The Jury of the Carnival in Venice

A jury of international costume and fashion designers declare the best mask wearer. Masks are the centre of attraction of this festival. People wear masks between festival of Santo Stefano and at the start of carnival season and up to the end of midnight of Shrove Tuesday. Mask maker have a special position and status in society with their own laws and with their own guilds. Different materials are involved in making mask of different type; Venetian masks are made from leather or with original glass technique.

The original masks are rather simple in design and very easy to make, these masks have special symbol and prepare for special purpose. Bauta mask is a whole face mask which covers whole face and lot of gildings are present in mask. Most people prefer Bauta to wear due to coverage of upper part of body. It is crime to wear weapons along with the mask; police has the right to enforce the ruling. Moretta is oval mask and is usually worn by women. This mask was discovered in France and later becomes popular in Venice as it has the features to bring out the beauty of feminine. Volto is another type of mask worn at the time of carnival; it is the simplest type of mask to produce.

Celebrating the founding of Rome

The legend of Rome is very popular as great personality belongs to it. The defeated army of troy crossed the Mediterranean Sea on the orders of prince Aeneas and reached the Italian cost. Here they were considered that they have reached the area between modern Anzio and Fiumicino situated at the south west part of Rome. But most probably it is considered that they have reached the Laurentum. According to myths it is considered that Mars has two sons with Rea Silvia which is Priestess devoted to sacred cult of Vesta. Silvia means woods or forest and at that time she was worshipped as goddess. Romulus and Remus are two twins and the credit to discover Rome was given to them. The name of city is decided on the name of Romulus. Both were sons of Priestess Rea Silvia and abandoned by her at the time of execution. Then both sons were taken by she wolf, after they become adult, they discovered city.

Hence this festival works as a thread that ties the people of different culture and of different regions. People usually performs with masks during procession, they walks along procession and keeps singing and dancing. Dragon events are also occurs during this festivals, people forms scary images with the help of masks and performs during procession. Many other entertaining events also occur during festivals. For example in 2011, there will be flower parades and vast performers from different area with flowery costume will perform. The flowers that will be used are roses, gerberas, daises, gladioli, mimosas and many other local flowers that will be showered on crowd waiting along the Promenade des Anglais.

More than 1000 dancers and singers from different part of world will perform for public to entertain them. Local band artist and mime artists will also perform. People should take care of some instructions during the festival. People should not come with their pets as pets can be lost or they can harm others too. People should use parking slots to park their vehicle as wrong parking can lead to chaos and disorder during festival. People should follow the rules and instructions make for better regulation and occurrence of fest.

The Carnival of the Cultures is a combined art festival that mixes up the cultural activities of different region’s people. Many participants and spectators from all over world are attracted towards Carnival and come to Berlin to participate in it. Thus, the Festival has a positive impact on the local economy of Berlin. When the Berlin Carnival was declared as official fest, the first parade of Cultural activities took place on May 16th, 1996. At that time 50,000 visitors were part of that cultural parade. The numbers of visitors are increasing day by day for carnivals and last year it has crossed the 1.35 million figures.

Different types of events are held during carnivals, these events bind the people of different community together. There is exchange of ideas and thoughts between different region’s people. People come to know about each other and develop a level of commitment and reliability in their daily life. By inviting numerous institutions, schools, colleges, artists from all over worlds, bands, singers and organizations, a wide network is built for carnival activities and still proves the basis for carnivals.

In January, there is celebration throughout Florence to welcome New Year, fashion shows are organized throughout the January. In February, there is celebration of Viareggio Carnival throughout Florence; it is one of the biggest festivals of Italy.
In March, Feast of San Giuseppe is celebrated in which donkey race is held. In April, Explosion of cart is celebrated in which large firework is displayed on a cart. In the same month Exposition of the Virgin’s girdle, Festa Degli Aquiloni, Sagra Musicale Lucchese, Mostra Mercato Internazionable dell’artigianato(exhibition of Crafts) are also celebrated. In May, Feta Del Grillo which is a cricket festival, Maggio Musicale in which music events are held, Balestro Del Girifalco in which a procession gathers and marksmen try to shoot a Mechanical falcon placed on a wire. In June, Gioco del Ponte representing a game in which people gathers in group and compete each others, Calcio in Costume in which football is played between people wearing a funny costume.

In August, Festival Pucciniano, Rodeo, Cantiere della Bistecca festival of beefsteak, Il Baccanala festival of wine and food are celebrated. In September, Giostra Del Saraceno also called festival of colors, Festa della Rificolona, Feast of santa Croce, palio della Balestra festival of fancy dress are celebrated. In October, Amici della musica-a music festival, Sagra Del Tordo- a festival of Thrush are celebrated. In November, feast of Santa Cecilia, festival dei popoli- a film festival are celebrated, Italian movies are awarded according to public responses. In December, feast of Immaculate Conception, Burning of the Tree, Feast of San Stefeno, feast of San Lucia and New Year’s Eve are celebrated.

The "off" and "in" Festival of Avignon

The “off” festival is organized by non-profit organization which mainly includes theatre companies and the companies work for mime artists, this organization perform this festival in schools, streets and at the places which are suitable for performances. The festival main motive is to show the culture of different parts and regions to different regions people so that the people would know about each other. People gathers in group during the festival days and the organization which held the festival makes announcements for the events. After this, the participants register themselves and a great competition would hold among them.

The festival “in” hosts many international companies and directors while the festival “off” hosts local companies and schools etc. final result are declared after six days of competition among participants, events occurs like music, dancing, singing and other cultural events. When the fest reaches at its last day, the end of festival is declared with the winner’s name announcement. People celebrate by taking fantastic foods, wine; a great environment is developed at last day of the fest.

The official selection consists of choosing films based on cultural activities. These films are projected in Theatre Lumiere but these films are not nominated for any prizes. The selection committee chooses these films for special identity purposes. Parallel sections celebrate the heritage of film, aiming at the works held in past and presented with brand new or restored prints. Main events that held in Cannes Film Festival to declare the busiest movie market in world and to declare the renowned artist for their special performance in films. For occurrence of each event and for the declaration of result, the festival’s board of directors appoints juries who have the responsibility for choosing films which film will receive the Cannes Award.

The Jury of the Cannes Film Festival

The Members of the Jury are selected from a wide range of international artists based on their contribution and performance in cinema. The most important award given in Cannes is Palme d’Or stands for golden palm that is given for the best film. The other awards are Grand Prix, Prix du Jury, Palme d’Or du court metrage given for best short film, Prix d’interpretation feminine given for best actress, Prix d’interpretation masculine given for best actor, Prix de la mise en scene given for best director and Prix du scenario given for the best screen play award. Cannes films festival has great importance for film markets and for artists. It becomes market for promotion of movies casting big stars.

History of the Castellers

The festival was originated in Valls, near city of Tarragona in the southern part of Cathalonia at the end of 18th century, after that it developed in other regions of Cathalonia. A Castell is considered to be successful when the assembling and disassembling of tower is completed successfully. The assembling of tower is completed when all the Castellers have climbed up to designated place successfully and the last casteller has climbed into place at the top and raises his one hand with four fingers erect; four fingers are symbol of stripes of Catalan Flag. The last Casteller then climbs down the Castell from other side, after which the other castlellers descends in highest to lower order until all reaches safely to ground.

The Structure of a human Casteller tower

The People who climb at the upper part of the tower need to be supported by the Castellers presented below them. These lower Castellers form the so-called Pinya which is the safety base for the people which have to climb on the upper part. The castell is built in two phases, first a Pinya is formed, after that people moves to the upper part of tower by taking support from Pinya. All the process is done slowly and carefully otherwise serious consequences can be occurred. The height of tower depends upon Pinya, when Pinya is strong the height of tower is also considerable high.

In 1957, the festival was banned again with strict penalties, including imprisonment and threatens against those who flout the ban. In the same year, the neighborhood decided to organize a party which they called “the funeral of tomato” and some rules were implemented also. Then the festival came into procession carrying a big container or coffin with huge quantity of tomato accompanied by a band playing funeral marches along the path. After all this, due to local pressure, in 1959 the city finally approved the Tomatina and a rule is also imposed that people could throe tomato only after the blow of horn and should end when the horn blow second time.

Procedure of the Tomatina

The festival begins at around 10 am. The first event of the fest is to climb on a greasy pole with a ham on top. Once someone is able to drop the ham from pole then the tomato fight is about to begin. Several trucks throw tomatoes in abundance, for participants use of goggles and gloves are recommended. Tomatoes must be crushed before throwing them on others in order to reduce risk of injury.