Here's a short video, showing some of the more spectacular kites at last years kite festival in Berck sur Mer. Thanks to Erich Schlaikjer, who captured this footage while camping around France with his family during the 2007 Easter weekend.
I came across this video taken last year by Judith Porter, on a short trip to Timbuktu. It was posted by Jerry (imgip) on YouTube and he has several other videos shot in the region.
The World Health Organization provides free advice for anyone planning travel; enabling travellers to be informed about the potential hazards they may encounter in the countries they are travelling to and to learn how to minimize any risk to their health. They point out that forward planning, appropriate preventive measures and careful precautions can substantially reduce the risks of adverse health consequences.
While the medical profession and travel industry provide a great deal of help and advice, the WHO remind traveller's that they should take responsibility to ask for information, to understand the risks involved, and to take the necessary precautions for the journey. Travel light but travel with knowledge.
China's famous Yangtze River, is suffering from a severe water shortage caused by a longer than normal dry season; water levels are falling dramatically and the concentration of pollutants is rising, both of which are impacting the river's wildlife. Media reports indicate that the problem was initiated by the severe drought experienced in the upper reaches of the river during the autumn and that the situation will continue to worsen in February. According to U.S. scientists at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center, 2007 was the warmest year ever recorded for the Earth's land areas.
James Castrission, and Justin Jones, landed safely but their condition makes the feat of New Zealander, Colin Quincy, even more extra-ordinary; he became the first person to row across the Tasman solo, taking 67 days to make the crossing in 1976.
An Australian foursome completed the journey in the opposite direction in half the time, 31 days, arriving in Sydney Harbour on December 30, 2007.
Speed skating with a few bumps, twists and hairpin turns at the bottom of steep inclines. A measured cocktail to make sure participants are shaken and not a little stirred by the time they reach the end of the track. Enjoy this video clip, posted by rouizz, of last year's Red Bull Crashed Ice event in Quebec City.
I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, so I thought that a seasonal end of week video would be a good idea. There are many Christmas songs, some have a message, some make you think, this song from Slade just makes you want to party.
Merry Xmas everyone and thanks to Maribel for taking the trouble to post the video. Have fun.
Between now and December 31, 2007 Trusted Tours and Attractions, a division of Historic Tours of America, is running a promotion and giving away an iPod Nano to one subscriber of their online travel newsletter. All you have to do is to subscribe to the Trusted Tours and Attractions monthly newsletter from the company's homepage at http://www.trustedtours.com/newsletter.aspx. The travel newsletter offers interesting stories, travel tips, travel articles, and money saving deals on sightseeing tours and other attractions.
Historic Tours of America, owns and operates numerous sightseeing tours, museums and attractions in 6 different U.S. cities.
The annual "Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light" at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry runs through January 6, 2007. It features more than 50 trees, each decorated by volunteers from Chicago's ethnic communities to reflect holiday traditions from around the globe, and has been dazzling families for 66 years.
The interior of USA's Yellowstone National Park opens for the winter season on Wednesday, December 19, 2007. Visitors will be able to take commercially guided snowmobile and snowcoach trips over snow covered, groomed roads to popular destinations including Old Faithful and Yellowstone's Grand Canyon. Xanterra Parks and Resorts provides lodging, food service, cross-country ski rentals and lessons, snowmobile rentals and snowcoach tours of the park. Details are available online at their Yellowstone website. Information on other authorized winter operations providing snowmobile and snowcoach trips into the park is available on the web at the National Park Service, Yellowstone website. Visitor centers will be open at West Yellowstone, Old Faithful and Mammoth, and the National Park Service website also has details of ranger-led activities and evening programs that are available throughout the winter.
The road from the park's North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, to Mammoth Hot Springs and through the Lamar Valley to the Northeast Entrance and Cooke City, Montana, is open all year to automobile traffic. Updated conditions on all park roads used by automobiles, snowmobiles and snowcoaches are always available by calling (307) 344-2117. Starting December 19, visitors will also be able to check the status of park roads during the winter season online.
Travelling around Singapore is a cinch and it just got a whole lot easier, and cheaper. There is a notably efficient public transportation network of taxis, buses and the modern Mass Rapid Transit rail system.
A comprehensive transport guide for tourists has just been launched, including information on tourist hotspots and how to get there. For S$8 a day, tourists can buy a card which allows one, two or three days of unlimited travel on buses and trains.
Posts on this blog are more often about interesting places to visit, rather than places that most travellers should avoid at all cost, but the article Polluted Planet, that was recently posted on MSN Environment, does just that. They are described as hellholes, which are the relics of an environmentally ignorant industrial era and are considered contaminated cesspits, where even visiting might result in death.
They are the world's ten most severely polluted places, conveniently listed alphabetically, with thumbnails and a Windows Live Map, for further information. The list spans seven countries and affects more than 12 million people, who obviously have no choice but to try and survive there.
This weekend sees the final leg of the 2007 Anaconda Adventure Race, Australian national series, at Lorne, Victoria, the series began back on 5 August, 2007 on the Gold Coast.
The Lorne Anaconda Adventure race is a gruelling 1.9km ocean swim, 800m beach run, 11.2km time trial run, 13km paddle, 22.7km mountain bike ride and a 2.8km beach run. It can be completed, either as an individual where you do all legs, or in teams of up to 4 people, with everyone doing a different leg, which puts it in easy reach of anyone ready to give it a go.
Last year's winner was Jarad Kohlar and he is back to defend his 2006 title, alongside more than 1000 competitors, who have converged on the coastal town of Lorne, basking in a cool 22 degrees of summer sunshine.
With Malaysia celebrating 50 years of nationhood in 2007, their ministry of tourism came up with a great promotional video to promote Malaysia to the world. Not convinced that the backing track will get many plays but Malaysia has a wonderful Asian culture and history, well worthy of a visit.
This is not a political blog but occasionally a piece of news is brought to my attention that is beyond belief. It is news that directly impacts millions of tourists and news that the world deserves to hear. The information appears to be valid and I forward it without comment; make up your own mind.
I will however, begin by quoting the Buddhist Thought for the Day: "If you want to have friends, you must be friendly. If you want to make peace, you must be peaceful. - Peace Pilgrim...", which coincidentally, I happened to read just before I saw the article Merry Christmas Hawaii - And Bombs Away! by freelance writer, Cathy Garger.
According to a recent Associated Press article, "B-2 Stealth Bombers Hit US Targets" and the Cathy Garger article in OpEdNews, the United States government is using both Hawaii and Alaska to expand its war games and better train pilots by dropping bombs from stealth Air Force B-2 bombers on them around Christmas time.
No doubt the Alaskans aren't to happy about this and the Hawaiians have begun a protest movement because their land has been found to be previously contaminated with depleted Uranium from military exercises. A problem that would be compounded by bombing, since it would cause the toxic dust to become airborne. They point out that Hawaii is a special place, loved, enjoyed and visited by millions of people every year from all over the world. It truly seems beyond belief that tourists face being greeted with the US military's own unique brand of hospitality, which Cathy Garger describes as "the invisible gift of inhaled Uranium aerosol blowing in the warm tropical winds."
Here's a fun vid on which to end the week, from Theme Park Review. It does a great job of recreating the atmosphere at Universal Studios Orlando, Islands of Adventure & Halloween Horror Nights. Including Incredible Hulk, Dueling Dragons and some of the best roller coasters footage I have seen.
The producers note that the onride footage in this video was taken with permission from the park and filmed by professional ride photographers. They stress that you should never attempt to take video on roller coasters without proper permission from the park because filming on rides can be extremely dangerous. I would add that the danger is not just to yourself.
Back in May, 2007, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Universal Orlando Resort, announced that they are constructing a Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios (Islands of Adventure) in Orlando, Florida, occupying over 20 acres, it is described as a theme park within a theme park and is to be called "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter". It is Scheduled to open in 2009.
On December 6, 2007 the controversial Hawaii Superferry finally gets to begin daily round-trip voyages between Oahu and Maui.
The ferry is scheduled to leave Honolulu at 6:30 p.m. and arrive in Kahului at 10:15 a.m. Then it departs Kahului at 11:15 a.m. and arrives in Honolulu at 2:15 p.m.
Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure Playtest at Epcot and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland have been awarded 2007 THEA Awards for Outstanding Achievement.
Walt Disney Imagineers won the prestigious awards within the themed entertainment industry for creating outstanding new experiences at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts. More.
Harry Potter fans are being offered the chance to appear in 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™', the next movie in the series of wizardly goings on at Hogwarts.
Marking the launch of 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™' on DVD, MSN and Warner Home Video are running a competition that will provide one lucky, lucky fan, the once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of motion picture history, with a walk on part.
The sinking of the passenger ship Explorer, while on a cruise to Antarctica, has raised concerns from a shipping union over the operation of cruise ships in increasingly remote locations. The union, Nautilus UK, points out that the sinking of the Explorer, is the latest in a series of similar incidents, recording at least three others in 2007 alone.
Only three months ago, seven passengers on board the Aleksey Maryshev were injured when part of a glacier fell onto the deck of the ship, while it was on an adventure cruise in the Arctic.
Understandably, questions are being asked about the suitability of some ships to operate in increasingly exotic, dangerous and remote environments, where they are often a very long way from adequate search and rescue cover.
November 28, 2007 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Englishman, William Blake, the son of a draper who became a visionary, artist, engraver and poet. Not given the recognition he deserved in his lifetime, one of his most famous works is 'Jerusalem', indeed some would now like it to become a new English national anthem, all of which gives me an excuse to reproduce it here.
And did those feet in ancient time, Walk upon England's mountains green: And was the holy Lamb of God, On England's pleasant pastures seen!
And did the Countenance Divine, Shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here, Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold: Bring me my Arrows of desire: Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold! Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight, Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
'Till we have built Jerusalem, In England's green and pleasant Land.
William Blake (1804).
It is surprising that in those days, some amateur archaeologist didn't think it would be a good idea to ship it back brick by brick! - Just joking :-)
This year's National Tree Week in the UK, runs from 21 November to 3 December, 2007. An annual event that was begun in 1975, it has been responsible for the planting of over 20 million trees.
"National Tree Week," say the Tree Council, "is the ideal opportunity to do one great thing for the environment, plant a tree."
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is again sailing to the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary to save Humpback, Fin and Minke whales from Japanese whalers.
It appears that some of the recent media coverage has been misleading. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society reports that it does not use violence and never has used violence and is not threatening violence. Apparently, in a ramming incident last year, it was a Japanese whaling ship that rammed the Sea Shepherd ship.
The Japanese will only be stopped by economic and social pressure. Copy this post and send it to a few friends, telling them what you think of the Japanese whalers. Let's use the power of bloggers to let the Japanese know what the world thinks about a country that allows its countrymen to engage in whaling.
Traditionally, this is the week that the major New York City department stores unveil their decorated holiday windows and such is their appeal that they draw an estimated 6,000 window gazers per hour at the season's peak. Read a nice review from Jennifer 8. Lee, in the New York Times Blog.
Each week, for a whole year, from October 1, 2006 until September 23, 2007, Canadian singer/songwriter Kevin Bath, released a CD every week. Each album had 8 original songs written, performed, recorded and released by him.
The result, 52 CDs containing 416 songs, by one musician, setting a new world record.
You can listen to his work by visiting his website and read more about Kevin Bath in an article on ChartAttack.
The first forecast of the American ski season from the Boulder-based Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC), which started up operations this week, indicates that a few inches of the white powder could pile up by Wednesday morning. It seems that colder temperatures, along with a dusting of snow this week, could significantly improve the outlook for Skiing during Thanksgiving in western Colorado. The best chance for snow being Tuesday night.
The Colorado Avalanche Information Center has upgraded its website with more archived reports on avalanche accidents and a Google Maps platform offering information on avalanche problems and travel recommendations.
France is starting to deal with a series of open-ended strikes that are expected to paralyse public services and utilities. Beginning today, only about 12% of the high-speed TGV trains are running and there is almost no Paris metro service. Paris Opera House and Comedie Francaise State Theatre are expected to be closed, while disruption is anticipated to escalate next week when civil servants, teachers and other public employees will stage protests.
EDF electricity and GDF gas are caught up in the turmoil and even the magistrates and court clerks are planning to take to the streets. As you might expect, the French students have got involved and to cap it all, next week there will be no forecast from Meteo France weather employees.
This is bad news for Parisian hoteliers who report that over a quarter of their reservations have been cancelled already. More information and comment.
The Barcelona World Race is a new two-handed, non-stop round the world yacht race, which will be held every four years. For the first time, this race will see the world's best professional sailors from both solo and fully crewed disciplines coming together to compete against each other in teams of two.
The inaugural race starts on 11 November, 2007 and there are nine IMOCA Open 60 class yachts, ready to go. Promo Video
Winter Wonderland is set to transform Hyde Park, London, between Hyde Park Corner and the Serpentine, into a magical world of ice and festival fun, providing fun, laughter, and excitement for all. As well as the stunning ice rink, Winter Wonderland includes gentle rides for younger children. There will also be a brilliant German Christmas Market, including authentic arts, crafts, presents, foods and traditional mulled wine, from a range of genuine traders making it the ideal place to do some Christmas shopping and enjoy the atmosphere of the Festive season. The bandstand will feature regular carol concerts and, when time allows, even Santa himself is scheduled to make an appearance in the run-up to Christmas. The site is free to enter, with tokens for all rides and attractions available for purchase on the day but advance booking for the Ice Rink is strongly recommended throughout the season.
Winter Wonderland in London's Hyde Park, runs for six weeks from 1 December, 2007, to 6 January, 2008. It is the perfect event for family, friends and colleagues to delight in the exciting Christmas atmosphere, and you can use this link to book tickets for the Ice Rink through TicketMaster.
Throughout most of Europe tomorrow morning (at 2am), European summer time comes to its official end and the clocks go back one hour. But to ward off the winter blues, there are plenty of festivals.
We begin this weekend with Halloween and then a few days later, the British celebrate with Fireworks night. It doesn't stop there though, in a multicultural world, these events are followed by the Diwali festival, or 'Festival of Light' also called Deepavali, on November 9. Diwali is a major Indian festival that is observed by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs around the world, to symbolise the victory of good over evil with lamps lit as a sign of celebration and hope for mankind.
Visitors to Leicester, England, have a unique opportunity to experience a 'Taste of Asia' for themselves, with a short break package in this year's official Curry Capital of Britain. The special packages have been put together by Leicester Shire Promotions, the city's tourism board, to showcase Leicester's vibrant Asian culture and exotic gastronomy, combined with its Diwali celebrations, which are said to be the largest outside of India.
Then of course, we move on to the Christmas markets, Christmas and the New Year parties.
The Dutch vehicle reached the final checkpoint at Angle Vale, Adelaide, late Thursday afternoon, having starting at Darwin on Sunday morning. Competitors from across the world raced across Australia during daylight hours but the team from the Netherlands again outstripped the opposition, clocking up their fourth consecutive World Solar Challenge. An Australian and a Belgium car are battling it out for second place but they will not reach the finish line until Friday.
Here is a nice event for Halloween. At 6:00 PM on Sat. Oct. 27, 2007, in Toronto, Canada and simultaneously around the world, there will be an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Simultaneous Dance. Of course, being Halloween, the dance routine has to be the famous Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', which appropriately celebrates its 25th anniversary this year; doesn't time fly when your a Zombie.
Thousands of people in cities around the world are learning the 'Thriller' dance and if your not already involved, you can check out a participating event near you by going to the Thrill The World website.
The current record is 197,569 young students doing the Hokey-Pokey at 681 locations across Canada in April 2002.
October 24, 2007, is Take Back Your Time Day; although it is essentially a U.S./Canadian initiative to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens the health of their people, communities and environment, we believe that it is relevant to all societies influenced by American business culture.
Joe Robinson, one of the founders of the 'Take Back Your Time' organisation, says, "This is not about slacking, not about being lazy, vacations are as important to your health as checking your cholesterol or getting exercise. They're the antidote to runaway stress. Research shows that an annual vacation can cut the risk of death from heart disease in women by half and in men by about a third. Vacations can also cure burnout, the last stage of chronic stress, but it takes two weeks for the process of re-gathering crashed emotional resources to occur."
The motto of this blog is 'Making life a holiday with interesting vacation and adventure ideas'. The concept being to enjoy a lifestyle whereby, like the surfers, you live the dream. If surfing is not your scene but you love to paint, carry a sketchbook with you, and use it. If you love to run and you have to work for a living, run to work. But most of all, make sure that you get quality relaxation time. It is said that an hour a day can keep the doctor away.
Business also gets a big dividend from vacations. "Three week vacations have proven to be a boost to productivity and profits at enlightened American firms with that policy. Performance goes up when people come back from a vacation," said Robinson. "In the knowledge economy, the source of true productivity is a refreshed and energized mind."
Congratulations to Penny Edwards, a UK teacher who has just completed the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii; finishing in the top ten for her class, in one of the most gruelling race events in the world. Not bad for someone who did not take up running until her 40s and is now a very fit 52 year old. More.
Congratulations also to Chrissie Wellington, who won the women's event and became the first British athlete to claim an Ironman World Championship title. This under-sung, relatively unknown 30 year old, did not turn pro until this year and only took part in her first Ironman a couple of months ago, a race which she won convincingly.
Winner of the men's event was determined Australian, Chris McCormack, who says that he has dreamed of being the World Ironman Champion for 20 years.
The Ford Ironman World Championship involves a 2.4 mile swim in the open sea, a 112 mile cycle ride and then a 26.2 mile marathon run through the lava fields of Kailua-Kona. Nearly 1,800 athletes took part in the event, ranging in age from 18 to 78 years old. Yes, 78. Most of the Ironman athletes have quite a story to tell, some exceptionally inspirational and you can read more on the Ironman website.
Over the next couple of weeks, mountain and outdoor adventure lovers are in for a treat on both sides of the Atlantic.
In Scotland, the Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival from 19 - 21 October, 2007, is an annual event, now in its fifth year, that uses films, lectures and exhibitions to inspire an enjoyment of the natural environment.
Then, in Canada, the annual Banff Mountain Festivals gets underway, from October 27 ? November 4, 2007. The Banff Mountain Festivals, which include the famous book and film festivals, are dedicated to promoting mountain culture and offer inspiring mountain stories, together with the exhilarating beauty of mountain landscapes.
Teams are gathering in Darwin, Australia, for the 2007 Panasonic World Solar Challenge, which takes place 21 to 28 October. This is the 20th anniversary of the biennial event, in which teams research, build and design vehicles that are capable of completing the 3000km journey from Darwin in the North, to Adelaide in the South using only sunlight as fuel. And of course, then proving that their vehicle works, in the spirit of friendly competition.
59 vehicles from 19 countries are competing. There will be 18 solar vehicles competing in the Solar Challenge and a further 21 solar vehicles competing in the Adventure class. There is also a Greenfleet Demonstration class for bio friendly fuels that has attracted 20 other vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Read more about the Panasonic World Solar Challenge in an article from Steve Dow.
Today, October 15, 2007 is Blog Action Day. In its inaugural year, bloggers around the web are uniting to write posts about environmental issues and we are proud to be joining in with the thousands of blogs across the blogsphere. It is estimated that the combined blog posts will be read by over 13 million people, which makes blogging a pretty powerful medium for change.
Man has been impacting the environment since first walking the earth but it seems to me that the most harmful actions occur when we try to gain personal advantage at the expense of someone else, or even at the expense of other creatures. Look at illegal logging, the environmental damage caused by massive dam projects or the current arguments about who controls the Arctic. Consider the arguments surrounding the Hawaiian Superferry project or global warming, whale hunting and over-fishing; you get the idea; the list of examples is endless, from cheap air travel to political zealots driven by greed.
The inference of the preceding observation is that we can perhaps do most good for the environment by avoiding the acquisition of personal advantage at the expense of someone else, or other creatures. Interestingly this is essentially the Buddhist creed, expressed by AmidaBuddha.org in their thought for the day, Lead a righteous life; lead not a base life. The righteous live happily both in this world and the next. - Buddha.
Easily said, hard to argue against, but even harder to live by.
I have just watched South Africa beat Argentina in the Rugby World Cup semi-final to join England in the final and I guess that they started as favourites to win but I have just learned of a South African success that probably wasn't foreseen; a group of South African farmers have just beaten the Americans at their own culinary delicacy, winning the Guinness World Record for the biggest pumpkin pie ever made. The previous American record weighed in at 920 kg and the new record is a salivating, 1150 kg. Over a ton of pumpkins was used to make the world record breaking pumpkin pie, which is to be distributed among the poor. More yummy information about the pie.
South Africa, Botswana and Namibia have agreed regional co-operation in tourism, with the aim of avoiding long queues and unnecessary detours for visitors travelling in the region, as a result of the 2010 soccer world cup. To this end, a Tourist Access Facility, located on the South Africa and Namibia border, in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park has just been opened and this will enable tourists to take a short cut across the border at Mata Mata, without having to leave the park. Information from SABC News.
The 24-hour version of the New Zealand 'three-day Classic Southern Traverse' adventure race on the Southern Lakes, comprising trekking, paddling and mountain biking, is scheduled for November 17 and 18, 2007. This will be its second year and organiser Geoff Hunt is keen to see it become a regular event.
Next year will see the return of the Classic Southern Traverse to the Southern Lakes region. Would be competitors in the 24 Hours of Southern Traverse are encouraged to get their entries in as soon as possible because entries close in about three weeks. More.
The Spice Girls have leased a posh plane for their upcoming reunion tour, which begins December 2, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada.
Sandy Maple, posting in Luxist, offers an artist's impression of the plane, nicknamed Spice Force One, and reports "the Boeing 757 that will carry the reunited girl group around the globe will sport official Spice Girl reunion artwork on the fuselage and interior. In addition to a makeup parlor and a creche, the plane will be outfitted with a dining room, business center, state-of-the-art bathrooms, a media center and sleeping quarters."
The last WOMAD festival of 2007 is again in the Canary Islands, 22 - 27 November. Fabulous music, arts and dance from around the world, with the exhilarating backdrop of the beachside city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The festival is free and open to the public, so no need to book tickets, just be there.
It might be long dark nights and falling leaves in the north but the southern hemisphere is celebrating the coming of spring. In one annual celebration, Canberra's Commonwealth Park is transformed into a tapestry of colour with more than a million bulbs and annuals in bloom at a free, month long, festival, the Floriade, which is the largest flower festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Yes, it goes under the same name as the famous Netherland's festival but this Floriade occurs every year; the next Netherland's Floriade occurs in 2012.
This year's Australian Floriade runs until 14 October, 2007, and visitors are able to wander around flower beds inspired by an Australian icons, myths and legends theme and enjoy good old Aussie entertainment, food and much more. During the month-long Floriade festival there is always plenty of activity at Canberra's most popular tourist attractions. Kids are entertained throughout Floriade with children's arts, crafts and activities, and loads of extra entertainment every day of the school holidays. Floriade and the spring school holidays is a busy time in Canberra, so it is best to book accommodation early. Tourist information and accommodation advice can be found at visitcanberra.com.au.
The start of autumn in the northern hemisphere, is marked by night and day being of nearly the same length; this occurs when the sun crosses the celestial equator. This year, 2007, the Autumn Equinox occurs on September 23; of course, the Southern hemisphere welcomes spring and lengthening hours of daylight.
It is not surprising that such a significant astronomical event should be celebrated by pagan religions such as Wicca. The year's crops are harvested, tribute is paid to the sun and mother earth, and preparation is made for the impending days of darkness. The Wicca name for the Autumn Equinox is Mabon, it is called Mea'n Fo'mhair by the Druids who pay homage to the Green Man.
Harvest festivals and celebrations are commonplace throughout the northern hemisphere and ancient harvest customs are still widely practiced throughout Europe. Central to many of these is the Corn Dolly or John Barleycorn, which is said to contain the spirit of the grain; notoriously portrayed in the Wicca Man. There is a modern day Wicca Man festival in Scotland but this has little to do with religion or the Autumn Equinox and will form the subject of a future post.
Two end of week videos today because they are both quite short clips, but they convey the atmosphere of the traditional Chinese mid-autumn festival quite nicely.
First up is a clip from Claudia, who has posted this video of the street light-up for the mid-autumn festival at Chinatown, Singapore.
Next is a slightly longer and fascinating clip posted by chinarye, of last year's mid-autumn festival celebrations in Hoi An, Vietnam. The video features a man in dragon costume, dancing on top of a high pole. Spectacular and precarious in equal measure.
Stock up on the mooncakes and dig out the lanterns; 25 September, 2007, which is the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, is the date of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.
Chinese communities throughout the world will be celebrating one of their most colourful and happy festivals, when the harvest moon is welcomed with a sea of lanterns.
Florida is the hot US destination for Halloween month. Two of the biggest annual festivals are Biketoberfest at Daytona Beach, which this year celebrates its 15th birthday over the weekend of October 18-21, 2007 and the infamous Fantasy Fest at Key West, which this year, runs October 19-28, 2007.
During Biketoberfest, 100,000 bikers from throughout North America and Europe, converge on Daytona Beach to party, meet up with fellow bike enthusiasts, party, enjoy street festivals, concerts, charity rides, expos, seminars, celebrity appearances and parties. Fantasy Fest on the other hand, is focused on partying, bizarre and raucous costume competitions, street parties, body painting, parades and parties.
Both festivals provide an excuse to party. Just be careful not to mix them up, you might get away with the leathers at Fantasy Fest but I'm not sure how the toga would be received at Biketoberfest.
Saturday, 22 September sees the start of this year's Oktoberfest in Munich, with the tapping of the first keg of Oktoberfest 2007 beer. Such is the popularity of the event that virtually every hotel bed in the city and its surrounds, is booked for months in advance; so if you haven't already booked a visit to Munich or have the fortune to live in Mingga, your best chance of getting to Oktoberfest is to plan on next year.
For beer lovers in New York, there is an alternative celebration of the golden nectar, the Fifth Annual
Information on other authorized winter operations providing snowmobile and snowcoach trips into the park is available on the web at the 
The last WOMAD festival of 2007 is again in the 
It might be long dark nights and falling leaves in the north but the southern hemisphere is celebrating the coming of spring. In one annual celebration, Canberra's Commonwealth Park is transformed into a tapestry of colour with more than a million bulbs and annuals in bloom at a free, month long, festival, the 