Festivals Around the World

Published July 16, 2012
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Royce Kauffman blows through an artist's sculpted “trombone fish” Saturday, July 14, 2012, at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Big Pine Key, Fla. About 300 divers and snorkelers listened to a local radio station's four-hour broadcast piped beneath the sea via underwater speakers suspended from boats. Photo by AP
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Royce Kauffman blows through an artist's sculpted “trombone fish” Saturday, July 14, 2012, at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary off Big Pine Key, Fla. About 300 divers and snorkelers listened to a local radio station's four-hour broadcast piped beneath the sea via underwater speakers suspended from boats. Photo by AP
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, divers strum on artist's marine-themed musical instruments Saturday, July 14, 2012, at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. About 300 divers and snorkelers listened to a local radio station's four-hour broadcast piped beneath the sea via underwater speakers suspended from boats. Photo by AP.
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, divers strum on artist's marine-themed musical instruments Saturday, July 14, 2012, at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. About 300 divers and snorkelers listened to a local radio station's four-hour broadcast piped beneath the sea via underwater speakers suspended from boats. Photo by AP.
Women in traditional summer kimonos costumes look at paper lanterns during the annual Mitama festival at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo July 13, 2012. About 3,000 paper lanterns are lit to comfort the souls of dead during the annual festival at the shrine where more than 2.4 million war dead are enshrined. Photo by Reuters
Women in traditional summer kimonos costumes look at paper lanterns during the annual Mitama festival at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo July 13, 2012. About 3,000 paper lanterns are lit to comfort the souls of dead during the annual festival at the shrine where more than 2.4 million war dead are enshrined. Photo by Reuters
#4 Visitor walk in front of paper lanterns during the annual Mitama festival at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo July 13, 2012. Photo by Reuters
#4 Visitor walk in front of paper lanterns during the annual Mitama festival at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo July 13, 2012. Photo by Reuters
An Indian Muslim arranges prepared Rakhis for the forthcoming Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan at his cottage industry in Millatnagar area of Ahmedabad on July 15, 2012.  Celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters is the Hindu festival of Rakshabandhan which will be celebrated across India and abroad on August 2, 2012.  Photo by AFP
An Indian Muslim arranges prepared Rakhis for the forthcoming Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan at his cottage industry in Millatnagar area of Ahmedabad on July 15, 2012. Celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters is the Hindu festival of Rakshabandhan which will be celebrated across India and abroad on August 2, 2012. Photo by AFP
Eighty year-old Indian Muslim, Pirubhai Rakhiwale,(C), along with his family members and relatives, prepares Rakhis for the forthcoming Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan at his cottage industry in Millatnagar area of Ahmedabad on July 15, 2012.  Photo by AFP
Eighty year-old Indian Muslim, Pirubhai Rakhiwale,(C), along with his family members and relatives, prepares Rakhis for the forthcoming Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan at his cottage industry in Millatnagar area of Ahmedabad on July 15, 2012. Photo by AFP
A graffiti artist sprays paint as he works on a mural during the annual Urban Creatures Festival in Sofia on July 14, 2012.   Photo by AFP
A graffiti artist sprays paint as he works on a mural during the annual Urban Creatures Festival in Sofia on July 14, 2012. Photo by AFP
An elderly woman walks by graffiti during the annual Urban Creatures Festival in Sofia on July 14, 2012.   Photo by AFP
An elderly woman walks by graffiti during the annual Urban Creatures Festival in Sofia on July 14, 2012. Photo by AFP
Spanish matador Juan Jose Padilla performs a pass with a cape next to a Torrehandilla bull during the last corrida of the San Fermin Festival, on July 14, 2012, in the Northern Spanish city of Pamplona. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. Photo by AFP
Spanish matador Juan Jose Padilla performs a pass with a cape next to a Torrehandilla bull during the last corrida of the San Fermin Festival, on July 14, 2012, in the Northern Spanish city of Pamplona. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. Photo by AFP
Revellers raise red scarves and candles as they sing the song 'Pobre de Mi', marking the end of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona early on July 15, 2012. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. Photo By AFP
Revellers raise red scarves and candles as they sing the song 'Pobre de Mi', marking the end of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona early on July 15, 2012. The festival is a symbol of Spanish culture that attracts thousands of tourists to watch the bull runs despite heavy condemnation from animal rights groups. Photo By AFP
A woman plays in the mud during the Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, about 190 km (118 miles) southwest of Seoul, July 15, 2012. About 2 to 3 million domestic and international tourists visit the beach during the annual mud festival, according to the festival organisers. Photo by Reuters
A woman plays in the mud during the Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, about 190 km (118 miles) southwest of Seoul, July 15, 2012. About 2 to 3 million domestic and international tourists visit the beach during the annual mud festival, according to the festival organisers. Photo by Reuters
People play in the mud during the Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, about 190 km (118 miles) southwest of Seoul, July 15, 2012. About 2 to 3 million domestic and international tourists visit the beach during the annual mud festival, according to the festival organisers. Photo by Reuters
People play in the mud during the Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, about 190 km (118 miles) southwest of Seoul, July 15, 2012. About 2 to 3 million domestic and international tourists visit the beach during the annual mud festival, according to the festival organisers. Photo by Reuters
Artists set up a 10 meter high straw art installation of a phoenix during the 7th Straw - Land Art Festival in Osijek east Croatia, July 15, 2012. Twenty artists from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Mexico made 20 art installations using 30 tons of straw. Photo by Reuters
Artists set up a 10 meter high straw art installation of a phoenix during the 7th Straw - Land Art Festival in Osijek east Croatia, July 15, 2012. Twenty artists from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Mexico made 20 art installations using 30 tons of straw. Photo by Reuters
A straw art installation is displayed during the 7th Straw - Land Art Festival in Osijek east Croatia, July 15, 2012. Twenty artists from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Mexico made 20 art installations using 30 tons of straw. Photo by Reuters
A straw art installation is displayed during the 7th Straw - Land Art Festival in Osijek east Croatia, July 15, 2012. Twenty artists from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Mexico made 20 art installations using 30 tons of straw. Photo by Reuters

A host of festivals took place all over the world during the weekend, from the Mitama Matsuri Festival in Tokyo, where around 3000 paper lanterns were lit at the Yasukuni shrine to comfort the souls of the 2.4 million people killed at war, to the Underwater Music Festival  in Florida where about 300 divers and snorkelers tuned in to a local radio station’s four hour broadcast underwater.  In Pamplona, Spain, galloping bulls attracted thousands as they ran between crowds during the annual festival of San Fermin on the 14th of July while preparations for the upcoming Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan were underway in Ahmedabad, India. On July 14th, graffiti artists were hard at work turning walls into works of art during the Urban Creatures Festival in Sofia and in Croatia, structures made by twenty artists out of straw were displayed at the Land Art Festival on July 15th 2012, while in Boreyong the same day, a Mud Festival took place at the Daecheon Beach.

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