Sinulog Festival

Sinulog Festival is a yearly festival on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, and a few others. It commemorates Filipino’s pagan origin, Roman Catholocism, and Santo Nino (a vested statue of a child Jesus).

The Festivals themselves consists of streets filled with parades and decorations, colourful costumes, lots of dancing and music (ranging from drums to trumpets, and to native gongs) prepared by different groups. It lasts for 9 days, and everything leads up to the Grand Parade.

The “Fluvial Procession” is held at dawn with a statue of Santo Nino, the day before the parade.

The Grand Parade culminates all the festivities that occur throughout the nine days, and also include a variety of competitions for performers and dancers of different types.

The word “Sinulog” is derived from the Cebuano adverb “Sulog” which roughly means, “to move like water”, which is intended to describe the forward-backward nature of the dance.

-Patrick

Sources of Images:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sinulog_Festival_-_Procession_(3299334480).jpg

http://mixedandmotions.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/cebu-sinulog-festival-2013-viva-pit.html

http://mixedandmotions.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/cebu-sinulog-festival-2013-viva-pit.html

Chuseok

  Chuseok (추석) is the second of Korea's major festivals. It is the harvest festival celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar (usually sometime in Sept/Oct). Its origins lie in the practice of thanking ancestors for the annual harvest in autumn; a form of ancestor worship by an agrarian people. Like Seol, Chuseok will see families coming together for a 3-day holiday with the actual day of Chuseok being the middle day of the three. 

 Charye is practiced (ancestor memorial service like during Seol) but with the small difference that instead of having ddeokguk as the central food of the holiday, it is rice. Seongmyo (visit of ancestral graves) is observed, and whilst there Beolcho, the clearing of weeds, is practiced; taking care of the ancestral graves. Once these formal customs are completed, it is time to celebrate with tables covered edge to edge with various traditional food. 

  A tradition of Chuseok is to make and eat Songpyeon (송편) which is a rice cake made primarily around the time of Chuseok. These are small balls of rice cake stuffed with various nutritious ingredients such as sesame seeds, red beans, honey, and chestnut. It is an activity that all engage in, and family members are likely to compete in kneading and forming the most 'beautiful' songpyeon. 

 Although traditionally, during the course of the holiday various physical activities such as wrestling matches, archery competitions, and acrobatics were displayed around town, it is only common to see such customs in modern Korea at tourist sites such as the various palaces in Seoul and folk villages (museums to an extent). Chuseok is about spending time with family, and more importantly, about celebrating a good year with hope for good things to come in the next.

-David

Sources:
http://www.allkpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/20110910_chuseok_11.jpg
http://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/news/091001_p09_1.jpg
http://static3.allkpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/20120814_chuseok_games-600x244.jpg

Mevlana - Whirling in Konya, Ankara, Turkey

Mevlana Celadeddin-I Rumi  is a Turkish Anatolian philosoper, mystic, poet and the father of the Mevlevi Order.

Mevlana event is celebrated from 7-17 of December every year in Konya, Turkey for Mevlana’s memorial.  I had the opportunity to watch a ‘Mevlana’ event when I was 15 years old, as my mother’s parents live in Konya. It was a long day with a series of conferences, meetings and theatrical performances held throughout the day. I believe these were held to promote aspects of Mevlanas life.

The ritual dance is known as ‘Whirling Dervishes’. This symbolises a release from earth connections, which liberates the soul. The soul than prepares it’s union with the divine. The whirling went for probably 2 hours. The audience, including myself got a little tired from watching; however the energy that is realised of the ritual dance was amazing.

The dance consists of three parts; reaching, seeing, and uniting with God. In the first stage, the dancers whirl three times. During the second part, they remove their coats. This symbolizes the release of the soul from earthly concerns.  In the first stage they slowly begin to whirl with their right hand up and left hand down. The performers were highly trained and seemed completely disconnected from the audience and environment around them.

Reference of Pictures (in order):

1- https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4nm-l2NAoDDpaqg9GPxZui69J9-ZE-x1TTJvoNGJUVNwMcRuulTk38YW3DX05l56nNc-sMKPX3FYFI4EJF4yQLb7MSr3Ljoxg7GFL-NJ_2YObrK83taSfHS1NS3PSNobbac4C0k-Ff4/s1600/hz_mevlana.jpg

2- http://www.journeymart.com/gifs/holidays-ideas/festivals/mevlana-festival.jpg

3- http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/5d/a1/5f/filename-dsc-1440-jpg.jpg

Araw ng Kalayaan – Independence Day in the Philippines

Araw ng Kalayaan (literally meaning “Day of Freedom”) is an annual national holidays on the 12^th of June, which commemorates the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain, on the same day in 1898.

A little bit of history – Emilio Aguinaldo led the declaration of the Philippine independence from the Spanish colonial rule. However, June 12 was not recognized as it is today, until 1962, when the current president Diosdado Macapagal declared that it was a day dedicated to the freedom and independence of the Philippines. The day was thus changed from being the Flag Day, to what it is known as today.

The main occurrence is the police/military parade in Manila. After the patriotic raising of the flag and public address by the President, there is a Parade involving high officials, and various performances/festivities are involved, including dancers, choirs, speechs, floats, marching bands and a 21-gun salute.

For those who don’t attend the parade however, Independence Day is spent usually with family and friends, whether it be inside at homes and malls, or outside in the street parades and parks, as both students and government related workers usually have the day off.

-Patrick

Sources of Images:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/infiniteshutter/3627685611/

http://blog.benetton.com/philippines/2012/06/12/maligayang-araw-ng-kalayaan/

Eid (Bayram)– Celebration and Completion of Fast (Ramadan) in Turkish Tradition

Eid (also known as Bayram in Turkish) is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide. This day marks the end of Ramadan and is celebrated for three days.

During this particular celebration, Muslims are required to give charity, which can be given in the form of food or money.

In the Turkish culture, it is a tradition for the men to pray ‘Eid al-Fitir’ prayer. This prayer is prayed an hour after sunrise in the mosque to appreciate and reflect the completion of Ramadan. Usually hundred of Muslims attend the mosque during the day.

In the Turkish culture, it is traditional to purchase new close for the occasion. I remember when I was a young child, buying new clothes was essential. I would look around for weeks, trying to find the best outfit to wear. Till today, I continue this tradition to look pretty for family and friends.

Every year, on the first day of Eid, my family will get together with grandparents, uncles/ aunties and cousins. We will have a barbeque and eat delicious Turkish traditional foods.  This includes Turkish baklava, which are prepared one day earlier. Without sweets in Eid, I personally don’t think ‘Eid’ can be the same. Sweets are a ‘must’ in the Turkish culture.

During this time, we will exchange gifts. Children would often be given money. Reflecting back at my childhood, I remember being ‘rich’ in Eid making $200-$300 with all sorts of gifts given.

'Iyi Bayramlar’ (Eid Mubarak in Arabic) is also said during the day to the Muslim community, as a sign of happy celebration.

As part of the Turkish tradition during Eid, it is required to kiss the elders hands as a sign of respect.

Reference of Pictures (in order):

1- http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/16/article-1056625-02AD29C900000578-567_468x416.jpg

2- http://portakalturkeytours.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/baklava-with-pistachios1.jpg

3- http://www.kardelen80.com/haber_uploads/591_maxi.jpg

4- http://files-cdn.formspring.me/photos/20120822/n5035333d6f6af.jpg

Christmas in the Philippines

Being a country that is predominantly Catholic, many Christian holidays are very popular, particularly Christmas. Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ in the Christian religion. Christmas Day is on the 25th of December every year, but festivities in the Philippines begin as early as September, and end around mid-January. Streets, malls and homes begin to fill out with various lights (including Paról (Christmas lanterns)) and parades that involve a variety of mascots, dancers, and Santa Claus himself!

Celebrations that occur include:

Christmas parties, often held in the weeks that lead up to Christmas Day amongst families and businesses. Some common activities that occur in these parties may include Monito/Monita (also known as Secret Santa or Kris Kringle), lots of eating, and sometimes even fireworks!

Simbang Gabi is a set of Masses that occur daily from roughly the 16th of December to Christmas Eve, in which families attend masses to show devotion to God, which are sometimes accompanied by food (at church or at home). It is believed that God grants special wishes of those who attend all 9 Masses.

Christmas Eve Mass, where families visit their Church at a time around or on Midnight, which is followed by Noche Buena, a feast often with close family that again involves lots of food (including Ham, varius pastas/fruit and Queso de bola (Spanish for “ball of cheese”)).

Christmas Day involves getting close with family, spending up to the whole day celebrating together, eating food, and playing various games/singing songs. A popular tradition is “Pagmamano”, where younger children respect their elders by bringing their elder’s hand to their hand, receiving their blessing, often followed by the giving of a crisp bill of money to the younger person.

In the end, Christmas for Filipinos are all about food (as you can probably tell), family, friends and God. The Christmas spirit overflows the country, and is a truly beautiful celebration.

-Patrick

Sources for images:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/05/world/asia/irpt-xmas-philippines-traditions http://beforeitsnews.com/travel/2011/12/misa-de-gallo-simbang-gabi-9-mornings-1508465.html

http://burntlumpia.typepad.com/burnt_lumpia/beer_liquor_wine/

http://denganda.wordpress.com/tag/pagmamano/

Holy Month, Ramadan. In a Turkish Household.

Every year in the month of Ramadan (also known as Ramazan in Turkish), Muslims fast from sunrise to senset. They abstain from eating and drinking including sexual relations. Although fasting is beneficial for the health and well-being, it is intended to educate Muslims in spiritual self-purification. It’s a period of time to cleanse the soul, ask forgiveness for previous sins, and focus in pleasing the God (known as Allah) by putting forward more prayers.

After sunset, Muslims will immediately break their fast. For the past 21 years of my life, my mother (who is born in Ankara, Turkey, and lived there for 18 years before settling in Australia) has always cooked the most amazing, delicious, traditional Turkish foods to break our fast at dawn. She would spend probably half her day cooking her ‘secret’ recipes. From my personal experience in Ramadan, I see the delicious foods that are cooked with delight more of a reward for our fasting during the day. Often the table would be covered with a variety of Turkish foods cooked by my mother.

My mother and aunties would often get together to cook certain Turkish dishes that require more effort and are more time consuming. These include the well known Turkish 'Manti' and 'Gozleme'

Manti- spicy mince meat

                               Gozleme- Made from dough which consists of either cheese and spinach or meat

After food has been eaten, Muslims would conduct special prayers called Tarawih in the Mosque (a worship place). Long portions of the Quran (religious scriptures) are recited. 

I am super excited to experience this years Ramadan which will commence on July the 9th, 2013.

Aysha Nur 

Reference (in order of pictures)
1- http://tmwthemword.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/women-praying.jpg

2- http://medya.todayszaman.com/todayszaman/2011/08/21/ramadan08.jpg

3- http://www.giverecipe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Turkish-Dumplings-Manti8.jpg
4- http://atcp.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/gozleme1.JPG

5- http://medya.todayszaman.com/todayszaman/2011/08/21/ramadan01.jpg

Holi (Festival Of Colours)

Holi is a traditional Indian event in celebration of colours.
This celebration consists of vibrant coloured powders, water, and white clothes....resulting in an exciting and messy festivity that takes a long time to clean up!
Regardless of the stained clothing, dry/dirty hair and having to scrub your skin to see its original colour, this cultural celebration is worth all the effort.
In Australia, to celebrate Holi is not as much of a momentous festival as it may be in India.  Many Indians living in Western countries have never had the opportunity to celebrate Holi. However the rarity of actually being able to celebrate it outside of India is unique, therefore the number of times people have celebrated Holi differ depending on the availability of this event in their location, though the celebration is run yearly in India on a grand scale. The event is for people of all ages so regardless everyone feels youthful and have fun.

Holi is all about creating a unity in differences. People of all backgrounds are able to participate. An example of this was the recent Macquarie University's INSC student group's Holi event. The indian group celebrated Holi together with both Indians and non-Indians. In fact, here is a picture of myself and my friend who is half Indian at the event:




The day is also about having fun and rejoicing in the beauties of colours that surround us, as well as reminding us to not take simple things in life for granted.







By the end, when everyone looks like confetti, it symbolises how we are all equal and elimates discrimination through joy, happiness, play, God and colour.






Happy Holi!
- Madhu
          -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REFERENCES for pictures (In Order of Appearance):

http://www.englishforum.ch/attachments/daily-life/39389-holi-holi-holi-holi3.jpg
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/holi2010_03_03/h16_22438875.jpg
http://static.indianexpress.com/pic/uploadedImages/bigImages/B_Id_370466_holi-old.jpg
[My own photo]
http://totallycoolpix.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/22032011_holi_day/holi_001.jpg

http://nandadevimountainsresort.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/holi-festival.jpg

Korean New Year

Seollal (설날) is the Korean New Year that falls on the first day of the lunar calendar. As with many Asian cultures, the lunar new year is more important and more celebrated than the solar new year of January 1. It is a 3-day holiday that begins with the new year's day, during which families gather to spend time and celebrate together. Even the male members of a family that are serving their two-year compulsory military service may be granted special leave to see family during Seol.

The lead-up to Seollal will see people rushing to supermarkets and department stores alike to shop for gifts and various food packages to share with family. The first and third days of Seollal will have most of the main roads across the country congested with traffic; either people travelling to their hometown or back home. It is common to see the family gathering taking place at the house of the eldest male child of the family, at which the extended family will gather. 

There are 3 main customs observed during Seollal. The first is the practice of eating ddeokguk (떡국) which is a plain soup with sliced pieces of rice cake as the main component. By having the ddeokguk, you turn a year older in Korea by the Korean age reckoning system. 

The second custom is that of sebae (세배) which is where children perform a traditional bow to their elders in their family, wishing them a happy new year. Traditionally, it is common practice to wear Korean traditional clothes called hanbok during sebae, and adults will give 'new year's money' to the children upon completion of sebae.

The third custom is that of charye (차례) where family will travel to the burial place of grandparents to perform an ancient rite, paying respect to the dead. However today, especially with Korea's high Christian populace, charye will most commonly involve visiting the graves to simply pay respect or pray for the deceased as opposed to the tea rituals of days gone by. 

Seollal is the biggest holiday on the Korean calendar; one that is celebrated with various festivities at folk villages, palaces, and even in metropolitan public spaces such as Gwanghamun Square in Seoul. Seol is a time of family, joy, and blessing.

-David

Sources:
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/80930749.jpg
http://d3q4n1mitqw7ms.cloudfront.net/luxetasy/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/cny_seollal_ddeokguk_itstonyhaha.jpg
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyahwgaige1qa8jdyo1_500
http://jetsettimes.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/p1040755.jpg

Our first post!

Hello culture lovers!

Welcome to the first post from Cultural Celebrations! This blog is intended to provide information to everyone on different festivities and parties that exist in the countries that we are from!

Our blog consists of four members:

• Patrick Abadilla – from the Philippines
• Aysha Nur – from Turkey
• David Lee – from Korea
• Madhumitha Manohar – from India

In the future, we hope that the design of our website will be as follows:

Click the photo for our storyboard and more details!

Each of us will seek to provide the most interesting and accurate information on our respective cultures possible!

Please feel free to take a look around!

-Patrick :)