Shinto Feast Days Throughout the year, visitors to Japan can attend Shinto shrine festivals, celebrating events as diverse as the coming of spring and the rice harvest. More than 80% of the population practises the Shinto religion. Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto is the most famous of the more than 32,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. Visitors are welcome 24/7 and entrance is free. You’ll find festival dates and descriptions on its website. It’s fascinating to witness white-robed Shinto priests waving wands with paper streamers during purification rites and see shrine-maidens carrying offerings to Inari, the deity of rice, agriculture and prosperity. The rituals performed by worshippers are equally captivating. After making monetary offerings, they bow, ring bells and clap to draw the deity’s attention, before praying silently at candle-illuminated altars. You’ll also see Shinto practitioners seeking blessings and good fortune by writing their requests on small wooden plaques. inari.jp/en Day of the Dead You’d think that a festival memorializing departed souls would be sombre, but Mexicans pay homage to deceased loved ones with decorations, special foods and street fairs on November 2 (All Souls’ Day). Festivities also take place on October 31 (Young Souls’ Day) and November 1 (All Saints’ Day). These observances began in pre-Hispanic Mexico with indigenous beliefs that the souls of the deceased return annually to visit living relatives and eat and drink with them. Families honour their ancestors both at home and at gravesite altars. Skulls and skeletons – often seen in Aztec art – decorate stores and homes. Mexican children exchange candy skulls with friends. Traditionally, families share pan de muerto (bread of the dead). Made with sugar, butter, eggs, flour, yeast, anise and orange peel, it’s decorated with strips of dough simulating bones and teardrops. visitmexico.com Festival Gourmet International If you believe that Mexican food is just fajitas, burritos and tacos, Festival Gourmet International will change your mind. Every November, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit and Tepic host this annual 10-day culinary event. The region’s best restaurants and hotels feature dine-around dinners, cocktail parties and gourmet buffets. Progressive dinners with paired wines include transportation between restaurants for each course. During wine tastings and winemakers’ nights, participants discover that Mexico produces surprisingly good wines. Mexican and international chefs from Europe, Canada and South America conduct cooking demonstrations. Tickets include recipes, culinary secrets and mouth-watering meals. festivalgourmet.com.mx 18 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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