10 great winter festivals

Celebrating in chilly weather has a distinct effect - at least those(like myself) living in hot areas agree with me. Just think of crackers glittering and glitters crackling in the background of a dark, starry, chilly night. Already have your taste-buds asking for a hot chocolate cake? Well, I can't make that happen, but surely I will take you to a fun journey to the amazing list of festivals celebrated in cold, and I mean, really cold weather. Here's a list of great festivals held in winter, in already-cold places of our planet, and I am not listing all the famous ones, just the ones which do justice with chilly celebration in winter:

Christmas(Finnish Lapland) 

Joulupukki, home of the Father Chistmas, is definitely the most alluring of winter festivals to see. The Finnish Christmas, Joulu, follows traditions of Christmas trees and the Advent calendars.Celebration starts on 23rd December, involving gift-giving and eating traditional meals, followed by a hot sauna.Christmas Day is reserved for a quiet day and the holidays end after the 26th, St. Stephen's Day (tapaninpäivä).

Dōngzhì Festival (China and some East asian Countries)

Dongzhi festival is the celebration of winter solstice and hence the return of longer daylight hours. Fun activities include making and eating of tangyuan, a gluten rice dumpling that is colored and is presented to relatives. It is more common in northern China ,which is much colder and is said to keep them away from frost in the upcoming winter. In Southern China, a meal of rice and red beans is made to drive away ghost spirits.In Taiwan, many people take some of the rice dumplings that have been used as offerings to ancestors and stick them on the back of the door to ward off evil spirits from coming close to children.


Igloofest, Montreal (Music and Dance Fest)

 Started in 2007 with a show-up of 4,000 electronic music players and fans, Igloofest is the street celebration of music (mostly electronic) and dance and this year the crowd gathered under the stars at the Quays of the Old Port of Montréal has expanded to a whopping 85,000 fans dancing to the tunes of electronic DJ's from around the world, becoming an outdoor winter rave. The event became so wide that in the 2013 fest, the organizers extended the 3-weekend celebration to a 4-weekend carnival. Igloofest is expected to run January 15 to February 7, 2015 (dates to be confirmed). Come January, it takes a certain level of guts to play a set at Igloofest, with Montreal's wind chill in full blast.


 Halloween (Christian)

Halloween is a christian festival of remembering the souls of all saints and faithful people and marking the beginning of winter. Many believe it to be stemmed from the union of  Samhain (an old Gaelic festival pronounced "saw-in" or "sah-win") and All Saints'/All Souls' Day. Modern Halloween is celebrated across almost all christian-dominated regions by carving jack-o'-lantern (representing the souls of the dead), lighting bonfires, watching horror movies, having parties with frightening costumes and playing pranks with each other.


 Hogmanay (Scottish New Year)

 It is the  last day of the Scottish Gregorian calender. The roots of Hogmanay perhaps reach back to the celebration of the winter solstice, as well as incorporating customs from the Gaelic celebration of Samhain.


 


Kiruna Snow Festival (Sweden)

 Europe’s largest snow festival takes place 140km above the Arctic Circle in the Lapland town of Kiruna, a northern region of Sweden and an important iron mine industry of Sweden. It is also home to the Kiruna Snow festival, which started in 1985 after the launch of the Sewdish Viking satellite. It is basically a snow-sculpting festival and draws sculpting artists from all over the world.



Jutajaiset Folklore Festival (Rovaniemi, Northern Finland)

This thrilling and scintillating amalgamation of culture, talent and fondness of the arts takes place in Rovaniemi a week after midsummer. The Midnight Sun provides an all-embracing backdrop to a colourful festival of traditional Lappish folk musicians, leading Finnish contemporary folk artists and world music.

       Quebec Winter Carnival (Canada)

     This one has the potential to be called as one of the largest winter fests to be celebrated in an around the magical (and chilly) city of Quebec. Being held without fail since 1955, the year from which festival mascot Bonhomme started. Activities include dogsled, canoe races,outdoor dance parties and feasts. But the most scintillating feature is the night-time and daytime parades led by mascot Bonhomme Carnaval.The next fest will take place from Jan 30 to Feb 15, 2015.

Harbin Ice and Snow Festival (China)

 It is the largest ice and snow carving festival in the world. Native to  Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, it is celebrated annually starting from january 5th and lasting for a month. Snow sculptures can be seen anywhere, but there are two main areas where snow-art is displayed: Sun Island and Ice and Snow World. Other places are Sun Island Scenic Area, Yabuli International Ski Resort and Zhaolin Park among others. Started in 1963, you can see monuments to the size of mini-towns being carved from ice and giving a fairy-like atmosphere.
 

Montreal High Lights Festival 

An annual event that draws close to a million attendees, Montréal en Lumière, as it's known in French, has arts, food and outdoor activities into one massive winter celebration that encompasses themed meals and food tastings; music, dance and theatre shows and free cooking demonstrations. The last night of the festival is indeed super special as they kick off global Nuit Blanche (white night) festivities with a whole night of fun and mostly free activities and installations.


That is the list guys! But trust me there are as much winter carnivals and celebrations as are the type of people living in the northern and southern hemisphere. I would love to see people send me info on more of these fests, so i can include them in my other columns. Okay, see you till next exciting fest info!