Break Dancing is an athletic style of street dance. It started in the South Bronx of New York in the mid-1970’s and then moved west to Los Angeles. This dance-form when street gangs used Break Dancing as a way to battle without fist-fighting or using weapons. It later evolved as part of the hip-hop movement. […]

The White Nights Festival is celebrated in St Petersburg, Russia. St Petersburg is well-known for the natural phenomenon ‘white nights’. It is an annual international arts festival celebrated during the season of the midnight sun. It consists of a series of classical ballet, opera and music events. St Petersburg’s Palace Square becomes a stage for

The first alphabet appeared in the Middle East, in an area called the Levant. There are very old stones, from the Levant with writing, that are neither pictures nor letters. It’s a mix of the two. It is believed that this happened sometime in 8 BCE. These very early letters were brought to the Greeks

Gangnam is a district in South Korea. ‘Gangnam Style’ is a Korean term which refers to the fashion and lifestyle of the people in Gangnam. Released in 2012, Gangnam Style rose in popularity and went on to become a trend. Gangnam Style is a song written and performed by the Korean artist. The popularity of

The heart of the Gilroy Garlic Festival is the world-famous Gourmet Alley, where Pyro Chefs put on a show while they cook garlic calamari in huge iron skillets. Gilroy, California, is the site of the world-famous Gilroy Garlic Festival. It is also known as the Garlic Capital of the World. Held every year in July,

Hip-hop Dancing began in New York City during the 1960s. During this time, people without dance training brought dancing to the streets. The Hip-hop moves were inspired by rhythms and the movement style of African dancing. This art-form began to develop when DJ Herc moved to Brooklyn at the age of 12. He was the

The First Cave Paintings were discovered in 1896 in the Altamira Cave in Santander, Spain. They are called the Bisons of the Altamira Cave. The early cave men told stories using art. When they first created art, there was no paint or brushes or canvas. They had to work with twigs or leaves as brushes

The Boryeong Mud Festival is an annual festival which takes place during the summer in Boryeong, south of Seoul in South Korea. In 1996, a range of cosmetics was produced using mud. The cosmetics were said to be full of minerals which occur naturally in the mud. In order to promote these cosmetics, the Boryeong

The Lantern Festival marks the end of the Chinese New Year Festivities. This traditional Chinese festival originated in Qin Dynasty. On this night, there are thousands of lanterns on the streets, hung from homes and storefronts in China. This sets the stage for the processions and colourful performances. Children carry their lanterns around the village

The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a festival held every year before Lent in Brazil. It is considered the world’s biggest carnival. There are about two million people per day on the streets. Rio Carnival marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day sacrifice period before Easter. The first festival dates back as far as

Salsa is a popular form of social dance that originated in the Caribbean in the 1920s. Salsa is based on the rhythms of the music and combines beats with the steps. It consists of dancing six different steps over music with eight counts. Depending on the sound of the music and the style of the

The Battle of Oranges is a festival celebrated in Ivrea, Italy. It is organised in February. The origin for this tradition is in the mid-19th century. The legend says that local girls started to throw some oranges, together with flowers, onto the parade carriages. The Battle includes thousands of people divided into nine teams who

The Ágit Agueda Art Festival or the Umbrella Festival is celebrated in Agueda, Portugal. Hundreds of umbrellas are hung in the streets. The umbrellas not only add vibrant colours to the plain streets but also protect the heat. It seems that the umbrellas are floating all on their own like coloured balloons. The festival started

Junkanoo is a national festival and the greatest cultural event in the Bahamas. There is also a museum showcasing Junkanoo costumes, art and artifacts in Nassau city. The Junkanoo parade moves through the streets of Nassau with people wearing masks. The energy of the dancers and the beat of the music motivate the crowds. At

Tomato Festival is celebrated in Buñol, Spain. This Spanish festival begins with parades, fireworks, music and dancing. The streets of Buñol host 20,000 local folks and tourists. The celebrations begin in the morning, when trucks loaded with around 125,000 kilograms of ripe tomatoes come into the Plaza del Pueblo. There are some rules of the