Upcoming festivals boost cultural tourism in Asia

This June visit Asia and merge into the festivity of the continent. Various traditional festivals will be celebrated with utmost revelry in this month in different places of the oriental world. Here’s a list of a few widely popular festivals of Asia celebrated in the month of November that attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Gawai Dayak Festival
June 1- 2,2014
Sarawak, Malaysia
This harvest festival is a religious and social event celebrated annually in Sarawak on 1 June in the longhouses of lowland tribes in Sarawak. If you are travelling to Sarawak during this time then you will be greeted with traditional costumes, dance performance, ancient tribal stories, animal sacrifice and local liquor, Borak. In local language, Gawai means a ritual or festival, while Dayak is the name for the native ethnic groups of Sarawak.

Duanwu Jié (Dragon Boat Festival)
June 2, 2014
China
The Dragon Boat Festival (Duānwǔ Jié) is a traditional holiday that commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan (Chu Yuan). During the Dragon Boat Festival, China’s rivers fill with colorful crafts decked out to look like dragons, from fearsome snout to scaly tail. The riverside is also the best place to watch the narrow boats compete to the beating of drums, while soaking up the festive atmosphere over a Tsingtao beer.

BALI ART FESTIVAL
June 14-July 12, 2014
Bali, Indonesia
Bali Arts Festival is a unique extravaganza of arts, music, dance and history celebrating passion and pride in Balinese culture. Each year, the Bali Arts Festival features the enthralling classical dances of the island, such as the legong, gambuh, kecak, barong, baris and the mask dance. Over the years, the whole range of classical Balinese epics and folk stories – such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Sutasoma, Panji – have thus been turned into “colossal Dance dramas” known as Sendratari.

Rainforest World Music Festival
June 20 – 22, 2014
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Every year the Sarawak Tourism Board welcomes thousands of music enthusiasts from around the globe to the Sarawak Cultural Village celebrating the diversity of world music. Featuring a wide range of musical performances from traditional to world fusion and contemporary, the festival is a 3-day fiesta. Although there is a set schedule for the workshops and evening performances, the atmosphere at the Rainforest World Music Festival is extremely relaxed, and attendees are free to wander the local landscapes.
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Hua Hin Jazz Festival
June 20-22, 2014
Bangkok
Bangkok gears up to celebrate one of the most awaited music events of the year, the Hua Hin Jazz Festival. This year, the festival will be organized under a “Going back to the Roots” theme, featuring a quality musical expression in Jazz, Soul, Nu Jazz, New Orleans Jazz and Dixieland, Electronic Jazz, Soul, Blues and Bossa Nova.

Bun Luang or Phi Ta Khon Festival
27 – 29 June, 2014
Dan Sai district, Loei Province
Often referred as “the Ghost Festival”, this popular celebration in Thailand features quite a unique amalgam of rituals and events. The locals dress up in flamboyant costumes and scary masks to look ghoulish. The last day of Bun Luang is a more spiritual affair. It is common for people to attend Wat Ponchai where they listen to 13 sermons about the Lord Buddha.