- Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee
- Spargelfest Asparagus Festivals
- Las Fallas Fire Festival
- Kirschblütenfeste Cherry-Blossom Festivals
- Songkran Water Festival
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| How far will a cheered bullfrog jump? (Zyx1230107) |
Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee
In a strange case of fiction-turned-reality, Calaveras County celebrates spring with a jumping-frog contest.
The contest can be traced back to author Mark Twain, who penned "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in a gold rush-era cabin. Based on an overheard story of miners gambling on how far a frog would jump, this folk-tale inspired work established him as a fiction writer... and led to the creation of the California bullfrog jumping competition.
Contestants place their bullfrog on a starting lily-pad and then sing, dance, or generally make noise to get the frog to jump. "Frog jockeys" are not allowed to touch their animal once it's on the pad, so making sure the amphibians are in prime jumping condition beforehand is crucial. The animals need to be warm (cold frogs don't jump anywhere near as far) and even more importantly, should be as wild as possible - it seems that highly domesticated frogs tend to jump much shorter distances.
A carefully managed jumping frog can travel around 7" in a hop... but it's all for nothing if the frog doesn't jump in the same direction each time - the winner is determined by how far from the pad the frog is at the end of their third jump. The whole event is regulated by a frog welfare policy, to make sure the amphibians don't have a bad time!
Spargelfest Asparagus Festivals
Do you like asparagus? If so, you might like Spargelfest - a German celebration dedicated to the vegetable.
White asparagus (the "spargel") is harvested underground using a special knife. To celebrate asparagus season, some villages and towns hold an asparagus festival (basically an agricultural and cooking fair) featuring the crowning of the "Spargel Königin" or asparagus queen. It's not just rural areas that have the tradition either - one planned 2025 Berlin event is advertising over 100 booths, with the reigning Spargel Königin present to answer any asparagus-related questions visitors may have!
The first documented Spargelfest was held in Schwetzingen near Heidelberg in the 18th century. That said, the vegetable is thought to have been considered a delicacy in the era of the Roman Empire... so versions of the celebration could have occurred much earlier.
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| The star of Sparglefest... (Couleur) |
Las Fallas Fire Festival
For a nineteen-day long celebration featuring massive burning sculptures, the Valencian "las Fallas" has surprisingly humble origins. It comes from an old carpentry tradition, when workers used to use bits of cast-off wood to prop up their workshop lanterns during the dark of winter... and once spring arrived, the cast-offs would be burned. When bits of rag and other rubbish were added to the fire, the burning wood could look a bit like a person.
While fireworks displays happen through the full nineteen days, the Fallas are constructed overnight by shifts of workers. Each is a massive work of art, often satirizing recent events. Prizes are handed out to the most impressive constructions... but on the 19th of March they are burned as the festival finale!
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| Slightly surreal... (Kevin Krüger) |
Kirschblütenfeste Cherry-Blossom FestivalsCherry blossoms are usually linked with Japan, but each spring Germany plays host to Kirschblütenfeste (cherry blossom festivals) associated with the blooming trees.
The festivals have their roots in post-reunification Germany. The Japanese television station TV-Asahi held a fund-raising drive, with the goal of planting Japanese cherry trees and bringing a bit of cheer to the bleak, post-cold war country. They raised enough for around 9,000 trees - enough to put a significant pink presence in Berlin.
The first site planted was Glienicke Bridge in 1990 - the location was once known as the bridge of spies, since it was used to exchange captured intelligence agents during the Cold War. For a few days in spring, the Kirschblütenfeste can be seen throughout Berlin, Bonn, Munich and Hamburg.
Songkran Water Festival
Situated past the mid-April rice harvest, the Thai festival Songkran is a combination celebration and water-fight. Pouring scented water on sacred images and sculptures is an important part of the festival, as it symbolically purifies them and hopefully brings good fortune.
Less solemn are the traditions of splashing water on friends and family during the event. This practice extends beyond the household and out into street parades... which also include elephants. While everyone can expect to get damp, people near the elephants are likely to get drenched by the playful pachyderms - conveniently placed barrels provide them with trunk-loads of ammunition for the water fight!
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