Destinations, Travel tips, Festivals and Public Holidays
Spain Holiday
Animal-Inspired Festivals of the World
Oct 11th
Festivals are usually held by and for people, but some festivals in the world involve animals in the celebrations. The involvement of the animals is either to enliven the festivals or to honor a certain animal. Among some festivals involving animals in the world, three of them are very famous that people around the world head towards the country where the festivals are held. The three most famous festivals involving animals are presented as the following. More >
Baby Jumping Festival – One of the Most Dangerous Festival in the World
Sep 29th
Spain is full of unbelievable, unique, and even crazy festival. Besides La Tomatina Festival in Valencia which requires the participants to throw hundreds pounds of tomatoes and Running of the Bulls Festival that obliged the participants to run before the bulls, here comes another weird one called Baby Jumping Festival or El Colacho Festival. This five-days festival takes place between late May and early June. If La Tomatina Festival and Running of the Bulls Festival have the adults as the participants, El Colacho Festival is rather different since it requires babies under 1 year old to participate in a dangerous state.
The Baby Jumping Festival started in 1960 when the local villagers conducted an exorcism ritual in the town. It is believed that the festival has a great connection with one Christian feast – the Corpus Christi. According to Spanish tale and folklore, the purpose of this festival is to wipe out the evil spirit from the babies and also the town. The festival starts by setting out Spanish flag and decorating the town with colorful things. Then, series of traditions and ceremonies are held to cast the evil out of town.
The festival is ended by lying the babies on some mattress extended in a small street in Castillo de Murcia. Then, men wearing evil costumes come and start jumping the mattress one by one while keep running fast. When the last mattress has been jumped, the men in the devil costumes keep run away from the town as the symbol that the evil spirit has run away from the town. This festival is dangerous since there is a possibility that the men may step on the little baby. That’s why people and parents of the babies attending this festival can’t help hold their breath until the festival is over.
When the Baby Jumping Festival is over, people usually have fun together and enjoy shopping in the street markets which appear during the festival. Some villagers also make a food stall serving snacks and local food for the visitors from the inside and outside of Spain.
The Glorious Festivals of Spain
Sep 22nd
Festivals are held almost along the year in Spain. No matter what month the visitors come to visit Spain, they will always find some appealing festivals taking place in Spain. The glorious and joyous of the festivals are felt not only by citizens, but also by the tourists or visitors coming to have a look of the festival. Three most adorable and unique festivals in Spain are La Tomatina Festival, Firework Festival, and Running of the Bulls Festival.The last mentioned festivals are quite dangerous to be seen from a near place. More >
