In the Andes, traditional Incan rituals mark the winter solstice.
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On the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice, usually June 20, Andean people honor the Inca Sun god with the Inti Raymi festival. Music, parades, and costumes featuring colorful woven aya huma masks highlight the ceremonies.
In ancient times, holiday rituals included the sacrifice of llamas adorned with silver and gold at temples dedicated to the Sun god. Animal offerings are no longer a part of Inti Raymi, but reenactments of traditional Incan ceremonies are held across the Andes.
In the Andes, traditional Incan rituals mark the winter solstice.
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The summer solstice is celebrated in many parts of the globe, with some of the most interesting longest-day traditions taking place in Scandinavia.
In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, bonfires, feasts, and traditional dances are common Midsummer celebrations. In Norway, sankthansaften (Saint John’s Eve) falls on June 23 and is marked by gatherings around large bonfires, often set by a fjord or other body of water. An older tradition in some places is holding mock weddings, and legend holds that hiding flowers under your pillow that solstice night will cause you to dream of your future spouse.
Scandinavians celebrate the summer solstice with bonfires.
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In Japan, the Star Festival is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Japanese lunisolar calendar (usually July 7th in the Gregorian calendar).
While the Gregorian calendar is now standard in Japan, lunisolar calendars, which indicate both the phase of the Moon and the position of the Sun in the sky, are sometimes used for traditional holidays.
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Based on an ancient Chinese legend, Tanabata celebrates the celestial meeting of stars representing two deities: Orihime and Hikoboshi, who, according to the story, are desperately in love but separated from each other by the Milky Way, and are only allowed to approach each other once a year.
Many Japanese people mark the day by writing their wishes on slips of paper known as tanzaku and hanging them on bamboo stalks that are set afloat on a river after the festival.
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Japanese streets are decorated with colorful banners to honor Tanabata, a holiday celebrating two stars coming close to each other in the night sky.
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South Koreans mark the lunar calendar’s autumn equinox, usually around September 23 in the Gregorian calendar, with Chuseok , the Harvest Festival.
The traffic chaos holidayIn gratitude for a good harvest, families come together on the day, pay respect to ancestors, and share traditional foods like sindoju rice wine, Asian pear and sweet rice cakes known as songpyeon.
It is considered good luck to release a sky lantern during Diwali to symbolize problems and worries floating away.
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The Indian Festival of Lights, Diwali, is a five or six-day event that peaks on the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar month of Ashvin (or Kartika in some areas), falling on November 1 on the Gregorian calendar.
Many adherents start their Diwali celebration with a ritual oil bath at sunrise, then attend services at temples that are lit up by hundreds of lamps, lanterns, and candles. On many nights, fireworks blaze in the sky, and some people decorate their floors with colored powder and sand in traditional patterns known as rangoli.