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Visitors walk past a train-shaped ice sculpture ahead of the 31st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, January 4, 2015. The winter festival will be officially opened on January 5, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Visitors walk past a train-shaped ice sculpture ahead of the 31st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in the northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, January 4, 2015. The winter festival will be officially opened on January 5, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)
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05 Jan 2015 13:36:00
A masked Bulgarian dancer takes part in the second competition day of the 24th International Festival of Masquerade Games “Surva” in the town of Pernik, Bulgaria Saturday, January 31, 2015. (Photo by Valentina Petrova/AP Photo)

A masked Bulgarian dancer takes part in the second competition day of the 24th International Festival of Masquerade Games “Surva” in the town of Pernik, Bulgaria Saturday, January 31, 2015. Some 5,000 people are expected to take part in the three-day festival devoted to an ancient Bulgarian pagan rite. Surva is performed by costumed men, some in sheepskin, or other colorful garments, bells and masks, who walk around and dance to scare away the evil spirits, in hope to provide a good harvest, health, fertility, and happiness. (Photo by Valentina Petrova/AP Photo)
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01 Feb 2015 11:14:00
Easter Parade And Bonnet Festival In New York City

On Easter Sunday, (April 20, 2014) you have the opportunity to see Easter bonnets to the New York City extreme as "paraders" wander along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets. The area around St. Patrick's Cathedral is the ideal place to see the parade.
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24 Aug 2014 18:30:00
A devotee of the Chinese Jui Tui Shrine has his face pierced with metal rods during a street procession during the annual Vegetarian Festival in the southern Thai town of Phuket on October 19, 2015. During the festival, which begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts nine days, religious devotees slash themselves with swords, pierce their cheeks with sharp objects and commit other painful acts to purify themselves, taking on the sins of the community. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)

A devotee of the Chinese Jui Tui Shrine has his face pierced with metal rods during a street procession during the annual Vegetarian Festival in the southern Thai town of Phuket on October 19, 2015. During the festival, which begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts nine days, religious devotees slash themselves with swords, pierce their cheeks with sharp objects and commit other painful acts to purify themselves, taking on the sins of the community. (Photo by Nicolas Asfouri/AFP Photo)
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21 Oct 2015 08:05:00
A Reveller smokes during the battle of “Enfarinats”, a flour fight in celebration of the Els Enfarinats festival. (Photo by David Ramos)

It’s a classic tale of dictatorship gone wrong and the fight for freedom. Like in any good battle, there’s fire, albeit from firecrackers, but the ammunition in this one is – flour. It takes place in a Hemingway-esque Spanish village. The battle of “Enfarinats” in celebration of the Els Enfarinats festival, rages on on December 28, 2012 in Ibi, Spain. Citizens of Ibi annually celebrate the festival with a fight using flour, eggs and firecrackers. The battle takes place between two groups, a group of married men called “Els Enfarinats” who take the control of the village for one day pronouncing a number of ridiculous laws and fining the citizens that infringe them and a group called “La Oposicio” who try to restore order. At the end of the day the money collected from the fines is donated to charitable causes in the village. The festival has been celebrated since 1981 after the town of Ibi recovered the tradition but the origins remain unknown.

Photo: A Reveller smokes during the battle of “Enfarinats”, a flour fight in celebration of the Els Enfarinats festival. (Photo by David Ramos)
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30 Dec 2012 10:28:00
Hugo Gonzalez of Lake Worth works to put final strokes on his rendition of a Raksha demon. (Photo by Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post)

Hugo Gonzalez of Lake Worth works to put final strokes on his rendition of a Raksha demon. (Photo by Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post)
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25 Feb 2013 08:23:00


A devotee of the Chinese shrine of Samkong, pierces his cheeks with toy guns during a procession of Vegetarian Festival on October 11, 2010 in Phuket, Thailand. Ritual Vegetarianism in Phuket Island traces it roots back to the early 1800's. The festival begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts for nine days. Participants in the festival perform acts of body piercing as a means of shifting evil spirits from individuals onto themselves and bring the community good luck. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images)
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09 Jul 2011 11:55:00
Devotees offer prayers before taking a holy bath during the Swasthani Bratakatha festival in the Triveni River in Panauti near Kathmandu January 24, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Devotees offer prayers before taking a holy bath during the Swasthani Bratakatha festival in the Triveni River in Panauti near Kathmandu January 24, 2015. During the month long festival, devotees recite one chapter of a Hindu tale daily from the 31-chapter sacred Swasthani Brata Katha book that is dedicated to the God Madhavnarayan and the Goddess Swasthani, alongside various other gods and goddess and the miraculous feats performed by them. The devotees also go on pilgrimages to various temples, perform religious rituals, take a holy bath in the rivers and fast for a month, especially among women who believe fasting helps in their family's well-being or in getting them a good husband. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)
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25 Jan 2015 10:02:00