At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.

Iranian artist and designer Mehdi Ghadyanloo, with the help of the municipality, is slowly brightening up the city of Tehran one wall at a time. The 33-year old street artist has been painting murals and walls in Tehran for the last 5 years age, during which he’s reported to have painted over one hundred walls.

A rescuer saves a resident from a flooded area in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, July 2, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

A couple who did not give their names walk in downtown Havana, February 2, 2015. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

A model poses backstage during the International Flamenco Fashion Show in Seville, Spain, on February 2, 2013. (Photo by Associated Press/Miguel Angel Morenatti)

An Afghan man prepares tea for customers at a roadside tea shop on the outskirts of Jalalabad February 2, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

Four-year-old Eve Hill enjoys the wet weather in York, northeast England on August 2, 2023. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times)

A pedestrian walks with an umbrella along a street during rainfall in Bengaluru on June 2, 2024. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/AFP Photo)