

Doin' ok CTy ... Beautiful day today!

For my next number, I would guess Thailand? Perhaps a Bangkok Tet Festival?


horseshoecrab

[CTyankee]

66. Oh, sorry, it is not Thailand...

[horseshoecrab]

82. ok, another try at #5

I had been thinking Southeast Asia but ... This is very much a Tibetan style Buddha, so I am thinking that this is Bhutan. The Paro Tsechu, (Spring festival in Paro) where masked dancers enact morality-type dances for crowds that gather in the town stadium.

Thanks CTyankee. Love our Friday Art Challenge whether I get it right or wrong! :-)

horseshoecrab

[CTyankee]

85. Yes, indeed! It is Paro Tsechu in Bhutan!

Congrats, Crab, you've aced another tough one!

Tell me how you know of this festival. I had never heard of it before I read about it in National Geographic's Traveler magazine...

[horseshoecrab]

92. I'd like to thank the academy...

Hey CTyankee, thank you. :fistbump:

I'd never heard of the festival either. When Call Me Wesley mentioned Nepal upthread it got me thinking about the Himalayan kingdoms. I found by searching for styles of Buddha statues that this Buddha head costume was closest to Tibetan style representations of Buddha. Searching on things like "Himalayan buddhist spring festival" finally brought me to Bhutan. It was quite the circuitous path, but thanks to Wesley for setting me on the path to begin with! :-)

Very challenging this week, CTyankee!

See you next week I hope!


horseshoecrab

[CTyankee]

94. Well, we learn from each other, certainly!

[malaise]

60. I love your Friday threads

Number 3 is India - Phagwah. It is also celebrated in Caribbean territories with large Indo-West Indian populations - Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

[CTyankee]

62. It is great to know that! I had no idea...shows my ignorance...

I learn so much just being here on DU...everybody contributes some of their experience and knowledge. It is truly humbling and proof of the "wisdom of crowds."

[malaise]

72. It's a public holiday in Guyana

http://georgetown-guyana.com/2011/03/06/phagwah-in-guyana/

http://www.newsday.co.tt/features/0,137185.html

[CTyankee]

77. Wow, I had no idea that it was a public holiday there! I learn so much here on DU!

[Iterate]

79. Would #6 be the Starkbierfest in Munich?

Several clues, but it's the sheer number of fests that can be confusing, like hiding in plain sight.

Edit to add this:

[CTyankee]

86. You are correct!

Starkbierfest is the spring counterpart to Octoberfest in the fall in Munich. It celebrates the "strong beer" (in color not alcoholic content) produced in the spring...

[Iterate]

89. Perhaps an unfair advantage, but I have some in the fridge.

On sale now, of course. A friend of mine mentioned it some years back, amused that it was a fest to celebrate the beginning of fest season and to celebrate the opening of the first kegs, but occurs only a week or two after the end of carnival season. He called the interval "Bavarian Lent".

Besides the decoration, a good clue was that every one in the picture is drinking the same thing, which just wouldn't happen unless the drink was the center of celebrations.

One little note. I noticed once that a nearby village of about 8000 listed 37 official fests on its town calendar, and there might be another 10 or 20 unofficial ones.

And one little story. Some years back I took a solo walk in the forest and after 40 minutes of seeing no one I came to a little clearing with about 30 people gathered who had set up a big fest tent, with taps, tables and chairs, and a grill -the works. So I sat in the sun and had a beer. Turns out it was a local walking club with a mid-forest fest. So I finished the loop, again seeing no one, but thinking all the while, "These people deserve some serious respect."

[CTyankee]

90. What a great story. Was the forest in Germany or in the U.S.

I'll have to try that beer, altho I am not a beer drinker normally...

[Iterate]

91. Germany, near the Rhein

At times Germans can be so glum when standing, but put them on an uncomfortable bench for hours with drink and good company and all is right with the world. I think one of the reasons for so many fests is that they are great club joiners (in a way similar to how Americans are good at volunteering) and every club needs a couple of fests per year.

There's another fest I've been dying to tell you about, but for the life of me I can't remember the exact name or town. I learned about it from a German TV show, swore to attend some day, but have since forgotten the details.

Essentially, the French/Swiss/Italian border region of the Alps is also home to a breed of cows who get very grumpy from being penned all winter and they tend to take it out on each other by pushing head-to-head to see who's boss.

So of course the human residents have made a celebration of this that begins in May in the little village that I can't remember. A couple of thousand people gather around a small arena and watch as the cows slowly push and shove. Sometimes a really good match can last half an hour until one of them breaks off and runs away. The crowd cheers them on but mostly just sits and chats.

In the evening the people eat well and dance while the cows eat well and rest their weary necks. It's absolutely the most laid-back celebration I know of, excluding the annual 4th of July parade of lighted boats (evidently three boats make a parade) on a Wisconsin fishing lake that I know of.

After a little more searching I've found something about it, featuring the culmination of the season.

"Battle of the Queens," or "Combat de Reines"
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,557224,00.html

[CTyankee]

96. A terrific story, Iterate! I love it.

So many people on these threads share their experiences with and about art and social mores (including festivals!)that I am gratified to learn about them!

Thank you for a very lovely scene setting...it is appreciated!

[Kurovski]

80. Kick!

:kick:

[horseshoecrab]

83. kick!

[Brickbat]

84. Is No. 4 in Australia?

[CTyankee]

87. It is!

[CTyankee]

88. I will post the winners of the Challenge in GD this morning.

Two remain to be guessed: #1 and #4. Brickbat has the location of #4...

[LiberalEsto]

93. 4 is India nt

[CTyankee]

95. It is actually #3. The number is above the image. It has been identified.

Thanks to all who pointed out that there was a very recent TV show on India and specifically this festival! Ya'll done good...