ARTS

• Types of Festivals


  • Religious festivals
  • Carnivals
  • Arts festivals
  • Seasonal festivals
  • Food and agriculture festivals
• Religious festivals


  Celebrated to honor gods. Most festivals are based on religion
• Carnivals


  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 Festival


  Celebrated in the northern part of Thailand, formerly known as the kingdom of Lanna. Celebrated on the full moon that falls in November. Deeply rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism. King Rama IV decided to use lights and lanterns as a way to honor Buddha. A way for people to let go of their sufferings that have burdened them for the past year. Originated in India, a legendary bird carrying a candle visited Buddha and spoke to him about merit
• People from Northern Thailand had been celebrating the Yi Peng Festival since the 13th century
• Yi Peng Festival traditions

  1. Locals visit Buddhist temples to follow traditions and offer lanterns to the monks

  2. People release sky lanterns into the night sky

  3. Give praise to Lord Buddha before releasing the lanterns

  4. Believe that Buddha will grant them wisdom in return

  5. Let go of all that has been spiritually weighing them down as they release the lanterns
• Sky lanterns (khom loi)

  Made from rice paper 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
• Other types of lanterns used during the Yi Peng Festival

  • khom tue (lanterns carried on a stick)
  • khom pariwat (rotating lanterns placed on temples)
• Loy Krathong Festival


  Celebrated throughout the rest of Thailand. In Chiang Mai, the Yi Peng festival and the Loy Krathong festival are both celebrated together. 'Loy' means to float and 'krathong' is a small container. Lanterns are traditionally made from a piece of the banana tree trunk, with a candle, incense, and flowers inside. Shaped like a lotus and released onto the water. Letting go of hatred and anger. People make a wish as they release the lanterns. Some would place a piece of themselves, hair or fingernails, inside the lantern to let their past mistakes and negative thoughts float away with the lantern
• How to Make a Loy Krathong


  1. Slice a banana trunk about 2 inches thick

  2. Attach the round banana leaf on one side of the tree trunk

  3. Attach the biggest leaves around the side of the base. Make sure the leaves are pointed upwards

  4. Attach another layer of leaves, this time using the medium-sized ones. Then add the smallest leaves

  5. Use the banana strip to cover the side to make it look neat

  6. Decorate the top with flowers. You can insert some flowers in between the leaves

  7. Place the candle and the three incense sticks in the center of the base. The candle and incense are used to keep away bad spirits

  8. Adding of coins and betel nuts are optional. Coins symbolize prosperity while the betel nuts are food offering for the gods
• Materials needed for making a Loy Krathong


  • a sliced banana trunk, about 2 inches thick
  • 10 sets of banana leaves shaped into triangles, in 3 different sizes
  • 1 banana leaf cut in a circle to cover the tree trunk
  • a 2-inch wide banana strip to cover the side of the tree trunk
  • flowers for decoration
  • toothpick, scissors, pins, stapler
  • candle and 3 incense sticks
• Kodo


  In Japanese, Kodo has two meanings: heartbeat which is the source of all rhythm, and children of the drum
• Taiko


  Drum in Japanese. It also refers to the art of Japanese drumming, known as kumi-daiko
• Kumi-daiko


  The drum ensemble that consists of various taikos
• Daihachi Oguchi, a jazz musician, created the Kumi-Daiko style in 1951
• Kodo Taiko


  • The most famous group of Japanese drum ensemble
  • They travel all over the world to share the music of the taiko
• Kodo mounted an international art festival called the Earth Celebration in the beautiful Sado


  1988
• Earth Celebration


  • Japan's longest-running music festival
  • A three-day event held in August
  • Seeks to create an alternative global culture through the collaboration of artists around the world, bringing in different music and culture
• Taoism


  A Chinese philosophy based on the teachings of Lao Tzu, who was a philosopher and writer
• Taoism


  • 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
• Preta


  The realm where ghosts dwell in Buddhism, the word Preta literally means a hungry ghost
• Hungry ghosts


  • They are always hungry, and they have no way to eat nor drink
  • They are those who have been forgotten by their families, died dishonorably, or was not given a proper send-off when they died
• Hungry Ghost Festival


  1. Ghosts are given one month to roam free in the physical realm

  2. Chinese Buddhists and Taoists prepare offerings for the spirits

  3. Offerings are burned so the spirits may use them in their afterlife

  4. Offerings and entertainment are prepared to comfort the spirits who feel envious of the living

  5. Ghosts who roam around are believed to cause mischief
• Offerings prepared for the Hungry Ghost Festival

  • Food
  • Hell money
  • Paper cars
  • Paper houses with servants
  • Prayers
• Da Shi Ye


  The guardian god of the ghosts, who is prayed to in order to protect the living from the hungry ghosts
• Bon Om Touk Water Festival


  A three-day water festival celebrated in Cambodia
• Bon Om Touk Water Festival

  1. Marks the reversal flow between the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River

  2. The Tonle Sap River reverses its flow due to overflow during the rainy season

  3. Celebrated through boat races and concerts

  4. Celebrated for three days in November
• Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival


  Lao people of Laos celebrate before the beginning of the rainy season
• Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival

  1. People have a happy celebration

  2. Rockets are made from bamboo bongs filled with black powder

  3. Rockets are fired together with other firecrackers

  4. There are lively dances and parades on the streets
• Esala Perahera Elephant Festival

  Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist festival
• Esala Perahera Elephant Festival

  1. Ten-day festival

  2. Sri Lankans travel to Kandy to witness the celebration

  3. Celebration filled with dances, juggling, fire breathers, acrobats and a parade

  4. Parade shows more than a hundred elephants wearing elegant decorations

  5. Event honors Sri Lanka's most-prized possession, the tooth relic of Lord Buddha
• Like Asian festivals, Philippine festivals have different types: religious, regional, and seasonal
• Most Philippine festivals give honor to patron saints
• Philippine festivals


  1. Celebrate through mass, novenas, parades, processions, and other forms of entertainment

  2. Festivals are colorful, vibrant, and exciting with a mixture of visual, dance and music elements