Pumpkin Festival - Autumn madness as world's largest Pumpkin paddling Race festival Contest begins

A German festival dedicated to celebrating all things pumpkiny has kicked off with a Traditonal race - with competitors paddling giant, hollowed-out pumpkins across a lake

The raditional pumpkin race takes place as part of the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival - which every year works to spread the joy of the world of pumpkins, in order to mark the start of the German pumpkin season.

The contestants in the pumpkin race have to paddle the huge, hollowed-out pumpkin across Ludwigsburg Castle lake - in front of the imposing backdrop and stately architecture of the former royal palace

The enormous pumpkins can weigh over 200lb (90kg) before having their tops cut off and their flesh scooped out to turn them into functioning boats.

The pumpkin racing isn't the only element that makes up the pumpkin festival - pumpkin growers also compete in a more traditional 'grow the largest pumpkin' contest, which this year festival-goers have had the chance to look at a giant statue of a seahorse made out of pumpkins.

Much of the fruit – and yes they are indeed fruit, botanically-speaking – weighed in at over 200lb before having all their flesh scooped out so that racers can fit inside.

But the festival also sees a more traditional contest where gardeners around Germany see if they can grow record-breaking pumpkins.

The weight to beat is just over 1,400lb.

Also – perhaps unsurprisingly – the restaurant at the 17th Century Castle Ludwigsburg makes use of the pumpkin flesh, with dishes including pies, curries and hearty stews.

Pumpkin enthusiasts will be pleased to learn that the pumpkin festival - said to be the largest pumpkin festival in the world - continues until early November.

The Boryeong Mud Festival is an annual festival which takes place during the summer in Boryeong, South Korea. The first Mud Festival was staged in 1998 and, by 2007, the festival attracted 2.2 million visitors to Boryeong.

The mud is dug up near Boryeong, trucked to the Daecheon beach area, and dumped at a 'Mud Experience Land'. The mud is considered rich in minerals and used to manufacture cosmetics.

Some of the final weekend participants are foreign tourists, and especially American Soldiers, but most of the participants during the week are Koreans, attracted by clever marketing by the town. The town fathers and mothers discovered that the mud is more lucrative as a tourist attraction than using the muddy fields for agriculture. The economy generated from the festival supports the many hotels and restaurants along the waterway and several blocks inland. There is also a great deal to see and do in the vicinity and a free tourist bus takes visitors to local sites, including an impressive coal mine and a famous Buddhist shrine.

In 2009 Boryeong Mud Festival took place from July 11–19. Boryeong Mud Festival 2010 the festival will take place from July 17–25.

World's Largest A trim haymaking festival 2010 kicks off in Serbia, on July 18, 2010. haymaker Festival in Rajac is a traditional Serbian economic and tourist manifestation. It is believed to be the biggest haymaking festival in the world, which is held every year at the end of July.





Source :- China Economic Net

The Festival of San Fermín (or Sanfermines) is a deeply rooted celebration held annually in the city of Navarre, Spain. The celebration starts from 12:00, 6 July, when the opening of the fiesta is marked by setting off the pyrotechnic chupinazo, to midnight 14 July, with the singing of the Pobre de Mí. While its most famous event is the encierro, or the running of the bulls, the biggest day is 7 July, when thousands of people accompany a replica of the statue of Saint Fermin along the streets in the old part of city.

San Fermin is accompanied by dancers and street entertainers. The week-long celebration involves many other traditional and folkloric events. It is known locally as Sanfermines and is held in honor of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of Navarre. Its events were central to the plot of The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, which brought it to the general attention of English-speaking people. It has become probably the most internationally renowned fiesta in Spain. Over 1,000,000 people come to watch this festival.