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Posts Archived Under Festivals
So if it got really hot,
would the building pop?
(Photo by brendagayle) |
Just west of Sioux Falls, in the small South Dakota community of Mitchell, there stands an elaborate palace of corn, complete with onion domes and minarets. Sounds nutritious, delicious, and downright fascinating, doesn't it? We thought so, too. Today, on the first day of the annual Corn Palace Festival, we here at the Spark would like to honor Mitchell's most renowned landmark: the world's one and only Corn Palace.
For over 100 years, the Corn Palace has served as a place where city residents and their rural neighbors could gather to celebrate the end of the crop-growing season and harvest. It was originally built as an artistic expression to extol the fertility of South Dakota soil. Just to be clear, the palace isn't itself made of corn, but is instead covered in it: Large murals constructed entirely from locally-grown corn and other grains adorn the many facades of the structure.
Each year (with the exception of 2006, when the redesign was nixed due to drought) invites a new theme -- subjects like "Lewis and Clark" and "Everyday Heroes" have been interpreted in painstaking, granular detail by local artists, including the distinguished Native American painter, Oscar Howe. This year's theme, "American Destinations," was developed and crafted by Cherie Ramsdell, who has been at the artistic helm since 2003. It honors the United States' most celebrated tourist destinations, including the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, Kennedy Space Center, and, naturally, the Corn Palace itself.
If, in your travels, you happen to be near South Dakota this week, we urge you to stop by Mitchell for some great music, fantastic food, and a tour of the nation's "corniest" (argh!) roadside attraction. You can't miss it -- just follow the hungry birds.
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Directory categories:
Entertainment and Arts in Mitchell, SD, Roadside Attractions, Buildings and Structures, Corn, Mitchell, South Dakots |
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Archived under: Architecture, Arts, Buildings, Corn, Corn Palace, Creativity, Decorating, Design, Events, Festivals, Food and Drink, Midsummer, Popcorn, Recreation and Travel, Regional, Roadside Attractions, Sculpture, Small Towns, Summer, Tourist Attractions, Travel, United States, Vegetables, Weird Stuff |
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Back in the good ol' days, county and state fairs celebrated a region's agricultural achievements and drew folks in from the fields for a day of fun.
Even though fewer of us live on farms nowadays, a day at the fair is still one heck of an occasion. As soon as you arrive on the midway, that unmistakable smell hits you: equal parts hot asphalt, deep fryer, and livestock. The fairgrounds reek of summer -- and everything else.
Whatever your penchant, the fair's got it: prize-winning veggies and crafts, animal races of all sorts, stinky livestock pens, carnival rides, good-time music in the band shell, and lots and lots (and lots) of food -- most of it deep-fried. (Deep-fried latte? Gross!)
The mind boggles at how many types of food can be served on a stick. Corn dogs are so passé! Cutting-edge fairgoers save the sticks for such nouveau delights as teriyaki ostrich, roasted alligator, and fried Twinkies.
But, if you prefer your animals uncooked and without sticks, you can always count on the 4-H kids to parade the fluffy bunnies, pink piglets, and cute cows.
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Directory categories:
State Fairs, Deep-Fried Dessert Recipes, 4-H, County Fairs, Livestock |
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Archived under: Amusement Parks, Animals, Awards, Celebrations, Contests, Crafts, Entertainment, Events, Festivals, Food and Drink, Fried Food, Junk Food, Regional, Summer, Tourist Attractions, Travel, United States |
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Couldn't you just bite
these two on the neck?
(Photo from Yahoo! Movies) |
If you’ve been in a movie theater lately, chances are you’ve heard a chorus of teenage girls screaming at the trailer for the new "Twilight" movie, "New Moon." But it's not just adolescents who are giddy over the series -– fans of all ages will be convening in Dallas, Texas, from July 30th to August 2nd for the first-ever "Twicon." And lest you think that a convention about vampires who sparkle in sun is silly, it’s certainly not the first fan gathering of its kind. "Harry Potter" fans, or "Potterphiles," have been convening for years now -- most recently in San Francisco at the cleverly-titled Azkatraz." Then there are "Xena" fans, "Star Trek," a slew of other science fiction conventions, and countless comic book conventions.
"Twilight" fans, like any other fandom, have their fair share of hardcore devotees (sometimes known as "shippers"). Fans express their undying love for Edward and Isabella by writing "fanfic" (short for fan fiction) or creating fan art. Then there are the fans who bring a little reality to the party by poking fun at the diehards or by parodying the movies and books themselves.
This year's Twicon might not be filled with giant Wookiees or people dressed like Spock, but it's sure to feature some oddities of its own.
But just remember, if you or someone you love starts wearing fake fangs and body glitter to channel their "inner vampire," it might be time to stage an intervention.
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Directory categories:
"Twilight" Saga, "New Moon" Movie, Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions, Fan Fiction, Vampires |
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Archived under: Books, Celebrations, Celebrities, Children´s Literature, Comic Books, Communities, Conventions, Cultures, Entertainment, Events, Fan Fiction, Fanatics, Festivals, Fiction, Harry Potter, Horror, Monsters and Creatures, Movies, Mythology and Folklore, Reading, Society and Culture, Star Trek, Star Wars, TV, Vampires |
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Watch out, pup! They're going to soak you!
(Photo by Mara 1) |
For many of us, dragging ourselves out of bed in the morning is one of the day's least pleasant activities. Well, in Finland, today is National Sleepyhead Day; the one day of the year when ensuring you're up and about in good time is no problem at all.
The day's traditional customs dictate that on July 27th, you get to wake up the last person asleep in your household through the medium of water. You might chose to simply pour a nice icy-cold glass of water over your victim as they snore away in their bed. But you may also be lucky -- or sadistic -- enough to toss the unfortunate individual into the nearest lake, river, or ocean.
The origins of the day lie in the tale of the Saints of Ephesus, who, refusing to recant their Christianity fled the Emperor Decius and hid in a cave. Decius promptly ordered the cave to be sealed as punishment. Some 309 years later, a local farmer opened the tomb. Much to his (and we dare say the departed Decius’s?) shock, the farmer found the saints all waking from the longest nap in history. (Take that, Rip van Winkle!) What is less clear is where the water pranks associated with the day came from.
Nowadays in the coastal town of Naantali, "unikeonpäivä" (to give it the day its Finnish title) is a major event and the town throws a festival each year in its honor. One might be tempted to think that a town that is already home to the world’s foremost theme park dedicated to the "Moomins" -- those incredibly popular (if seriously creepy) children’'s characters -- would have enough on its plate. But not so. The festivities kick off with a Finnish celebrity being (un)ceremoniously dumped into the Baltic Sea at 7:00 a.m., and run late into the evening with music, games, and other assorted revelries.
If the phrase "Finnish celebrity" strikes you as a glaring oxymoron, then National Sleepyhead Day offers some interesting insight. Given that previous recipients of the chilly "honor" have included president Tarja Halonen's husband and the CEO of a Finnish oil company, the term "celebrity" is used in its loosest possible context.
That said, if the upshot of being a celebrity in Finland is that someone may, one day, wish to throw you into freezing water at 7:00 a.m., it may account for slim pickings when unikeonpäivä rolls around. Just think of the effect on the cult of celebrity worldwide if we all embraced the practice with true Finnish enthusiasm.
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Directory categories:
Finnish Holidays and Observances, Finland, Finnish Government Officials, Theme Parks, The "Moomin" Series |
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Archived under: Celebrations, Celebrities, Europe, European History, Events, Festivals, History, Mythology and Folklore, Pranks, Regional, Saints, Sleep, Tourist Attractions |
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The Fire Arts Festival's
amazing Fire Snail
Photo by Lilah of UrbanSardines |
Remember when your parents told you, "Don't play with fire?" It's a good thing some kids didn't listen. The tradition of creating art with fire is timeless and, frankly, a hell of a lot of fun. I was lucky enough to visit The Crucible's Fire Arts Festival this year in Oakland to see for myself -- and in the process burned a few hairs off of my arm.
The Fire Arts Festival is a carnival of performance and industrial art fueled by creativity and a lot of flame. I walked through a small dust storm in the parking lot on my way to the festival, where a line of fiery workshops awaited me. The educational experience makes sense, because the event is actually a fundraiser for The Crucible, an organization that offers classes in blacksmithing, ceramics, fire performance, foundry, and other classes where you simply make cool stuff. I watched be-goggled folks blow glass, hammer hot molten metal, and chip away at huge slabs of stone. I even learned how to make a flashlight out of two clothespins, an LED, and a watch battery.
But the real draw of the festival is the fire art, and these artists take fire seriously. I watched the "Fire Vortex," where men in silver flameproof suits create a spectacular whirl of flame into the sky. People lined up to fire shots -- literally -- at the Flamethrower Shooting Gallery (but you better sign a waiver form first). Everywhere you looked, high octane flames shot through the air, hot enough to warm your cheeks from many feet away.
Many of the acts at the festival -- such as "The Hand of Man" (a giant hydraulic human hand controlled by a glove), and the "Life Size Mouse Trap" (an amusing
Rube Goldberg-esque kinetic sculpture) -- have also made appearances at
Burning
Man and MakerFaire,
The Fire Arts Festival runs until this Saturday, but if you
aren't lucky enough to make it to Oakland, check out the many categories in the Yahoo! Directory about fire-inspired art Start with blacksmithing, ceramics, metal sculpture, glass art, or explore other pyrotechnic fun.
Suggested Sites...
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Directory categories:
Fire Performance, Burning Man, Pyrotechnics, Fire Protection |
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Archived under: Arts, Burning Man, California, Celebrations, Ceramics, Charity, Contemporary Art, Counterculture, Crafts, Creativity, Entertainment, Events, Festivals, Fire, In Character, Rube Goldberg, Sculpture, Society and Culture, Tourist Attractions, Yahoo! Directory |
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