DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

     The Sapporo Snow Festival is a famous festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan, over 7 days in February.  Currently, Odori Park, Susukino, and Tsudome are the main sites of the festival.  The 2011 Yuki-matsuri dates are February 7th to the 13th.    The festival is one of Japan's largest and most distinctive winter events.  In 2007, about 2 million people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures at the Odori Park and Suskino sites, in central Sapporo, and the Satoland site.  The festival is thought to be an opportunity for promoting international relations. The International Snow Sculpture Contest has been held at the Odori Park sit since 1974, and teams from various regions of the world participate.      The subject of the statues varies and often features as event, famous building or person from the previous yer.  For example, in 2004, there were statues of Hideki Matsui, the famous baseball player who at that time pl

   Carnival in Cologne is almost as old as the history of the city itself.  But the organized carnival celebrated today only dates back 178 years.    The Greeks and Romans celebrated cheerful spring festivals in honor of Dionysos and Saturn with wine, women and song.  The ancient Germans celebrated the winter solstice as a homage to the Gods and expulsion of the evil winter demons.  Later the Christians adopted the heathen customs.  The period of fasting (Lent) prior to Easter was heralded in by " Fastnacht" or "Karnival"...carne vale = Farewell to meat!      In the Middle Ages, the celebration of Carnival, the masquerade, often took on drastic forms, very much to the displeasure of the city council and the church.  Bans and ordinances did little to help, the celebration was wild and spirited.    The boisterous street carnival was extended in the 18th century to include the so called "Redouten", elegant masked and fancy dres

  The Scoppio del Carro ("Explosion of the Cart") is a folk tradition of Florence, Italy.  On Easter Sunday, a cart, packed full of fireworks and other pyrotechnics, is lit and provides a historic spectacle in the civic life of the city. A Little History on the Festival    The event of the Scoppio del Carro has its origins in the First Crusade, when Europeans laid siege to the city of Jerusalem in a conflict to claim Palestine for Christianity.  In 1097, Pazzino de' Pazzi, a Florentine from a very prominent family, was by tradition, the first man to scale the fortified walls that surrounded Jerusalem.  As a reward for this act of bravery, his commander gave him three flints (fire starters) from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which were then carried back to Tuscany.  These were and still are kept in the Chiesa delgli Santi Apostoli .      It became the practice for a "holy fire" to be struck from these flints at Easter tide, w

   Moros y Cristianos or Moros i Cristians , literally in English is Moors and Christians, is a set of festival activities which are celebrated in many towns and cities of Spain, mainly in the southern Valencian Community; according to popular tradition the festivals commemorate the battles, combats and fights between Moors (or Muslims) and Christians during the period known as Reconquista (from the 8th century through the 15th century).       The festivals represent the capture of the city by the Moors and the subsequent Christian reconquest.  The people that take part in the festival are usually enlisted in filaes or comparsas (companies that represent the Christian or Moor legions), they parade with bombastic costumes loosely inspired by Medieval fashion.  Christians wear fur, metallic helmets, and armor, fire loud arquebuses (guns or cannons), and ride horses.  In contrast, Moors wear ancient Arab costumes, carry scimitars (swords or spears), and ride rea