Preston Guild
History celebration, dates back to 1179.
Every 20 years, evolves a lot each time.
'Plays an important role in the developing of Preston as a thriving and important Lancashire city.'
Everybody in the city gets involved as well as obviously lots of visitors who visit especially - residents, artists, businesses, athletes, performancers.
The focus is the people, it's important to a lot of them.
King Henry II gave Preston the right to have a Guild Merchant in 1179 - survived through it's celebrations and processions: colourful costumes, banners, emblems of each trade. Became increasingly popular, the church began processions.
More and more events, crowds - circuses, fairs, travelling comedians, exhibitions.
Balloon ascents began, banquets, costume balls.
Easy for people to arrange their own events and take part in a procession.
Only guild still celebrated in the UK today.
Preston City Council very dedicated to it and 'other public sector organisations.'
Directed at everybody - there is something for everyone and the whole city takes part.
Glastonbury
Largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world.
Tries to incorporate as many festival elements into it as it can.
Distinct 'socio-geographic' regions - e.g. Pyramid, the Dance stages, Jazzworld, Acoustic areas, Kidz field, Theatre and Circus fields, Field of Avalon, Tipi Field, Green Fields.
Sacred Space - a stone circle.
Location - 900 acres in the Vale of Avalon, site with a lot of symbolism based there.
Mellow, friendly atmosphere - so many different types of people go there.
'Strange things' happen, some planned, some spontaneous and crazy.
The website advises people not to come with a plan of what to see, but to also be spontaneous and just 'go with the flow.'
The website's 'last instruction' is to 'forget all instructions' which shows the spirit of the festival - directed at young people - although there is a lot of variety in the areas, - quite wild.
Largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world.
Tries to incorporate as many festival elements into it as it can.
Distinct 'socio-geographic' regions - e.g. Pyramid, the Dance stages, Jazzworld, Acoustic areas, Kidz field, Theatre and Circus fields, Field of Avalon, Tipi Field, Green Fields.
Sacred Space - a stone circle.
Location - 900 acres in the Vale of Avalon, site with a lot of symbolism based there.
Mellow, friendly atmosphere - so many different types of people go there.
'Strange things' happen, some planned, some spontaneous and crazy.
The website advises people not to come with a plan of what to see, but to also be spontaneous and just 'go with the flow.'
The website's 'last instruction' is to 'forget all instructions' which shows the spirit of the festival - directed at young people - although there is a lot of variety in the areas, - quite wild.
Kumbh Mela
'The world's most massive act of faith,' the greatest spiritual festival in the world.
Millions of hindus, rich and poor, gather at the Ganges River to go on a massive pilgrimage every 3 years. The Purma (complete) Kumbh takes place every 12 years at 4 different places and the Maha (great) Kumbh Mela comes after 144 years at Allahabad.
In 2007, more than 70 million pilgrims gathered for the pilgrimage.
The major event of the festival is the ritual bathing at the banks of the river at the town it's being held. Other activities include: religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardized.
Celebrated at different locations depending on position of Jupiter and the Sun.
Kumbha is the a zodiac sign in Indian astrology for Aquarius, the sign the festival is celebrated under.
First evidence is 629-645 CE, accounts of the Chinese traveler Huan Tsang.
The account is that a battle ensued between the Gods and demons for the pot of Amrita, and during the battle, Lord Vishnu flew away with the Kumbha of elixir spilling drops of Amrita in four places, Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.
Obviously this festival is directed at Hindus and is very important to them.
Bolton Big Weekend
The (small) towns biggest event of recent years, at Leverhulme Park.
Organised by Henry Hill of Northwest Funfairs.
Supported a lot by the people of Bolton.
Trying to incorporate in the different areas of the place idea - part of the park transformed into a 'beach,' there are bungee jumps, quad bike races, tank rides, a modern and vintage car show, a motorbike stunt display team, morris dancers and a dog show.
Renowned boxing champion Amir Khan opened the event last year, and two stars of the ITV Soap, Emmerdale, also attended.
Had 4,500 attendants.
Aimed at residents of Bolton and the nearby areas, trying to get the community together and have fun.
'The world's most massive act of faith,' the greatest spiritual festival in the world.
Millions of hindus, rich and poor, gather at the Ganges River to go on a massive pilgrimage every 3 years. The Purma (complete) Kumbh takes place every 12 years at 4 different places and the Maha (great) Kumbh Mela comes after 144 years at Allahabad.
In 2007, more than 70 million pilgrims gathered for the pilgrimage.
The major event of the festival is the ritual bathing at the banks of the river at the town it's being held. Other activities include: religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardized.
Celebrated at different locations depending on position of Jupiter and the Sun.
Kumbha is the a zodiac sign in Indian astrology for Aquarius, the sign the festival is celebrated under.
First evidence is 629-645 CE, accounts of the Chinese traveler Huan Tsang.
The account is that a battle ensued between the Gods and demons for the pot of Amrita, and during the battle, Lord Vishnu flew away with the Kumbha of elixir spilling drops of Amrita in four places, Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.
Obviously this festival is directed at Hindus and is very important to them.
Bolton Big Weekend
The (small) towns biggest event of recent years, at Leverhulme Park.
Organised by Henry Hill of Northwest Funfairs.
Supported a lot by the people of Bolton.
Trying to incorporate in the different areas of the place idea - part of the park transformed into a 'beach,' there are bungee jumps, quad bike races, tank rides, a modern and vintage car show, a motorbike stunt display team, morris dancers and a dog show.
Renowned boxing champion Amir Khan opened the event last year, and two stars of the ITV Soap, Emmerdale, also attended.
Had 4,500 attendants.
Aimed at residents of Bolton and the nearby areas, trying to get the community together and have fun.
Biennale di Venezia
Biennale - Italian for "every other year." Usually used to describe an international contemporary art festival, one of the most famous of which is the Venice Biennale.
Foundation in 1895, it promotes new artistic trends and organises internation contemporary arts events.
Now has an attendance of over 370,000.
In the 1930's, gained 3 more festivals within it - Music, Cinema and Theatre - and in 1980 the first Architecture Exhibition, and in 1999 an exhibtion of Dance began there.
The art biennale is for press and professionals only, this year the show being ILLUMInations and featuring 83 artists from round the world.
23% of visitors to the last Architecture exhibition were students.
Films can be submitted to the Film festival a long as they fit to regulations.
The Music Biennale features a series of workshops for Italian composers.
The Theatre one also features workshops, as well as conferences, meetings and panels.
Cannes film festival
The "Festival de Cannes" draws attention to and raises the profile of films, The Official Selection choosing the films to display there. This is split into two main ones, the Competition and the Un Certain Regard, the first focusing on "arthouse cinema with a wide audience appeal," the latter focusing on works that have "an original aim and aesthetic."
It also tries to bring back to life films that are important to the history of cinema and visitors can attend lessons, tributes, exhibitons etc.
There's a separate section within the Competition for short films.
The Camera d'Or is awarded to the "best film presented either in the Official Selection, during Directors' Fortnight or during the Samaine de la Critique.
The films selected come from around the world and the website can be viewed in 8 languages.
The Marche du Film is part of it, with 34 screening rooms and about 10,000 participants came to the most recent, focuses on promoting the cultural and economic nature of cinema. It states itself an oppurtunity for bringing together the entire industry, the ideal setting to develop projects, promote co-productions and find financial partners.
The festival is for film professionals only, but the opening film for the festival was released in French cinemas on the same day as released there, and the Cinema de la Plage is an outdoor cinema screening a different film every night.
