The Thrill of Menorca Holiday Fiestas

This article describe Spain's culture and festivities beautifully.

Every year Menorca becomes a country of colour and celebration during the national public holidays in Menorca and the summer fiesta season. The annual cycle of Menorca holidays and fiestas begins with the Festival of Sant Joan towards the end of June, in the town of Ciutadella. This festival weekend is the largest of the island's celebrations with towns around the countryside hosting their own regional versions throughout the Menorcan holiday season.

On June the 23rd, the locals (and visitors from across the island) pour out from their Menorca villas in their thousands for days of dance and procession in the Ciutadella streets under strings of lights and paper bunting. The Spanish passion for horses is brought to life in a series of horse trials and parades, leading up to tests of riding skill. Usually, the riders wear the classic Spanish riding uniform: immaculate white trousers and shirt, with a riding jacket, boots and classic Spanish peaked hat, all in black. Sometimes they carry spears or flags as they perform.

The horses are rigorously trained to keep calm amongst the animated spectators, who try to get close to the action. The most popular stunts in the "dances of horses" are when the riders make the horses rear up, and some even walk on their hind legs. The crowd gets very close to the horses and throw their hands up, trying to touch it while its front legs are raised. If you choose the right time of year to witness this on your Menorca holiday you may even see the local children doing this; it is considered good luck to touch the horses during the fiestas, and is a test of skill for the spectator, too.

This spectacle and the celebration of the horse is common to the festivals throughout the island, as is the uplifting music of the brass bands, which take the stage or the centre of a procession, and get people dancing and singing in the streets and on the balconies. Each town across Menorca has its own local twist on the fiesta. Depending on what time of year you take your Menorca holiday, you could see twelve feet tall paper-mâché puppets dancing together between the Menorca villas, or see a barefoot man clad in sheepskin carrying a ewe on his shoulders through the town.

In the municipality of es Migjorn Gran you might come across the unusual fiesta of Sant Cristòfol. As well as the expected pageantry and music, it is traditional here for the local priest to bless each of the local cars. Perhaps if you hire a car on your Menorcan holiday it could be blessed as well! In the middle of July, when all the Balearic Islands celebrate their patron saint of sailors, "Dia de Virgen de Carmen," it is the turn of the fishing boats to be blessed.

With all these regional variations, you stand a chance of finding a summer fiesta nearby wherever your Menorca villa is located, so you can add some party atmosphere and tradition to your Menorca holidays of blue sea, sand and sun.

Brenda Jaaback is the Managing Director of Bartle Holidays. They can provide you with a wide selection of villas perfect for your Menorca holiday. Bartle Holidays makes no warranty as to the accuracy of any information contained in this article and excludes any liability of any kind for the information contained in it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brenda_Jaaback

Dance holidays -Dance Festivals of India

I love dancing and learning new dance especially from different parts of the world. The thought of writing something about dancing holidays have cross my mind several times. Imagine going on a holiday with a specific purpose, that is, to immerse ourselves into the culture of the dance, learning new dance routine and improve on our dancing techniques. I am glad to have found this article and it will be a good start for my search for dancing holidays around the world.

India is such a diverse country, and one of the main ways that its diversity is expressed is through its dance. When you have your India visa then you will have the opportunity and pleasure to visit many parts of India to attend some of its dance festivals. The types of dance across India are so different in style and colour, that several trips maybe needed to see such extravaganzas; hence you will also require several Indian visas for these trips. Below are a few of the dance festivals that your India travel visa will allow you to visit:

The Konark Dance Festival
The Konark Dance Festival is based in Konark, Orissa, and is held twice a year, in February and also December. Both times the festival is held in the open air auditiorium grounds in near the sun temple. The sun temple is based approximately 68kilometres from the states capital Bhubaneswar. Note that your normal India visa will allow entry to this region of India. The location is close the the Black Orissi Dance Pagoda, which is a monument that is build of black granite and shows the chariot of the sun god. The dance festival shows the classical forms of the regional dances of India as well as national forms of dance, in a celebration to celebrate Orissa. The dances are held under a huge mandap called the Natya Mandap. The dances styles are typically those from the 19th to the 21st centuries.

The Modhera Dance Festival
One of the most famous dance festivals that your India visa will also allow you to visit is in the state of Gujrat, called the Modhera dance festival. Modhera which is close to the capital of Gujarat, Ahmedabad was build by king Bhimdev many centuries ago. You can enter Gujrarat quite easily with the traditional visa for India for business or tourism purposes. The festival is held in the sun temple, which is dedicated totally to the lord Surya, otherwise translated as the sun god. The dances on display at the sun temple include classical Gujarati dances. This beautiful festival is held for three days during the month of January. As this is one of the most popular seasons for Indian tourism, be sure to apply early in advance for your India visa, at the VFS offices or via the services or Rapid visas.

The Elephanta Islands Dance and Music Festival
If you are planning on using your India visa to enter via Mumbai, and shall be entering India during the month of February, then the annual festivals held on this small island 10 km from Mumbai harbour is surely to be attended. The island was rename elephanta by the Portugese after they saw it had elephant carvings inside the walls. This annual festival is arranged to worship the Maheshmurti, or otherwise know as the Shiva-idol which is located in the main caves. As well beautiful dances being put on by professionals, it is also fascinating to see local folk dances being displayed by local fisherman, who also serve their local food.

For more information of the dance festivals of India, and also the processes required for applying for your India visa then please feel welcome to contact us at rapid visas.

http://www.rapid-visas.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neej_Amb

Come with me in my journey searching for dance holidays and hopefully, there will be one that will tickle your interest and entice you to discover more.

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