The performers prepare for the show. Fontana, a travelling water circus produced by Cirque Du Liban at Festival City in Dubai. (Photo by Chris Whiteoak/The National)
A ballet dancer poses in a giant plastic bubble as she entertains Christmas shoppers in Melbourne on December 13, 2020. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)
Women pray at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi in the early hours of April 6, 2024, on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), one of the holiest nights during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by Ryan Lim/AFP Photo)
Maddy the toy poodle relaxes in her patriotically decorated wagon during the 17th annual Fourth of July Pet Parade in Salisbury, Massachusetts, on July 4, 2024. The event is run by the Salisbury beach partnership. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP Photo)
Miners carry a goats head for burial in the crater as part of an annual offering ceremony on the Ijen volcano on December 17, 2013 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The ritual is performed by the sulfur miners of Mount Ijen who slaughter a goat and then bury the head in the crater of mount Ijenn. The sacrifice is performed to ward off potential disasters for the next year. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)
Students from the Liceo Parini school celebrate the end of term in Milan, Italy on June 6, 2024. (Photo by Marco Ottico/LaPresse/Rex Features/Shutterstock)
Artists watch burning an effigy of Lady Maslenitsa as they celebrate Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, March 13, 2016. Maslenitsa is widely viewed as a pagan holiday marking the end of winter and is celebrated with pancake eating and shows of strength, while the Orthodox Church considers it as the week of feasting before Lent. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)