By Sheeba Muskaan

“Celebrate while you travel, living will get better”

Guatemala, a Central American country south of Mexico celebrates Semana Santa which is a holy week that leads to Easter. This festival is known to be exceptionally magnificent, fantastic and stupendously galvanizing. The churches, especially Latin American, keep processions and celebrations every day during this event. This event brings people to together for good purposes.  This stunning festival was introduced by the Spanish and now happens to be a reason for tourists to visit this place.

The enthralling part of this Latin Semana Santa celebration is the Alfombras. Alfombras are colourful and a path way for the procession on the streets of residents. Locals of Antigua create designs with sawdust, flowers, candles and much more that create a long carpet. During this festival the procession goes over this piece of art, crumbling every last design. Famous artists craft this path of fine and skilled work but closer to the procession. The terrain looks absolutely gorgeous and artsy gluing your eyes on the talented work the locals do during this festival.

Over a period of time this temporary creation of masterpiece has gotten better with the use of flowers, coffee, baked goods and much more. Each one is motivated to make it better and prepossessing over the years keeping competition and business in mind. The processions of this festival are very interesting as one can find costumed actors, marching bands, and people from the church congregation, who walk carrying candles, incense, flags and other things as well. One can go on from two to twelve hours covering the city. Trumpets, colourful floats and finely crafted carpets all appeal the naked eye.

The centres of the procession are usually placed with heavily decorated wooden floats that are also covered with flowers and other massive ornaments. The women and men perform separate activities during this procession throwing flower petals all along. These people experience this festival with deep feelings that usually show on their faces. The women dress in white veils and are a great view to watch and learn the traditions.

Good Friday happens to be the peak of Semana Santa and is considered to be very crowded through both night and day. The music is sombre and the statues are tremendous that are placed in the centre of the procession. During this festival there are numerous vendors for souvenirs, food and a lot more that will want to make you stay longer. This festival is like no other and experiencing it would be dream come true!

By Sheeba Muskaan

“When the waves at your feet gush through your toes, you know you’ve made the right choice”

Cultures play a significant role in promoting a destination; the culture followed by Mayanmar is valued and respected by all tourists. Phung Daw Oo Pagoda is an old temple that is distinctly esteemed, a monastery in the Inke Lake area. The Pagoda is famous for having kept the five images of Buddha that are ancient and are completely covered in gold leaf.

One can reach this absolutely stunning Pagoda by boat through Lake Inke that truly defines the beauty of nature. The Boats have a pier for parking around the Pagoda, the aesthetics lay in the whole process of reaching the pagoda through boat which fascinates and excites the tourists. Right in the middle of the monastery lays the breath-taking golden Stupa and an exquisitely placed ornament on the top.

The Pagodas are finely decorated with vistas depicting Buddhist stories and are doubtlessly thought-provoking. During this festival the locals of this place carry four out of the five Buddhist images in the karaweik boat and go across the lake, the images are regularly covered with gold leaf by men and have eventually become unrecognisable. This boat remains to be one of the most graceful boats. It has the head of the Karaweik bird and the tail at the back of the boat, this bird is mythological hence the boat looks divine in gold.

During this festival the five images are lifted from the Pagoda and placed into the royal boat which are towed by other longer boats and people that catches the attention of one’s eyes in awe. Dating back in time, the fifth image went missing and was miraculously found at the shrine and since then only four images are carried around throughout the festival in the boat. These images are precious as they are 800 years old and are a true definition for historic refinement. 

This festival takes places during the months of October and November according to Burmese lunar calendar and celebrated as the most important festival for 18 days. The boat is taken around the lake to 14 villages with rowers standing upright on the boat who row with an oar attached to one of their legs. Tourists can visit this Pagoda from 8am to 6pm and it is easily accessible through a boat. During Buddhist festivals the Pagoda is comparatively crowded. Experiencing eternal spiritual festivals like these are the ones you want to participate and learn their emphasis and relevance for the people of a particular place.

By Sheeba Muskaan

Woodford festival is held at Woodfordia, Australia. It is a six days and six nights long festival at the end of December until New Year. This festival is one of the world’s largest music and arts gathering in Australia. More than 2000 local and international artists present and perform for an audience of more than two hundred thousand people. There are a number or musicians and artists who come together to make this show a success that impress a lot of tourists as well as locals.

The Woodford Festival is all about the rich and vigorous colours and depths in stories that are passed on from generations to generations and are depicted in various forms of theatre acts or musicals. The colours makes one want to be a part of this wonderful festival where one gets to meet a number of talented people who spread positive vibes. The acts during this festival are very cultural and traditional that includes creativity. The place was earlier a barren dairy farm which is now converted to a tropical forest and surrounded with trees and plants.

This place is a habitat for butterflies, another reason to visit this alluring place. The location gathers people to build a village, the preparations start in the beginning of December and lasts till Christmas, once the event is over; people stay back for a week for dismantling. Tourists come from around the world to experience Woodford Folk Festival and live life to the fullest.

The event includes debates, jams, theatre, comedy, children’s festival, circus, craft workshops, parades, film festival, dance, street play and butterfly walks that are adored by all the people who visit this event. The fire act is one of the best activities during this event and tourists wait to see it. The experience overall is extremely magical and mesmerising.

Woodford Folk Festival attracts different age groups of people and people of different interests who tend to fall in love with the idea of innovation. Every activity during this event will leave you chills and one will definitely tear up with bliss. The music, lights and colours will leave your soul glowing.

“Art is added beauty at a destination you long to visit”

By Sheeba Muskaan

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“Travel and find serenity in the cultures of the universe”

Experience the Buddhism culture at its finest during Obon Festival. It is celebrated in Japan during August for three days. This festival dates back to more than 500 years where all the families revisit and get together with their families to honour their deceased ancestors. It is believed that spirits of ancestors visit houses hence every house is lit with a lantern to welcome the spirit. Families also visit graves and clean it. Obon festival is valued immensely for its cultural and spiritual impressiveness.

This ritual started first in India and then spread to other parts of Asia. The main aim of this festival is to free spirits from their pain and ‘Obon’ is a Japanese word which means to ‘hang upside down’. Apart from hanging lanterns at house alters to guide spirits back home, families also keep some offerings at their doors. Once the festival is over, the lanterns are released in the nearest water bodies, hence giving the most perfect eye-catchy scenic view.

The most extravagant sight of these three days is Bon Odori which is a folk dance and the most pleasing dance of Japan. Each region of Japan has different forms of dance to welcome spirits. Each dance form is based on the history of that particular region; one of their famous dance forms is the movement of pushing carts and others like mining and so on. One must visit Japan to see this most laid-back yet happening occasion. Dance is explicitly every tourist’s highlight while travelling as it teaches you graceful traditional moves and grooving to this clearly relaxes the body and makes it a splendid getaway.

If you’re looking to experience an all-night dance party, one should definitely attend the Gujo Odori festival held in Gifu where all are welcomed to participate and dance that takes place for 32 nights. The first day of the festival is called Mukaebi that is lighting up lanterns. Further the festival continues with rituals that include offering prayers at temples, cleaning homes and making delicious traditional meals. The last day is called Okuribi and ends with lighting of bonfires at night.

Today Obon festival is celebrated throughout the world among Japanese communities. However one travelling to Japan during this festival will see the place highest populated since all families get together but nevertheless there are few places known exclusively for foreign travellers to experience this solitary culture. One can experience this serene festival in Japan and light up their souls during this enchanted fete.

“Serenity lies in travelling”

By Sheeba Muskaan

 “True bliss is in traveling and the affinity for vibrant colours and experiences”

Rio Festival dates back to 1640’s and has always been the biggest festival in the world with more than two million people walking on the streets. You can see revellers, floats, embellishments and much more coming from all the samba schools who lead the dance.  Samba parades are something one can never miss out on, it’s the most bewitching view and very musical as well.

Streets are densely populated with locals, apart from parades of Samba dancers; music is played with the loudest beats and rhythms. Dance is dominant but with some original moves of Samba which is a Brazilian dance form with African influence, all too appealing for the eyes. This vivacious festival takes place during the month of February or March. The streets brighten up and attract a lot of crowd. This festival takes place right before lent period and is an act of bidding farewell to the pleasure of flesh.

Samba schools prepare for one year just to give their best during the Rio Carnival; this festival gives you a one of a kind show and out of the world experience in South America. Tickets to this festival should be booked 4-6 months prior. During the festival one must stay hydrated, carry sunscreen and definitely should have a stunning costume which can be purchased at Saara district.

Sambadrome is a stadium and the main place where the event is held at, it is particularly made for Rio Festival. There are usually about 5000 participants at the stadium with the most gorgeous outfits that have been designed over hours and flamboyant performances with the right music that has been specifically chosen for the festival. This is one of the safest festivals in the world, giving no pressure to tourists.

Missing out on this festival is the last thing you would want to do! It is choicest to spend at least one night after which there’s no going back. From insane fireworks to fantastic floats, it is a place filled with bliss. One can lead the crowd and make the parade dance till you sweat and make some unforgettable memories. Apart from the carnival one can travel around the city to places like Iguassu Falls, beach, Amazon Rainforest and other scenic places as well.

Make dreams come true, be a part of the Carnival Capital of the World!

By Sheeba Muskaan

“Travel because it has for you heritage, that makes this terrain a magnificent place”

If “Las Vegas” makes you want to party and travel then this coming August it’s time to pack your bags and get going. Travel means exploring and adapting to new cultures apart from just seeing the night life hence the most well-known festival is here to compliment your travel dreams. The Burning Man Festival held at Nevada which is just a six hours drive from LA.

The Burning Man Festival keeps their crowd entertained for about a week at the Black Rock Desert. The desert creates a community to constitute to Black Rock City which is entirely aimed at self-sustainability, self-reliance, art and self-expression. This festival comes off as a music festival but it is more inclined towards art during which there are around 70,000 people. The festival includes the entire infrastructure that a city would need thus making it a temporary city and is definitely one of a kind.

From libraries to places to eat, art installations to an airport as well, it has it all. As soon as the event is over people leave ‘no trace’ of the event. The Burning Man festival is attended by a heterogeneous crowd that includes doctors, grandparents, hippies, young crowd and many others. An eight-foot wooden structure of a man is built and further burnt at the end of the event. There are unconventional forms of self-expression at this festival that include performance art using art or fire, nude body painting, creation of mutant vehicles, making it fancier.

Psychedelic trance mix will keep your feet tapping. This festival includes ten principles that deal with gifting one another, deep participation during the event, helping one realise the worth of depending on inner resources and much more. The festival will drive you crazy with its enthusiasm and vibrant vibes. The event has the most fascinating vehicles and art which include fire and deep meaning behind it, it definitely is a treat for the eye.

Burning Man Festival is all about burners without borders. They create; they unite and light up the place. Set your spirit free during these exciting six days, it surely will get you high on life. Its serene atmosphere is its uniqueness and the fun events will blow your mind.

Wonders like these should be your reason to travel.

By Sheeba Muskaan

Travel & Party

Finding serenity, celebration and friends on the same ship is the best place you can be at!

What’s better than witnessing the sunset, sunrise, destinations and groovy music all at the same time? Music festival cruises are the greatest and once you experience it, there’s no going back to any other typical festival. You can always do what your mind tells you at a cruise, be it a peaceful view or to trip the light. These are vacations with top-notch amenities, though it lies on the expensive side, it can always be a part of your bucket-list. One can also get to meet the most famous DJ’s and music artists who just keep strolling around the cruise. Latch on to this wish!

One can go there alone and end up having innumerable friends while returning because the festival gives you family and not just fun. This festival has themed parties where you can see people walking around in the most surprisingly amazing costumes and makes the parties even more happening. Your room is available to you at a walkable distance making this the most comfortable party ever!

Most importantly, only the right energy will keep you at it, hence there are 24 hours of buffet. Nothing gets better than this because you eat, party and sleep all on one floor. The next Groove Cruise Festival will be held in 2020 from Miami to Costa Maya with 96 hours of non-stop music and eight theme parties. This five day festival will leave you wanting for more. One can check the Facebook group and it absolutely is a family, giving you a lot of positive energy and it’s clearly something you will love the most on the cruise.

There is the right set of electronic music played throughout your time on the cruise and whether you are or not a fan of EDM, one will definitely love it. You can always combine your dancing with a few activities like parasailing, jet skiing and a lot more, creating another world between the ocean. This five day festival is an escape from the real world.

Groove Cruise will make you fly because it’s truly and blissfully magical.

By Sheeba Muskaan

If you’re a person who find ways to drink beer at every occasion, then Munich is the perfect place to be at during the Starkbeirfest. Munich has the ultimate beer to get you buzzing. Apart from all the celebrations in Munich like Oktoberfest, Christmas and so on, Starkbierfest is when you can chug down beer during a few splendid weeks starting from March 15 to April 7 this 2019!

It’s time to get brewing between two festivals that is Easter and carnival celebrations that is “Lent” or it is just another excuse to get dazed. Basically ‘Stark’ means Strong and ‘Bier’ means Beer in German. This clearly explains that the beer is extremely strong compared to any other beer in the world with alcohol content ranging from 7.5% to 9% that it’ll get your feet tapping and body grooving.

Historically, Monks used to drink this beer during lent because it’s a period of fasting and this beer has high calories. It is a form of liquid food to keep them going dating back to the 1600s. The flavour of this beer is surprisingly smooth and leaves you blown away like stark mad. Initially this fest was a soft-sell unlike Oktoberfest but eventually Starkbierfest has started engaging tourists as well but very few. This way the fest remains authentic and over the top!

If you want to find friends in and around breweries and halls then this is a fest that cannot be missed at all! This fest takes place at some of the famous places in Munich like Hochstr. 77, Nymphenburger Str. 2, Arnulfstr. 52, and many others. Löwenbräukeller and Paulaner Nockherberg are the original venues for Munich’s strong beer festival.  There is availability of plenty of beer and hence it is said that the beer should be downed slowly.

The locals of the place dress in Bavarian outfits and listen to old German hits and the terrific beer is served in one-litre big mugs to keep you blitzed. Munich’s strong beer festival might not be as big as Oktoberfest but it is equally clubbable! Wave a goodbye to the cold winter and heat up your bodies with Starkbier at Munich.

This fest will get you setting your heart upon it. If you’ve missed out on the Oktoberfest or if you’re heading to Europe, make sure you’re a part of this most thriving and vibrant fest to get yourself high as a kite.

“Life is too short to drink cheap beer.” Hence get the right beer to quench your thirst at the right place.

By Sheeba Muskaan

Mind.Music.Dance.

Inner tranquillity and connecting of the soul is significantly vital for one’s regular karmic life. BaliSpirit Festival as the name says it all is a worldwide immensely galvanizing festival. World famous dancers, yogis and musicians come together for the rich diversity of music and to get full spectrum of yoga or self-healing. This event takes place at Ubud, Bali from March 24th to 31st this event also attracts students, employees and conscious travellers to get away from the strenuous lives.

The event has over 200 assorted workshops for the yoga enthusiasts and helps people realise their potential and brings a positive change in their lives and their surroundings. The event covers healing workshops, shamanic practices which allows one to feel nourished and pure. The festival keeps one in the Zen or gives a feeling of high which keeps the person calm and blissful. Around the festival area, there are tender coconuts, bananas, kiwis and various other fruits and greens to keep you cool and energetic after yoga.

It is said that this festival is best when attended alone nevertheless if you travel with a group, always remember to take some time off alone around the hammock while you can read a book or just relax and self-explore. Apart from the yoga and meditation in serene bamboo huts, initially the festival was all about ecstatic dancing which is alcohol free where people wait in queues to get on the dance space and feel euphoric. This is the most unimaginable free-form of dance which is deeply felt that too without any substance. This way of dancing is very different from the clubs and pubs. The trick is to let the body, mind and spirit feel free and to release blockages in the body and this happens without any efforts.

The scent of incense, cigarettes, cloves and the sound of the temples once you get away from the airport is truly overwhelming. The people of the place are one of a kind and you will be surrounded by optimistic energy and mindfulness the entire time which one can call a perfect vacation from the absorbed world.  Miracles and magic are apt words for this alluring festival. Chanting mantras and syncing with the inner sprit is one of the aims of this beguiling event.

Breath work is the most loved and a transformational technic to feel jubilant at the BaliSpirit Festival. One can discover true power of love and utopia through this. BaliSpirit Festival keeps coming up with better facilities over the years, for example the previous years did not have a praying room bur now it has a praying room too. A place from where one can return with real profound memories which can be used in the day to day lives to keep one composed.

BaliSpirit Festival it is, to know the faith of life. It’s not just the butterflies in your stomach to take a flight to one of the most appealing islands but also the real high you get after the awareness of self-control for the ease of the soul.

By Sheeba Muskaan

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“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before”

It’s that time of the year for you to be a part of Asia’s most lively festival in Thailand that epitomizes a New Year. It is filled with zeal and glee. It falls on the 13^th of April and goes on for three days or is celebrated a week prior. People heartily wait and greet it with euphoria. The Songkran Festival is known for its spine-tingling celebration with water on the roads of Thailand.

The amusing fact about the word Songkran is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Samkranti’ which means astrological passage, which additionally means transformation or change and to be a part of this festival explicitly proves to bring a change in everyone through joviality, devotion, bliss and verve. Intriguing is the water, it brings purity from distrust because of its fertility and compassion. What’s better than water fights on streets with a thousand other amazing souls?

The deepness of this festival is that each day is celebrated differently and has a purpose. The first day pays tribute to the elders of Thailand and is about lip-smacking sweets and a classic tea Chao Kuai made with black herb jelly. One should definitely try the aromas and tastes of every country while traveling. It’s said that taste buds can bring back memories from destinations. The second day onwards temple rituals take place where water is poured over statues of Buddha, being a part of various rituals indubitably brings serenity to your spirit.

Songkran week is filled with assorted heritage where people splash water over their houses to induce rainfall, cleaning homes to wash away bad luck, offer prayers and get rid of their sins from the previous year and distribute food to monks, what’s better than watching this act of kindness and watching uncommon ways people act to deem good luck for the future year. Only travelling helps one harmonize these fine facts that bring merriment in one’s soul when you belong with it.

Each part of Thailand has individual ways of celebrating Songkran. All the major roads of Thailand are usually closed where people come together and throw water at each other from family to friends and strangers on this one gala day making you smile and keeping you cheerful throughout. Water balloons, water guns and buckets bring out the kid in you, walk down the lanes dry and you will have a hundred other people to get you drenched. The best place to be at is Khao San Road and Silom Road in Bangkok. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a quieter Songkran festival, then temples are the place you should be at, especially the Wat Ratchabophit and Wat Prayoon in Bangkok.

Get your bags packed and wish everyone ‘Sawadee Pee Mai’ basically a ‘Happy New Year’ to all the people you’re going to meet in Thailand.