Doll festival, jumping over babies, throwing tomatoes ... extremely "shocking" and exciting!
- A parade in Binche, Belgium
Binche is a small city with a population of over 30,000 people, located in the southern capital of Brussels (Belgium) - where the famous Binche festival takes place every year. The festival was first organized in the 14th century and is derived from the Pagan rituals (atheists - not of any particular religion, be it believing in many gods of each religion at once or) may also not believe in any gods or religions). Binche Festival (Festival before Lent) is always the most awaited of the people here.
The center of the ceremony is a parade of Gilles clowns, men aged 30 to 60, wearing a beeswax mask and wearing wood-made costumes. They marched and waved their sticks in the air to chase the evil spirits. At the end of the ceremony, the Gilles clowns will throw oranges into the crowd to bless everyone. Especially if anyone "gets" Gilles hit an orange on his forehead, he will be blessed and may get lucky all year.
- Tomato throw festival in Bunol, Spain
Originally from the group of young people throwing tomatoes in protest at a parade in 1945, today the tomato throwing festival is well known in the world. On the last Wednesday of August every year, tens of thousands of tourists flock to the small city of Bunol in Spain to participate in this vibrant festival.
The official tomato throwing festival has been recognized since 1957 with strict rules. One of them is that tomatoes must be crushed before being thrown to avoid injuring others.
- Falles Doll Festival, Spain
Equally special is the festival of gaur, the Falles doll festival. Residents of the city of Valencia must prepare a year for fundraising and crafting figures made from paper, wax, hard powder and other materials.
The idea of dolls is often taken from Renaissance characters combined with a bit of modern animation. At the end of the festival, all the gorgeous figures were burned to ashes. This festival originated in the Middle Ages, when people often burned down wooden items damaged from winter to welcome the arrival of spring.
- Festival of jumping over babies (El Colacho), Spain
This is a festival held in the town of Castrillo de Murcia in Spain. This festival is held from 1620 to the present day.
During this festival, babies less than one year old will be placed in rows on the ground. A man wearing a red and yellow outfit symbolizing the devil will jump over these babies to fight back and dispel the evil spirits that may lurk in them.
The townspeople believe that this ritual will bring health and good luck for the children, but it cannot be denied that it will make the parents of the children a heart attack.
- Balloon festival in Lorraine, France
Every two years, people in the province of Lorraine, eastern France, welcome the balloon festival. This festival brings together hundreds of colorful balloons, many shapes from many parts of the world to compete during the last 10 days of July. Balloon festival was held from 1989. By 2011, The festival has set a record number of balloon attendance is 343 aircraft.
During the festival, early in the morning, hundreds of hot air balloons were prepared to blow air and soar over a vast field. There are all kinds of balloons from baby to big with different shapes and colors. If you have the opportunity to attend this festival, you will feel like standing in the middle of a fairy field.
