Winter Festivals

Whenever I feel the cold breath of winter on my neck as autumn runs out of time, my tastebuds turn to octopus, the signature dish at the Hachinohe Enburi winter festival.

I remember it so vividly not because of the smile of the former beauty queen who handed it to me, nor the tangy texture and secret seasoning that plunged into mayonnaise simply to satisfy my stomach. No, what I remember the most is that the octopus was warm, at times even hot, while I was very, very cold.

The small town of Hachinohe in Japan’s Aomori Prefecture celebrates the end of winter every year with a four day winter festival. Children and musicians practise for weeks so that when February arrives, they can swish their headdresses around and usher in good fortune for the harvest ahead.

It’s a festival that’s been running for 800 years through icy winds, gales, earthquakes and war and so they’re not going to let a little snow stop them. Nor a blue-skinned gaijin. Thankfully.

Hot Octopus, Cold Winters

I sit cross-legged on a tatami mat inside their historic town hall. One wall opens up to the garden, where snow decorates stone lanterns and greedily engulfs the lawn.

The wind laughs at my predicament, while the cold makes itself at home in my bones. I break open a crystal packet to warm up my hands and accept more octopus gladly.

Then the performance begins, melting something inside me.

Rainbow coloured ribbons meant to resemble a horse’s tail flick, flounce and flourish against the whiteness of the snow. Children enact the rice-planting ritual while flag bearers look on.

Yet what captures my attention the most is something I usually pay very little attention to: shoes.

From children to elders, dancers to musicians, all are decked out in the traditional footwear of Aomori. Straw-woven shoes with straw gaiters to match. My feet turn numb just from looking at them.

Yet everyone else radiates with smiles of warmth – literally.

So now, every time the seasons turn cold, I think of hot octopus – and the mystery of comfort that seems to be straw shoes.

Straw Shoes. Toasty Warm. Apparently.

I hope you enjoy the winter festival of Hachinohe’s Enburi through the photos below. Disclosure – I shivered and ate octopus as a guest of the Japanese Tourist Board.

The Enburi...

How do you keep warm in the cold? And does it involve straw shoes and hot octopus?

Hot Octopus & Straw Shoes: A Winter Festival in Japan first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

Street Performer in Mallory Square, Key West at Sunset

I’m travelling through the Floriday Keys this week and, as an experiment, I’ll bring you a photo each day to give you a flavour of the place.

Words to follow…

The Old Man & The Sea first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

Dizzee Rascal - Benicassim FIB 2010

Living Like a Rock Star – Benicassim FIB 2010 in Photos is the 4th and final part of a series on the FIB Music Festival in Benicassim. Visit part one, Into the Spotlight with Kasabian here, part to Behind the Scenes at Benicassim here and part three The Prodigy Live here. Enjoy!

Piercing Kiosk at Benicassim FIB 2010

By the fourth and final day, I am well and truly into the FIB groove. Heck, I am even the Mayor of the VIP area on FourSquare (for those of you care what that means.) FIB has quite a line-up, even if Lily Allen did pull out for the second year running. The Prodigy, Kasabian, Vampire Weekend, The Gorillaz, Ellie Goulding, John Lydon, Ash, DJ Shadow, The Specials, Peter Hook, GoldFrapp and all the others I didn’t manage to see.

By day I’ve been hiking, kayaking, swimming and flying. By night, I check the permissions list, buy vouchers for beer, grab earplugs and camera and head to the stage.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tired, but as the security guards shine a torch on my pass and I stride around that corner, the surrounding screams, swirling spotlights and throbbing baseline energise me.

For a brief, flicker of a moment – I’m living like a rock star.

One View from the Photo Pit - Benicassim FIB 2010

Benicassim FIB 2010Opposite the VIP Entrance

Opposite the VIP Entrance

Vampire Weekend

VIP Area - FIB 2010 Benicassim

The Press Room - FIB 2010 Benicassim

Peter Hook Goes Wild - FIB Benicassim 2010

Making Friends at the FIB

Food at the FIB

FIB 2010

FIB 2010 Fan

Chilling Out in the VIP Area - Benicassim 2010

View of FIB from the Mountains

After 4 Days at FIB...

Er, me - FIB 2010 - Photo Credit: Keith Jenkins - Velvet Escape

Benicassim FIB 2010 - My Favourite Photo

“FIB” is a four day music festival held each year in Benicassim in Spain. I attended as a guest of The Land of Valencia but all words, photos and opinions are mine (except for (obviously?!) the photo of me, which was kindly provided by Keith Jenkins of the luscious travel blog Velvet Escape.)

For a brief, flicker of a moment – I’m living like a rock star.

Living Like a Rock Star – Benicassim FIB 2010 in Photos first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

-How would you describe yourself and what you do?

I am a Canadian-born, Bristol-based choreographer. Before embarking on my own choreographic adventures, I was a dancer for 8 years with Wayne McGregor ‘s Random Dance Company, touring  extensively on the international contemporary dance scene.

-Where have you travelled to?

With work… it’s an interesting exercise to try to list destinations without omitting any… to various cities of the United States on a number occasions, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Germany,  Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal,  Cyprus, Belgium, Holland, France,  Ireland, Colombia, Kenya, Malaysia, Hong Kong (in 1997…), China,  Japan…

Wow! Which place surprised you the most?

Yekaterineburg, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountain Range in Russia, left a lasting impression. Not exactly surprise but wonder.

-Why?

It felt out of time, otherworldly. It didn’t really match up with any images I might have conjured up in my mind, I guess. I really felt elsewhere.

-Did you know when you got into this line of work that you’d be travelling a lot?

The amount of touring a company gets varies a lot. There was no way of knowing if Random was going to be called to travel or not at the outset.  I am so, so glad that it became part of the work. In fact, towards the end of my time with the company, when I found myself feeling rather blazé about an upcoming trip to Hong Kong, I thought it must be a sign that it was time to look for a change in my career.

-How did you get into this line of work?

Dance is something I somehow stumbled across when I was 11 years old or so. It took me a good few years to really get into it. I enjoyed it a lot, but for me dance was never the one and only thing that I could see myself doing as a grown-up; it was not that kind of all-consuming passion. It was something I was very interested in but I had other interests and aspirations and so the decision to follow this path as opposed to studying something else wasn’t that easy to make. I guess I met teachers, dancers and choreographers during my training and career who have kept me curious and inspired.

-Would you recommend it to someone starting out now?

It is a difficult question as the market is full of dancers who don’t manage to make a living out of it. It is not an easy career choice. Competition is fierce. But is it not everywhere…? If you are hungry for it, you have to give it a go!  I guess what is useful is to not put all your eggs in the same basket, and to cultivate interests and skills in other areas too. At least that’s what I felt I needed to do when I was starting out.

-Any tips for beginners?

Remember why you have chosen to do what you are doing, what it is about it that you like and keep this close to you.

Keep an open an inquisitive mind.

-What are the downsides of travelling with work?

Packing and unpacking  repeatedly, of course… And in our line of work, there is the fact that we do spend most of our time, wherever we are in the world, getting the show ready in the black box that is a theatre. So it can be frustrating sometimes when you actually feel you don’t get enough time to enjoy a place as much as you’d like before you have to leave again.

-The upsides?

One of the upside has to be the way it allows you to make contact with people. The interactions are different to those you are likely to develop if you travel as a tourist, I think, and it can make for a different travelling experience.

-What’s the most dangerous place you’ve ever visited?

Mmm… Medellìn in Colombia has a bad reputation but Belgrade on the election night that dislodged Milosevic from power didn’t feel that safe either…

-The most over-rated?

Pass…

-Your favourite? (Ah, you knew that one was coming)

That’s tough. I fell in love with Lisbon when we went there to perform.  I love Lisbon.

-Do you need to take special equipment with you when you travel? How do you do that?

Now that I make my own work and am sometimes invited to perform abroad, at times I have to carry a huge suitcase of props from A to B. Lots of excess luggage charges!

-Who’s the most exciting celebrity you’ve met on your travels?

Well, if a trip to the National Gallery in London counts, Salman Rushdie.

-What makes you shudder about travelling?

The wait at the airport

-How has travel changed you?

It has many times been an occasion of measuring just how vulgar the disparity of wealth is on this planet. It helps me keeping a wider perspective on life, on the “general state of affairs”, it prevents me from getting too comfortable.

-What has been your most poignant moment on your travels?

I can’t put my finger now on a poignant moment. But some vivid memories include a truly amazing tango lesson I took in Ankara, a huge moon on the Pacific on my birthday in San Diego, waking up to discover the mountains outside my window in Almaty, getting off the coach to cross the border from Serbia to Kosovo on foot…

-Would you do it all again?

The travelling yes, the dancing, probably not!

Thanks Laila! To find out more about Laila’s work, visit her website here. Photo credits: Ravi Deepres & Mike Kwasniak

Unusual Journeys: Dancing Past Milosevic first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...

Maypole Dancing - by Pete Ashton

In France, the bank holiday falls on May 1st, whereas England grants the first Monday in May to ensure a long weekend. But the differences run deeper than that…

The differences run deeper than that…

In Oxford, all-night revellers and schoolchildren (generally in two separate groups), gather at dawn to hear the hushed tones of the Magdalen College choir. For a short while, all is quiet, before mayhem descends and the pubs throw open their doors – at 6 am.

Morris Dancers - Red Betty Black

Morris Dancing fills the streets, with men in voluminous white blouses, bells, sticks and handkerchiefs dancing in formation.

Children wear face-paint and skip around a Maypole, a rod with rainbow ribbons attached at the top. Each child holds one ribbon and the choreography creates swirling patterns of colour.

Lily of the Valley

In France, things are a little different.

In the days before the holiday, workers buy lily-of-the-valley, a genteel pearly white flower, to present to a lady. This refreshingly sweet practice stems from the Court of Charles IX and everyone overlooks the ironic conflict with the day’s other purpose – to commemorate the rights of workers within the republic. As a concession, sales of the flower are tax-free.

Of course, people mark the occasion with their own rituals in both countries - by heading to DIY shops or hosting barbecues. These modern interpretations reflect the age-old promise of May Day – the hope that summer is around the corner.

Mayday Madness first appeared on Inside the Travel Lab. Head over there for more juicy fresh travel goodness. Or, you know, something you might like to read...