Festivals of Asia

• Types of Festivals

  • Religious festivals
  • Carnivals
  • Arts festivals
  • Seasonal festivals
  • Food and agriculture festivals
• Yi Peng Festival


  Lantern festival celebrated in the northern part of Thailand, formerly known as the kingdom of Lanna

  
• Loy Krathong


  Lantern festival celebrated throughout the rest of Thailand

  
• Kodo Taiko


  Most famous group of Japanese drum ensemble
• Earth Celebration

  International art festival mounted by Kodo in 1988 in Sado, Japan
• Hungry Ghost Festival


  Month-long festival where spirits roam free in the physical realm, celebrated by Chinese Buddhists and Taoists
• Da Shi Ye


  Guardian god of the ghosts in Chinese belief
• Bon Om Touk


  Water festival celebrated in Cambodia to mark the reversal flow between the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River
• Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival


  Rocket festival celebrated by the Lao people of Laos before the beginning of the rainy season The people have a happy celebration before they go back to work in the fields. Bang fai means rockets.
• Esala Perahera


  Buddhist festival celebrated in Sri Lanka, featuring a parade with over a hundred elephants wearing elegant decorations
• Asian festivals


  Similar to Philippine festivals in being colorful, vibrant, and exciting with a mixture of visual, dance and music elements
• Religious festivals are celebrated to honor gods. Most festivals are based on religion.
• Carnivals are mostly big parties where people in costumes and colorful floats parade in the streets.
• • Arts festivals showcase the different art forms all over the world: film, music, dance, comedy, and theater.
• Seasonal festivals celebrate changes in season.
• • Food and agriculture festivals usually celebrate farmers’ crop harvests.
• Yi Peng Lantern Festival


  It is celebrated on the full moon that falls in November. The festival is deeply rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism.
• Chiang Mai


  place where the Yi Peng festival and the Loy Krathong festival are both celebrated together.
• Loy


  means to float
• Krathong


   small container
• When a person lets the lantern float on the water, it means that that person is willing to let go of hatred and anger
• Kodo

  1. heartbeat which is the source of all rhythm
  2. children of the drum
• Daihachi Oguchi


   a jazz musician, created the Kumi-Daiko style in 1951
• Kumi-daiko


   is the drum ensemble that consists of various taikos
• According to Taoism beliefs, the Gates of Hell open on the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Spirits roam around the earth and visit the living.
• In Buddhism, it is believed that the world has six realms. The realm where ghosts dwell is called Preta. The word Preta literally means a hungry ghost. The ghosts here are always hungry, and they have no way to eat nor drink.
• Hungry Ghost Festival or Yu Lan Pen Festival


  the Chinese Buddhists and Taoists prepare several offerings for the spirits. These offerings are burned so the spirits may use them in their afterlife.
• Sri Lanka has one of the oldest Buddhist festivals called the Esala Perahera.
• Esala Perahera


  It is a ten-day festival with a parade that shows more than a hundred elephants wearing elegant decorations. The event honors Sri Lanka’s most-prized possession, the tooth relic of Lord Buddha.
• Buddhism and Hinduism


  Deeply rooted religions in Thailand
• Lantern festivals in Thailand

  1. Praise the Lord Buddha

  2. Ask for wisdom

  3. Release worries
• Yi Peng Lantern Festival


  • Celebrated in the northern part of Thailand (former kingdom of Lanna)
  • Celebrated on a full moon in November
• Sky lanterns are called khom loi in the Thai language.

  These are made from rice paper which is stretched on a bamboo frame with a candle placed

  inside. The hot air from the candle fills the lantern which makes it float on air. The light in the

  candle represents knowledge that guides the lives of the locals in Thailand to the right path.
• In 1988 in the beautiful Sado, Kodo mounted an international art festival called the Earth

  Celebration. Since then, the Earth Celebration became an annual music festival. It is a

  three-day event held in August. It is Japan’s longest-running music festival. It seeks to create

  an alternative global culture through the collaboration of artists around the world, bringing

  in different music and culture.
• Kodo Taiko


  is the most famous group of Japanese drum ensemble. They travel all over the

  world to share the music of the taiko.
• Taiko means drum in Japanese. It also refers to the art of Japanese drumming, known as

  kumi-daiko.
• In Buddhism, it is believed that the world has six realms. The realm where ghosts dwell is

  called Preta. The word Preta literally means a hungry ghost. The ghosts here are always

  hungry, and they have no way to eat nor drink. The hungry ghosts are those who have been

  forgotten by their families, died dishonorably, or was not given a proper send-off when they

  died.
• Taoism is a Chinese philosophy based on the teachings of Lao Tzu, who was a philosopher and writer. People from rural China followed the philosophy as a religion. According to Taoism beliefs, the Gates of Hell open on the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Spirits roam

  around the earth and visit the living.
• The Chinese also pray to Da Shi Ye, the guardian god of the ghosts, to protect the living from

  the hungry ghosts.
• The Yi Peng Festival is deeply rooted in Hinduism

  and Buddhism.