Add Colour, Culture & Creativity to Your Family Getaway with These Asian Festivals
Treat your senses with captivating sights, sounds and tastes.Taking a beach holiday, seeing amazing landscapes, and going on a jungle safari are excellent activities for families on vacation. For families with kids, going to a favourite resort, with many options for swimming and relaxing, is a tradition that guarantees a great time especially for the little ones. Nevertheless, if you want to add a little creativity to your holidays, the upcoming months present an array of festivals that will excite your family.
Mid-Autumn Festival (September)
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for Chinese families to gather, share mooncakes, and give thanks whilst witnessing the brightest and roundest moon of the season. It is the perfect time for families to spend a joyous reunion and partake of mooncakes. Elsewhere, celebrations are slightly different.
While dragon dances, colourful lanterns and mooncakes remain ubiquitous, the Chinese in other Asian countries celebrate a bit differently. The Vietnamese-Chinese put the emphasis on children and are even known to call it “Children’s Festival” because of their belief that the purity of children puts them closest to the sacred and natural world. The Indonesian-Chinese also celebrate by visiting the Sanggar Angung Temple in Surabaya and writing wishes on lanterns.
In South Korea, the festival is called “Thanksgiving Day,” marked by giving gifts to families and friends, and preparing muffins in the shape of a moon instead of the usual mooncake. With a predominantly Chinese population, Singaporeans also observe Mid-Autumn Festival with a tradition of thanksgiving, and they express well wishes by giving mooncakes to family, friends and business partners. Like the Vietnamese, Singaporeans celebrate this day with focus on the children who take part in the festivities by carrying lanterns.
Vegetarian Festival (October)
The Vegetarian Festival in Thailand is remarkable for its focus on seasonal vegetarian dishes and processions that showcase the uniqueness of the festival. The 10-day festival is rooted in the Chinese community’s belief in cleansing the mind and body via abstinence from meat and stimulants. While it highlights vegetarian fare – requiring those who wish to take part to give up meat, fish and dairy – the festival’s colourful processions draw everyone’s attention.
Experiencing the Vegetarian Festival is a great way to immerse yourself in Thai culture as the festival is widely observed nationwide. It is an especially anticipated event in Phuket where rituals include temple dances, raising the Lantern Pole, wearing white, and holding street processions. These colourful parades provide a visual spectacle unlike other festival processions in the world. Families looking to experience the festival from a strictly culinary perspective can do so by enjoying the great variety of vegetarian cuisine sold throughout key Thai cities, mainly Bangkok and Phuket.
Bali Kites Festival (October)
The Bali Kites Festival, typically starting in July and continuing in certain parts of Bali through to October, offers a different Bali experience. The kite-filled event is held as a way of giving thanks to the Hindu Gods (it is the Island of Gods, after all!) for blessing them with an abundant harvest as well as asking the same Gods to continue blessing them with rich crops.
The kites on display during the festival are some of the most elaborate and creatively designed kites you will ever see. Families and especially kids can look up as kites in the shape of giant fish, exotic birds and other fascinating designs take over the blue Bali skies whilst participants, their supervisors and spectators cheer. A joyful crowd, an energetic community of locals and tourists and, of course, the stunning spectacle of kites are just some of the reasons you should take the family to Bali and witness its famed Kites Festival.
