WHEN THE
FESTIVAL TAKES PLACE, AND THE TOWN WHERE IT IS HELD.
Festival of Mountain Folklore
-Zakopane, Poland
It's held at the height of summer - the middle of August - in Zakopane, a
mountain resort in the south of the country. It lasts for a week, and during
that time you can hear all sorts of folk music from mountain groups from all
over Europe. It must have been a beautiful, peaceful village once, but it's
grown and grown and it's full of tourists now.
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THE HISTORICAL ORIGIN OF THE FESTIVAL.
The Palio - Siena, Italy
It's a spectacular horse race, well known with tourists, which is run twice a
year round the central square. It goes back a long, long way: the first record
of it, run as it is today, is from over 700 years ago, in 1238. And even then,
apparently, a form of the race had been staged 100 years before that! Whatever,
it's very old.
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HIS/HER FEELINGS ABOUT THE FESTIVAL.
Semana Santa (Holy Week)
- Sevilla, Spain
It's unforgettable: the crowds, the atmosphere, the incredible floats. And the
religious emotion, it's so intense it just sweeps you up with it!! But those
hooded figures - oh, there's something so sinister about them! I always think
they're gonna pick me up out of the crowd and take me off somewhere, to be
horribly punished!!
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WHAT A FOREIGN VISITOR WOULD LIKE
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL.
►
THE SETTING AND SOME OF THE TYPICAL
ACTIVITIES.
Carnival of
Nice - Nice, France
Well, it starts with a masked procession, when the figure of King Carnival is
paraded through the streets. There's loud music everywhere. Then for two weeks
you get dressed up and eat a lot and have a lot of fun throwing things at
people in the street. On the final day, Mardi Gras, there's a huge fireworks
display in one of the main squares, down near the sea.
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WHY THE FESTIVAL IS HELD.
Passion Play -
Oberammergau, Germany. They put the play on once every ten years. And the whole village takes part, I
mean literally hundreds of villagers play in it. It's meant to be an
expression of gratitude to God from the village, in return for what they
believe is His protection. And you can really appreciate the religious
sincerity of the players. Even more than if they were professional actors
actually.
