Large teams of people clad in bright colours strategically build themselves into complex living human structures up to ten levels high. Competing in this quintessentially Catalan competition, held every 2 years, requires a combination of strength, balance, courage and common sense. Intricate and deliberate tactics come into play as human towers rise from the floor. Grand heights are reached and a child is balanced on top. Arms stretch into the air above, a final signal of triumph — and then the dangerous dismantling begins.
Taking place in Lerwick, Shetland on the last Tuesday in January, Up Helly Aa is a Norse themed sub-Arctic bonfire party on a grand scale. Recognised as Europe’s biggest fire festival, there are marches by day and torchfire by night. Men dressed as Vikings lead a procession through the town and, as night arrives, a thousand torches light up the sky as they set fire to a long boat in the city centre. Amidst singing and revelry, the fiery glow burns and celebrations continue long into the night.
During this ‘Naked Festival’, held in February in Okayama, almost 10,000 men crowd together, forming a colossal mosh pit of hope and kinship. Clad in white loincloths, they purify their bodies with cold water and cram together to try to grab a pair of lucky wooden sticks (shingi) thrown by a priest. Each member of the vigorously chanting crowd believes that a year’s worth of good luck comes to whoever catches the shingi. Reaching out in boisterous anticipation, each man hopes the luck will come to them.
This mid-summer ‘feast of sports’ offers a thrilling showcase of Mongolia’s sporting passions. The colourful opening parade is imbued with military precision and tradition, after which horses and their child jockeys set off on endurance races requiring great stamina, archers take careful aim with bows and arrows made of traditional materials, and wrestlers of all weights and sizes are pitted against each other like warriors from the past. Everyone else gets busy making merry, soaking up local music, food, crafts and culture against the impressive backdrop of the steppes.
As fall arrives in Albuquerque, so do thousands of balloon enthusiasts from around the world. Powered by the perfect October climate, the daily ‘Mass Ascension’ of hundreds of hot air balloons effortlessly into the crisp dawn skies leaves those below overwhelmed. Assorted colours, patterns, shapes and characters float majestically overhead like liquorice allsorts tossed into the air. Evening arrives and, as ‘Balloon Glow’ takes shape in the night sky, this marvellous moving picture show becomes an illuminated display of pure enchantment.
