Top Festivals in October

Festivals of the world: where to go in October

Festivals are a living, dancing museum of cultures and traditions in an increasingly globalised world. There is no better place for travellers to understand a country than an event where it proudly celebrates its individuality, whether through music, camel races or monumental food fights.

 The top festivities for October are listed below.

Oktoberfest

 

 

Location: Theresienwiese, Munich, Germany

Dates: 16 days from late September to early October

In 1810, a horse race was held to celebrate Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s wedding. The jamboree was such a rip-roaring success that it became an annual event and morphed into today’s famously large and ribald party. The horse race was dropped in 1938, because everyone was only interested in one thing: beer.

Combat des Reines (Fight of the Queens)

Location: Martigny, Valais, Switzerland

Dates: first week in October

Switzerland’s Valais region is famous for its pistes, but a far stranger sport than skiing takes place here every spring and autumn. Erdinger cows, diminutive but aggressive beasts, fight each other to decide which brown-coated contender will be ‘queen’ of the herd. The combatants snort and stamp their hooves before charging, locking horns and trying to force each other backwards.

 

Durbar

Location: Emir Palace Rd, Kano, Nigeria

Dates: end of Ramadan

Throughout the Islamic world, the Eid al-Fitr festival is celebrated in a variety of ways. It marks the end of Ramadan, the month when Muslims fast during daylight hours (in Arabic, eid means ‘festivity’ and fitr means ‘to break the fast’). In Nigeria’s Islamic north, the end of the testing month is celebrated with equine cavalcades called Durbars. One of the best places to see them is Kano, West Africa’s oldest surviving city and an ancient centre of Islamic learning.

Ghadames Date Festival

Location: Old city, Ghadames, Libya

Dates: three days in October

At the end of the date harvest in Ghadames, Libyans head to the city’s World Heritage-listed old quarter to eat dates and celebrate. Residents of the modern town return to their family homes in the old city, officially uninhabited since the mid-1980s, and throw open their doors for singing, dancing and public festivities. The shadowy old city has a network of covered walkways that provide shelter from the Saharan sun.

  

Vegetarian Festival

Location: Jui Tui temple, Th Ranong, Phuket Town, Phuket, Thailand

Dates: first nine days of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar (late September/early October)

Thailand’s largest island, nicknamed the ‘Pearl of the South’, is particularly spectacular during the Vegetarian Festival. Celebrated by Phuket’s Chinese community, the event marks the beginning of the month of ‘Taoist Lent’, when devout followers of the Tao abstain from eating all meat and meat products.

 

Matchmaking Festival

Location: Main St, Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, Ireland

Dates: last Friday in August to first Sunday in October

With its population of about 1000 Celtic citizens, tiny Lisdoonvara (Lisdoon for short) is famous for two things: its spas, which made it a popular Victorian resort, and its tradition of basadóiri (matchmakers). For a fee, these Guinness-swilling Cupids would help singletons find a partner.

 Círio de Nazaré

Location: Praça Justo Chermont, Belém, Brazil

Dates: second weekend in October

The largest festival on the River Amazon, not to mention Brazil’s biggest hoedown after Rio’s Carnaval, Círio de Nazaré revolves around a small statue of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré (Our Lady of Nazareth). Supposedly sculpted in Nazareth (Galilee), the image is believed to have performed miracles in medieval Portugal before getting lost in Brazil. A humble cattleman rediscovered it in 1700 on the site of Belém’s Basílica de NS de Nazaré.

Entenrennen (Duck Race)

Location: Alleenbrücke, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Dates: early October

It’s not exactly the Running of the Bulls. Indeed, the ducks involved in this bridge-to-bridge race aren’t even alive: they’re the yellow, rubber species whose usual habitat is the bathtub. Nonetheless, Tübingen’s annual contest is spectacular, if inexplicable. In a random, Germanic version of the ‘Poohsticks’ game enjoyed by Piglet et al in Winnie-the- Pooh, a truck dumps some 7000 duckies into the Neckar River from Alleenbrücke.

 River Festivals

Location: Laos, Cambodia and Thailand

Dates: full moon in late October or early November

Also known as Ok Watsa, Laos’ Awk Phansa celebrates the end of Vassa, the Buddhist Lent. During this three-month period, monks sit out the rainy season in meditation, reviving their vows and fasting. Reaching the end of the challenging period is a cause for celebration for monks across Laos, and the rest of the country’s 6.5 million people grab the opportunity for a party.

 

El Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles)

Location: Lima, Peru

Dates: 18, 28 and 29 October

This large procession celebrates a 350-year-old mural of the Lord of Miracles (Christ). Painted by a freed slave, the fresco has survived vindictive authorities, bumbling workmen and three earthquakes. The first procession took place in 1687, when an earthquake obliterated the chapel that housed the portrait, leaving only the altar and the miraculous mural.

 Masskara Festival

 

Location: Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines

Dates: weekend nearest 19 October

MassKara’s name is a fusion of the English word for ‘many people’ and cara, the Spanish word for face. It’s a perfect of this Philippino fiesta, in which Bacolod’s 450,000-plus residents take to the streets wearing masks with radiant smiles.

 

 Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages)

Location: Kyoto Gosho, Kyoto, Japan

Date: 22 October

Compared with the former Japanese capital’s other major festivals, the Aoi and Gion Matsuris, Jidai Matsuri is a newcomer. It began in 1895 to raise the city’s morale after the Imperial Court shifted to Tokyo. The main event is the historical parade, featuring period costumes from eras dating back to 794, when the city began its 1000-year tenure as capital.

Halloween

Location: New York City, New York, USA

Date: 31 October

The shrill cry of ‘trick or treat’ from children on the doorstep, dressed as a blood-curdling gang of zombies and ghouls, is as synonymous with the States as baseball and Big Macs. It’s an important part of American family life and Hollywood slasher movies. 

 ______________________________________________________________________________

 The Travel Company

Explore, dream and discover! Whether it's an adrenaline fueled skiing adventure, a luxurious cruise or a trip to a remote Buddhist Temple you're after, look no further than The Travel Company. With more than 100 years of collective travel experience, we will effortlessly turn a dream holiday into reality. The company also offers the business traveler a beautiful outdoor conference facility located in Sandown as well as an incoming tour operator department for travel associates. Housing both business and leisure departments means lone traveler as well as big corporates can confidently book tours, conferences or tailor-made packages to suit their unique requirements.

Go global. Go with confidence. Go Travel Company.

www.travelcompany.co.za