Festival Previews Video Blog

Thanks to Jena Werner Photography.

The Hawaiian archipelago is one of the most remote group of islands on the face of this beautiful planet. Being culturally and ethnically diverse, with many residents of mixed ancestry, the variety of traditions practiced on the island offer up an exquisite melting pot creating their own unique set of traditions.

Come the New Year, Hawai’i welcomes it in with an explosive bang, feasting and greeting. You just cannot have a quiet New Year in Hawai’i. Thousands upon thousands of fire crackers are set off on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; the air is ricocheted with blasts of noise, flashing lights and plumes of smoke which resemble an eerie pea soup fog in the early hours of the New Year’s morning with spent casings littering the ground. Apparently it was the early Chinese immigrants who first brought this tradition to the islands in the 19th century; the letting off of fire crackers was originally meant to scare off evil spirits.

We spent six wonderful years on the Big Island of Hawai’i, four of them, dare I say, in one of the inside rooms of our rented house with two children who were petrified by the noise of fire crackers going off all around us. Permits allow each person to purchase up to 5,000 fire crackers which they would tie on the top of tall bamboo poles and place at 45 degrees in their gardens. Sometimes sitting under canvas shelters eating and drinking outside with family and friends, the New Year was heralded in with a loud rejoicing welcome!

Have a great New Year’s celebration to all our wonderful friends in Hawai’i.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou (how-OH-lee mah-kah-hee-kee ho) to all.

In the early 1980’s I lived and worked in Sydney and count myself as being extremely fortunate to have experienced New Year’s Eve in Sydney. This is one of the most lavish displays of aerial entertainment you could ever experience.

The firing of the Fort Denison cannon at 1pm starts off the celebrations of ringing out the Old Year and welcoming in the New Year. Every hour on the hour the cannon fires on its countdown towards midnight. Like the tolling of the bell, the countdown offers up not one, but two firework displays with the larger one at midnight; the Family Fireworks and Harbour of Light Parade which take place at 9 pm and the magnificent Sydney Bridge Fireworks display at midnight.

New Year’s Eve on Sydney’s Harbour Bridge is just awesome, it is one of the most spectacular fireworks displays I have ever seen. Unique in that there are so many advantage points around the bay to stake your claim to, so long as you get there early.

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Day in Japan is one of the most important annual events. One of the most wonderful traditions is the eating noodles which is associated with longevity; people who eat noodles at the end of a year do so in the hope of living a long and fulfilled life.

I visited Japan many years ago as a child and have always found it a most fascinating place. We called into the ports of Kobe, Yokohama and Tokyo on the old Oriana when air travel was not so prevalent in the mid-1960’s as it is today. We were traveling from the South Pacific to the UK on inter-tour leave. Normally inter-tour leave got you from A to B directly, however my wonderful mother who was a nurse saved all her beanies and planned extended trips back to the UK; what we missed in education, we gained travelling the world!

Japan is amazingly traditional and yet so westernised in its lifestyle and this is always the great fascination. As the clock approaches midnight the bells toll at Buddhist temples; each bell is tolled 108 times - they believe that a human being has 108 worldly desires and the tolling of the bells will drive them out. At midnight the Shinto shrines are the center for all to pay homage, pray and wish for good luck for the coming year. New Year cards are delivered exactly on the 1st January and children look forward to New Year gifts of otoshidama (cash). Much feasting and family get togethers make New Year’s Day in Japan a wonderful traditional celebration.

I will be eating my lovely bowl of noodles as usual!

Akemashite Omedetougozaimasu Japan!

The Fireball Festival is one of the most spectacular new year ceremonies and takes place in Stonehaven which is just south of Aberdeen on the North East coast of Scotland. This festival dates dates back to pre-Christian times where it is believed to be linked to the Winter Solstice.

Giant fireballs are made by the local residents of the Burgh (the local area of the town). They wrap chicken wire around a mass of combustible materials to the approximate size of a football and attach strong wielded ropes to them. Quality control is important here and each one is throughly checked for its sturdiness.

The fireballs represent the power of the sun driving out all the evil spirits lurking in all the nooks and crannies of the town. At the stroke of midnight the Town House bell chimes, a pipe band swirls the air with rousing music and the fireballs are lit. 60 strong local residents called “fireball swingers” march through the town to the harbour swinging these fireballs over their heads to speed the Old Year on its way and to herald in the New Year. The grand finale is when these flaming orbs of spiritual entrapment are thrown into the sea and the townsfolk party into the early hours of the morning.

The Stonehaven Fireballs Association have videos and a webcam which you can view on their website. Also check out the Aberdeenshire Council webcam which shows the gathering area and where the fireballs are thrown into the sea (high tide permitting).

If you do go, remember to wear old clothes, there are sparks, smoke and bits in the air. Hope for good weather as this is Scotland after all!!

Near the small country town of Woodford, approximately 70 Km north of the city of Brisbane, one of Australia’s largest cultural events take place - the uniquely Australian, Woodford Folk Festival. Melissa Western in her 10 Questions interview mentions the Woodford Folk Festival as one of her favourite festivals to attend.

This very Aussie festival runs for six exciting days and nights from the 27th December to the 1st January and is one mega awesome way to bring in the New Year. Many musical art forms take the stage from folk culture to late night cabaret with comedians and artists all showcasing their talents to 130,000 plus visitors.

The Woodford Folk Festival is not your usual urban metropolis showcase of talent, but a festival that takes place in the wide open spaces surrounded by a luscious rural forest. As you can imagine, thousands of festival goers camp on-site and enjoy the full spectacle of the festival both night and day which culminates in a New Year’s Day closing ceremony - what a spectacular way to bring in the New Year!

The site is also home to The Dreaming Festival which took place earlier in the year, 8th - 11th June. This three day, four night festival is Australia’s Annual International Indigenous Festival.

For more details about the Woodford Folk Festival and the festival’s line up, please check out their website. Have a great festival!