• The Patras Carnival is the largest event of its kind in Greece and the biggest in Europe.It has more than 160 years of history. The events begin on 17 January and last up to Clean Monday. The carnival of Patras is not a single event but a variety of events that includes balls, parades, hunting of hidden treasure, kids’ carnival etc. Its apogee is in the last weekend of Carnival with the Saturday evening parade of carnival groups, the extravagant Sunday parade of floats and groups, and finally the ritual burning of king carnival at the St. Nikolaos Street wharf in the harbour of Patras. Its characteristics are spontaneity, improvisation, inspiration and volunteerism.

The Children Carnival • A spectacular, yet substantial, take on

the traditional baby rally. The Children's Carnival includes a parade with the participation of masqueraded children's groups from nurseries, kindergartens, musical schools etc. Over 5000 children participate whereas the festival is completed by numerous game events and constructive activities. Their objective is to introduce the younger generation to the Carnival and to distinguish their abilities in artistic expression related to aesthetic or satirical masquerading.

The Opening Ceremony• The opening ceremony takes place

on George Square and includes pantomimes and patters, dances, endless music and fireworks.

The Treasure Hunt Games

• The Groups constitute of either permanent companies of revelers or bevies from the city's high schools and lyceums, work colleagues, or neighborhood friends. As a group they share a name and a theme - which provides their name for each year - for their disguise. Depending on the members' carnival experience, culture and available time they opt for either their participation in only the parades or for participation in the treasure hunt games and contests. These games include questions on history, literature, maths or practical knowledge, the ability to find their way through hidden evidence scattered all over the city, artistic painting, pantomime and theatrical sketch contests or whatever else the organizers might come up with. The teams' performances in the various phases of the game are rated in order to nominate the grand winner.Several groups maintain offices or clubs during the carnival period and many organize parties and balls or even public shows in streets and squares. Some of these groups take part in the parade, having constructed a carnival float relevant to the theme of their disguise.

• Group members pay for the cost of their costume and contribute to other group expenses (for example the construction of the float, the organization of public shows etc.). Their large number (40.000) means that this is an enormous investment, the most significant in the whole carnival organization. The Patras carnival is therefore a carnival not only composed by, but financed, in its largest part, by the disguised citizens.

The Closing Ceremony• An extension of the traditional

festivities based around the burning of the float of the Carnival King, with concerts, dances, a farewell to the carnival past, announcements about the carnival to come and countless fireworks. It takes place at the port on Sunday night and is also broadcast on TV.

• The Venice Carnival is the largest and most important Venetian festival, an appreciated cocktail of tradition, entertainment, history and transgression in a unique city, a festival that attracts thousands of people from around the world each year. The Carnival has very old origins. It is a festival that celebrates the passage from winter into spring, a time when seemingly anything is possible, including the illusion where the most humble of classes become the most powerful by wearing masks on their faces.

• This carnival accompanies visitors in the discovery of city's charming atmospheres, passing through the districts with a constant appeal to the senses, an invitation to immerse yourself fully into the emotional experience that only the Venice Carnival can give.

• The Carnivals outside of Venice are also fascinating, in cities on land such as Mestre, Treviso or along the Brenta Riviera, where you can watch beautiful parades of allegorical floats, usually on the last weekend of Carnival. An event that adapts to the changes of time and renews itself, always keeping intact the first sense that has made the Venice Carnival unique to the world since the beginning: curiosity. The urge to get involved, to shed the mask of everyday life, and an invitation to participate with our own senses and creativity to be, just once, equal in all of our diversity.

• The Venice Carnival is the most internationally known festival celebrated in Venice, Italy, as well as being one of the oldest. This congregation of masked people, called Venice Carnival, began in the 15th century, but the tradition can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th Century.

• During the Carnival period Venice offered numerous possibilities for spending money. The choices were various, with activities such as gambling dens, theatres, cafés, wine shops and restaurants, as well as booths where one could see exotic animals, ropewalkers and jugglers.

• The streets of Venice Carnival were full of people in masks, and no differentiation could be made between nobility and the common people. Generally, the costume worn was a cloak with a long-nosed mask. Also popular were masked couples, where a man and a woman would dress as allegorical characters.

• In the squares street-artists and singers entertain with songs and music from their guitars, the guests of the Venice Carnival.

Bauta

Moretta

Larva

• Hiding personal identities was accepted by the "moral in kidding" of the aristocracy as well as by the interclassism Venice was founding its integrity of people on.

• There is not much left today of the historical tradition of the Venice Carnival.

• There are many entertainments and interesting performances, aside of the real parties in Venetian taste that are often hidden for the large public, which is morelike to enjoy the Venice Carnival on the road.

• Pay-for-the-party and souvenir shops are yet the easiest track for the tourists, but many curious meeting and experiences are as well available around, in Venice Carnival time.

• The Venice Carnival is anyway an adventure worth to be experienced; better if you can do it with a native friend!

• Las Fallas is undoubtedly one of the most unique  festivals in Spain . What started as a feast day for St. Joseph , the patron saint of carpenters, has evolved into a 5-day, multifaceted celebration of fire. Valencia has a population of a half-million, but the town swells to an estimated three million flame-loving revelers during Las Fallas.

• Las Fallas literally means "the fires" in Valencian. The focus of the fiesta is the creation and burn at the last day of ninots--huge cardboard, wood and plaster statues--that are placed at over 350 key intersections and parks around the city today.

• The Fallas, from 13th to 19th of March, are creations of paper mache, wood and wax, which the Valencians, divided into different groups according to quarters or barrios and even streets, build in the streets and burn on the night of the feast of St. Joseph. These figures, called "ninots" by the Valencians, allude to events and personalities of the day. The ninots, half satirical, half symbolical, are created in a style somewhere between comic strips and Walt Disney cartoons. The figures, which represents a whole year's work for hundreds of people, are burnt on the night of March 19th in towering flames, and each bonfire is a temple devoted to this colossal festival of fire.

• The ninots are extremely lifelike and usually satirical scenes and current events (like corrupt politicians and Spanish celebrities are particularly popular). They are crafted by neighborhood organizations and take about six months to construct . Many ninots are several stories tall and need to be moved into position with cranes.  

• The ninots remain in place until March 19th, the day known as "La Crema." Starting in the early evening, young men chop holes in the statues and stuff them with fireworks. The crowds start to chant, the streetlights are turned off, and all of the ninots are set on fire at exactly the stroke of midnight . Over the years, the local firemen, called "bomberos" have devised unique ways to protect the town's buildings. And each year, one of the ninots is spared from destruction by popular vote and exhibited in the local Museum of the Ninot along with the other favorites from years past.

• Although the Falles are a very traditional event and many participants dress in medieval clothing, the ninots for 2005 included such modern characters as Shrek and George W. Bush.

• The days and nights in Valencia are one running party during the five days of Falles. There are processions galore — historical processions, religious processions, and hysterical processions. The restaurants spill out to the streets. Explosions can be heard all day long and sporadically through the night. Foreigners may be surprised to see everyone from small children to elderly gentlemen throwing fireworks and bangers in the streets.

• The Fallas are divided into seven important stages. Public enthusiasm ensures that Valencia is adorned in festival garb and everybody takes to the streets. The ceremonies which make up the whole week of the festival are: the nomination and proclamation of the Queens of the Fallas for the year, the Exaltation, the Crida, the Cavalcade of the Ninot , the Offering of Flowers, the Planta and the Crema.

• The "Mascletá" is the noisiest act of the whole Fallas celebration. Rows of, and single, firecrackers (by the thousands), making Valencia as deafening as the shot heard around the world.

The Exaltation• The Exaltation is, with the Offering of

Flowers, one of the most colorful moments of the Fallas. In this ceremony, one of the most important figures at the Exaltation is the chairman, who represents the world of culture and makes a speech to all those present which can be of a justificatory or political nature or poetic.

 

The Offering of Flowers• On this day, the sobriquet of

Valencia, city of flowers becomes reality, and the Basilica square is turned into a beautiful and colorful garden, with more than thirty tons of flowers decorating just one of the principal squares of the city.

The Planta• On this day the creations of the "fallero"

artists are displayed, the work of hundreds of specialists: carpenters, painters, sculptors, designers, etc. The effigies and ninots are admired by both all alike , Valencians and tourists. The Fallas show off their lively colors and enormous size, and make clear which personalities have been the focus of public opinion and attention. There are few Spanish politicians who escape from the satire of the "fallero" masters.

The Crema• The Crema is the culmination of

the Fallas. For some it is the saddest moment, while for others it is the high point of the festival.

• This national day (23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day) in Turkey is a unique event. Children's Day has been celebrated on April 23rd since 1935. It originated from the first gathering of Grand National Assembly on APRIL 23 1920, during the Turkish Independence War. Since then, every year, April 23 is celebrated as Children's Day as a national holiday in Turkey. Thus for the first time in the world a national day has been dedicated to children.Furthermore, for the last 25 years, Turkey has been celebrating 23 April Children's Day as an "International Children's Festival

• Turks consider ATATÜRK to be "The Father of Modern TURKEY". After the full independence, he established a modern Republic. He gifted April 23rd to the children for the country so that they would cherish the independence that cost so much, but at the same time walk the path of "Peace at Home, Peace in the World". He dedicated the sovereignty day to the children and entrusted in the hands of the youth the protection of this sovereignty and independence. This day promotes children as the symbol of modern Turkey. The founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, dedicated April 23 to the children of the country to emphasize that they are the future of the new nation

• One of the objectives of the Children's Day is to draw the attention of the public to the problems of the children in difficult conditions. These celebrations also provide the opportunity for better understanding the need to give priority to children, as well as evaluating the work done for the children in this field.

• On April 23rd children from around the world come to Turkey. Many countries send children groups to Turkey to participate in the festivities. They are hosted by families who have children of a similar age. Festivities last over a week and the visiting and Turkish children spend a lot of time together They interact and become friends with the Turkish children and learn about each other’s countries, cultures and traditions. The aim is to create a more peaceful and tolerant world. Many children, often not even speaking the same language, build lifelong friendships. Several of the events are broadcast on television, showing the children in their traditional national outfits, dancing,singing and exchanging gifts. The United Nations participates the events.

On this special day schools participate in week-long ceremonies marked by performances in all fields in large stadiums watched by the entire nation. Among the activities on this day, the children send their representatives to replace state officials and high ranking bureaucrats in their offices. The President, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers, provincial governors all turn over their positions to children's representatives. These children, in turn, sign executive orders relating to educational and environmental policies. The children also replace the parliamentarians in the Grand National Assembly and hold a special session to discuss matters concerning children's issues . This results in a truly international Assembly where children pledge their commitment to international peace and brotherhood. A child becomes President for a day. The child President delivers a speech on national television.

• The importance of April 23 as a special day of children has been recognized by the international community. UNICEF decided to recognize this important day as the International Children's Day.

• Thank you for your attention!!!

• Mithatpaşa Lisesi

• Samsun-Turkey