People protest to demand the departure of the Transitional Presidential Council due to insecurity and gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on March 26, 2025. While authorities, including the National Palace and several ministries have all left downtown to escape the armed gang attacks in Port-au-Prince. Meanwhile, the people continue to fall victim to gang bullets. (Photo by Guerinault Louis/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Young people play with foam during a march to commemorate Youth Day in Caracas, Venezuela, 12 February 2025. The president of Venezuela's National Assembly (AN, Parliament), Chavista Jorge Rodriguez, invited, before hundreds of followers who commemorated Youth Day, all young migrants to return to the country so that they can “build a prosperous homeland”. (Photo by Ronald Pena R./EPA)

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.

Competitors prepare backstage before the 2015 Brazil Miss and Mister Fitness contest in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 18, 2015. Some 96 men and women from all across the country competed in the event. (Photo by Paulo Whitaker/Reuters)