MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL

MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL

September 27, all over China

The Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival is a harvest festival traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, which falls in September or October. The second most important festival after the Spring Festival, it sees Chinese people spending time with their families and eating moon cakes. Chinese people believe a full moon is a symbol of peace, prosperity, and family reunion. The moon cakes are believed to have originated in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) when revolutionaries against the ruling Mongols used the pastries to pass secret messages between each other that they were to rebel on Mid-Autumn Day.

 

BALINALE

September 24 to 30, Bali, Indonesia

The annual Balinale will be held at the end of September with a series of workshops, film industry forums, free seminars and screenings at Bali’s newest cinema, Cinemaxx Lippo Mall Bali at Jalan Kartika Plaza in Kuta. A great opportunity for movie buffs to enjoy their time in Bali, the event also offers “Filmmaker in attendance” screenings, with the artists and filmmakers present to introduce their films and meet the audience.

 

AKAN MARIMO MATSURI

October 9 to 10, Hakkaido, Japan

Akan Marimo Matsuri Festival on the shores of Lake Akan brings thousands of visitors to Kushiro, a small town in Hokkaido. Marimo (unique spherical green algae) is the nation’s special natural monument and a symbol of this festival. Concerned about the destruction of nature, the Ainu people started the festival in 1950. The event features traditional dances and religious rites handed down by the Ainu people. The ritual is complete when the ekashi, the respected elder Ainu, go into Lake Akan in a traditional Ainu dugout canoe and softly put the marimo down one by one into the lake. At night, visitors can enjoy the Pine Torch Procession and the fireworks display.

 

FESTES DE LA MERCE (FESTIVAL OF THE VIRGIN OF MERCY)

September 20 to 24, Barcelona, Spain

The Catalan capital’s final burst of pre-winter madness is dedicated to the Virgin of Mercy. Nostra Senyora de la Merce, whose image lies in the church of the same name, was named co-patron after she beat off a plague of locusts in 1637. Some of the most important features include a swimming race across the harbour, a fun run and a series of free concerts. Adding to the local colour is folk dancing and parades of gegants (giants) dancing with the costumed groups carrying them.

 

WORLD GURNING CHAMPIONSHIP 

September 18 to 19, Egremont, England

Egremont Crab Fair and Sports was established in a charter signed in 1267 by King Henry II, which makes it one of the oldest fairs in the world. Originally a harvest festival, the fair kicks off with the Parade of the Apple Cart, a tradition derived from the serfs who paid their dues at the manor in wild fruit. The lord would give crab apples to the children, and today men throw apples from the cart. The most famous event is the World Gurning Championship, held in the Market Hall, where contestants contort their face into strange and unnatural shapes, with their head poking through an unwieldy horse’s braffin (collar). 

 

BUGFEST

September 19, North Carolina, USA

Restaurant patrons around the globe who harbour a taste for something with six legs are discovering what North Carolinians already know. BugFest, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ biggest event of the year with 35,000 visitors and the largest, one-day, bug-centric event of its kind in the nation returns each September with more fun, games, crafts, and music. The day is packed with programmes revealing amazing truths about bugs – such as the ones you didn’t know are sharing your home – and fine dining from the world-renowned Cafe Insecta, operated by local chefs. All four floors of the Museum and its new wing, the Nature Research Centre, and the surrounding plaza and streets will become Bug Central Station with more than 100 educational stations, presentations, displays and live music.