Festival Previews Video Blog

As the New Year celebrations approach I thought we would take a look at the Okera-Mairi Festival.  This takes place at the Yasaka-jinja Shrine in Kyoto in Japan every New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  Fires are lit around the Shrine to medicinal herb’s roots called, Atractylis Ovata.  This symbolises the casting away of evil energy from the past year and warding in blessings of longevity for the coming year.  In attendance are beautifully dressed shrine maidens with the priests donning their elegant white robes all adding to the spiritual symbolism of this most prestigious of festivals.

Many of those attending the festival carry embers from the ceremonial fires to take to their homes to set their own home New Year fires.  They buy a thin straw rope which enables them to carry the life of the fire  from the shrine fires.  These ropes, which burn very slowly, can be quite expensive to purchase, but everybody needs to get one in order to light their home fires and the spiritual blessings they bestow. This is viewed as a small price to pay for a year of peace.  They believe that if you light your altars at home with these embers, and prepare a special chicken and vegetable broth called Zoni, then this will bring you a year of peace.

Once you have taken your embers from the ceremonial fires you can enjoy a pleasant walk through the park and the many stalls where you can pick up some great food such as sausages, candy floss and toffee apples.  In addition there are stalls selling holy arrows, amulets and great food as well.

Happy New Year!

Merry Xmas

 Staying with the theme of Turkey, the St Nicholas’ Festival is particularly fascinating.  To my surprise the original Santa Claus comes from Demre (previously known as Myra) in Turkey.  From a series of kind charitable acts, the legend of Santa Claus rose from humble origins to international fame.

St. Nicholas was a 4th century Christian Bishop.  He was known as St. Nicholas of Myra in the then province of Byzantine Anatolia which is now in modern day Turkey.  The story goes that he used to leave gifts for young women who did not have the means to get a wedding dowry.  In those days, with no dowry, a woman’s fate was to be sold into slavery or to work in the whore houses. As a wealthy man, St. Nicholas would go to the homes where these girls were living and throw a purse of money through the window.  It is said that they landed in shoes and stockings which were left drying by the fireside.  This led to our modern day custom of hanging Xmas stockings.  There are many stories of his great deeds from saving his people from famine to helping poor families, widows and children, especially orphans.  He was called Noel Baba, and today in the square in front of the church in Demre there is a large statue dedicated to him. He is portrayed as being a tall and thin man, not short and rotund as the Americanisation of Santa Claus has evolved.

St. Nicholas’ Festival is celebrated in his hometown with a bountiful feast which takes place at the Martyrium Church where the Saint’s tomb lies.  Pilgrims place candles on his crypt as the faithful honour the Saint who helped his peoples, especially the young.  There is a special non-denominational service held at the church and everyone is welcome to take part in the celebrations. The festival runs for four days and is great fun for all faiths, young and old.

St Nicholas’ tomb was a popular pilgimage site and many Christians felt access to it was becoming more and more difficult due to the many attacks and wars in the area.  To resolve this problem, Italian sailors made a large hole in the side of the tomb and spirited away his remains to Bari on the south east coast of Italy.  Luckily some bones were left in his tomb, and today some of St. Nicholas of Myra’s remains are to be found at the Antalya Museum.

From the middle ages to the present day, Santa Claus has become a much loved figure in the world.   His generosity and care, especially for the children continues to inspire the world.   As Turkey sits between Europe and Asia, its unique geographical position has borne  witness to so many past civilisations shaping its course and history.  Testament to this fact is that The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism brought The St Nicholas’ Festival into being in 2001.  This is certainly a growing contender to all the festivals celebrating St. Nicholas worldwide.

If you want to read a little more check out this neat little website on the history of Christmas.

Have a great holiday season!

Every December millions of people flock to Konya in Turkey to celebrate the Whirling Dervishes Festival.  Its very name conjures up a spiritual ceremony and meditative dance.  This festival is performed at the Museum of Mevlâna in Konya. It is held yearly to honour Mevlâna Celaleddin Rumi, the great  Anatolian philosopher and teacher. This mystic of Islam taught the importance of thinking positively, tolerance and being aware of God through love. The dances, which are over 700 years old, are performed every year on the 10th to17th December, the week prior to the anniversary of the Mevlâna’s death.  He also believed that a greater union with God could be found through dance.

At the beginning of the Whirling Dervishes Festival the dancers begin by marching around the hall three times. Each march represents something different in reference to the knowledge of God, seeing God and the truth of unity. The Whirling Dervishes are quite beautiful to behold as they whirl around with their long white skirts which spin wide open.  Especially beautiful is the reed flute (known as the ney) as it mystically creates a meditative aura making you feel the music becoming part of you.

This dance is quite an astounding feat of endurance for the dancers themselves.  Great symbolism is attached to the dance as well as through the dance attire. The cone shaped hat is supposed to represent a gravestone, their cloaks represent a coffin, and the white skirt is meant as a shroud. This entire dance, when put altogether is supposed to symbolize a union with God because the ego has died. The dancers raise their right hand up to receive the goodness of God, and the left-hand points down in order to distribute this goodness to the earth. As a spectator you can’t help being caught up in the spiritual and moving atmosphere of this beautiful festival.

The Festival tends to be quite a large one for all of the local people of Konya even during the usual sub-zero temperatures.  There are posters publicising the festival hanging from shop window which are colourfully laden with figurines and Dervish lamp-stands throwing light and colour into the cold air. Muslims and non-Muslims are all welcome to see the Whirling Dervishes perform their most ancient of dances.  Women are requested to bring a headscarf and cover themselves respectfully and tend to be seated apart from the men during the ceremonies.  If you ever fancy seeing the Whirling Dervishes I am told you need to book early!

If you are looking for a really unique festival, how about a trip to Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, Indonesia for the Kasada Festival.  Mount Bromo in Eastern Java is a volcano and an active member of the Pacific Rim of Fire.  The geography of Indonesia is dominated by volcanoes and earthquakes. It is here that the festivities take place, and if you’re looking for a volcanic festival then this is definitely the place you want to be. You’ll enjoy both Indonesian culture as well as a look at their religious beliefs.  Having seen the beautiful Hawaiian homages to Pele I can well imagine the exquisite beauty of this uniquely Asian Festival.  Indonesians have a high regard for nature gods, and if you’re in the area this December, you should definitely go see this most unique festival for yourself. This year it is held on the fourteenth of December.

Mount Bromo is situated between Surabaya and Bali and is one of the most popular major tourist attractions of Indonesia. It’s a very famous volcanic mountain with a deep crater that draws the people there for the Kasada Festival. The mountain is 2,329 meters high and the locals go there for the festival in order to pay tribute to their ancestors and to offer prayers. Offerings such as a bull, a chicken or fruits and vegetables are given to the God of Bromo.

Different people from the area attend the celebrations, but it’s mostly the Tenggerese farmers that attend the festivities. Commencing at midnight the climb begins to the crater as they tell their desires to the God of Bromo and toss their offerings into the volcano. Some tourists come to take part with the locals. The locals also climb Mount Bromo when they see sulphur fumes emitting from the craters or when they hear any rumbling. This is usually a dormant volcano and they want it to stay that way, hence their offerings to keep the volcano from erupting.

The Kasada Festival is a religious festival and one of the most popular in Indonesia. If you’re planning a trip theere at this time of year, you’ll find it one of the more fascinating festivals to see the Indonesians worshiping their God. Not only will you be able to take part in the festival, but you’ll also see the spectacular views which are quite overwhelming. Be sure to wear warm clothing when you attend and take care near the edge of the crater, this way you are sure to have a great time and wonderful memories.

A mini one-night festival of blues and jazz takes place on Wednesday 10th December at The Lot in Edinburgh.  Hosted by Todd Gordon it marks the launch of  Jazz International’s new monthly concert season with all proceeds from this charity event going to The Drake Music School.

Music is such an emotional thing yet technical skill is required to play well.  The Drake Music School in Scotland is a charity organisation that enables children and adults with learning disabilities to play, learn and compose music.  Through the use of computers, software, sensors and multiple switches, even the most disabled can learn to play music.  And now using Fingernotes, a revolutionary music notational script developed by two Finnish musicians, Markku Kaikkonen and Kaarlo Uusitalo, their work takes music education to the next level.

Using a system of colours and shapes, their work has evolved to show that it not only assists those with learning disabilities but opens up the learning of music to pre-school and adults, not previously fortunate to embrace music .  Their teaching methods are currently being used across Italy, Japan, Estonia and now the Drake Music School, who wish to take a pilot scheme across Scotland.

Performing at The Lot on the 10th  to raise funds for this most worthy of charities are Tam White, Haftor Medbøe, David Patrick, Konrad Wiszniewski, Lorna Reid, Jess Abrams (Lorna Reid & Jess Abrams), Euan Burton, Cathie Rae, Malcolm MacFarlane, Claire Daly, Stuart Brown, Paul Harrison and many more.  Don’t miss this superb evening of entertainment from so many talented and generous musicians.