Created and Maintained by: The Photoimaging Information Council
Calendar of Events
Take Great Pictures' Calendar of Events is a wonderful photo resource for any traveler. Here we feature some of the best photo ops throughout the US and the World, from hot air balloon festivals to various cultural celebrations to off-beat events, our Calendar is sure to get you some great photographs. Check out schedules for Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, New Year's Eve, July 4th, and dozens more holidays.
August
4 - 7,
2005 World's Longest Outdoor Sale - Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama
What started as a small scheme to pull a few travelers off the interstate onto old U.S. 127 18 years ago, using the irresistible lure of the yard sale, has mushroomed into the World's Longest Yard Sale, stretching hundreds of miles from its birthplace of Jamestown, Tennessee, all the way north to Covington, Kentucky and south to Gadsden Alabama, encompassing 450 miles.
With antique dealers, car collectors, farm machinery buffs, crafters and cooks getting into the act, the event grew from humble beginnings to more than 2,000 vendors last year, offering just about any collectible anyone could imagine, and more importantly, brought thousands of buyers who now plan their vacations around the 1st Saturday in August, making this their annual adventure.
In a land where bison once thundered across the prairie, modern-day cowboys rumble over the land on iron horses. Each August, hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists journey to the Mecca of the motorcycling world: Sturgis, South Dakota.
The legacy of the Sturgis Rally began in 1938 when J.C. "Pappy" Hoel, a local motorcycle shop owner, and some friends came up with the idea of holding a motorcycle race and stunt competition. The first event consisted of 19 racers at the half-mile track and some dangerous events such as board-wall crashes, ramp jumps and head-on collisions with cars. Local businesses put up the $500 prize money. Every year the event grew as both racers and spectators learned of the event.
By the time the 1980's rolled around, the attendance numbers climbed into the tens of thousands. For the 50th Anniversary in 1990, approximately 400,000 bikers came to celebrate. In 1999, the event drew 275,000 – 290,000 people from around the world. The biggest rally of all happened in 2000, the 60th Anniversary. Estimated attendance was 550,000 - 633,000.
Sturgis is a special place for motorcyclists. Steeped in history and situated in the scenic Black Hills, it offers more than just a good time. It is a place where motorcyclists can enjoy camaraderie with their friends and freedom on the open road. Riding out to the Badlands, over to Devil's Tower or cruising past Sylvan Lake offers serious scenery and solitude.
Your first trip to Sturgis will make your head swim, eyes throb and ears roar. You'll love every minute of it. Once you have attended, you will understand what is impossible to put into words. Join the pilgrimage. Come to Sturgis.
August
10 - 12,
2005 Puck Fair - Killorglin, Ireland
Every year Killorglin hosts the Puck Fair, one of the most unusual street fairs in the Republic as well as one of the oldest. Expect a horse fair, parade and coronation of King Puck, along with children's competitions, street entertainment and dancing displays.
The origins of the fair are vague, but it pre-dates the 17th century, with previous visitors including historical figures such as Oliver Cromwell (not, one may note, the most beloved of characters to the Irish). Over time it has developed some unique traditions, most importantly King Puck himself, who is a goat.
The King gets a grand ceremonial crowning on the first day of the fair, Gathering Day, complete with elevated throne and his own queen. He presides in state over the next day, Fair Day, and then is ceremonially de-throned on the third day, Scattering Day. This involves his coming down from his plinth and, somewhat grateful for his release from the duties of office, returning to scamper free in the wilds of the Kerry mountains.
During the three days of goat rule, the town parties. Along with parades and dressing-up on the first day, there are local products on sale, plus a famous horse fair. The second day there's a funfair for the kids and an Irish singing competition. The third day sees merrymaking of all sorts, including, of course, set dancing and plenty of Irish jigs.
Visitors come from all over the world for this one - more than 100,000 every year.
As the Earth takes its usual course around the sun, it crosses the path of the Perseids meteors, some of the thousands that get sucked into the planet's atmosphere by gravity each year. This year's Perseids peak is on 12 August, although they can be spotted before and after with the naked eye..
The Perseids have been known as the "tears of St Lawrence", since these shooting stars are in abundance during the festival of that saint on 10 August. Credit for the discovery of the shower's annual appearance is given to Quételet who, in 1835, reported that the constellation Perseus was responsible for an annual shower.Modern astronomers believe they relate to a comet called Swift-Tuttle.
To best observe the Perseids in the Northern Hemisphere, grab a telescope and look straight up. Avoid looking directly at the radiant (where the shower radiates from) because you'll miss a lot of the action. Decent numbers of Perseids should be observable from around 10pm but the show really picks up after midnight and continues until dawn. When you see a meteor, trace it backwards. If you arrive at the constellation of Perseus it was probably a Perseid.
August
12 - 14,
2005 Boston in the Cuyahoga Valley: Outdoor & Nature Photography with Don Gale, a Dodd Camera Workshop - Cleveland, OH
The location for this workshop will be the small town of Boston...located in the Cuyahoga Valley. Boston is traversed by the Cuyahoga River as well as the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. The weekend begins on Friday night in the upstairs of the Boston Store, a beautiful historic building constructed circa 1836 that housed the Boston Land and Manufacturing Company Store. It has been used as a warehouse, store, post office, and gathering place. The building is now a canal boatbuilding museum featuring exhibits on all aspects of that business. On Saturday, followed by continental breakfast, enjoy the day with Don Gale for a lecture and outdoor shooting sessions. The evening will close with a 7:00pm Sunset session in Boston. The weekend includes some meals, raffles, bonus rebates, and lots of prizes. Visit www.doddcamera.com for more information.
While this annual August event is different every year, you can expect some mainstays like Taffy Sculpting, French Fry Sculpting, Artistic Pie Eating (boats, seagulls, the state of New Jersey), Wet T-shirt Tossing (record: 165 feet), Putrid Puns and Celebrity Super Hero Impersonations. Events occur daily at 11:00 am in front of the Music Pier, Boardwalk and Moorlyn Terrace. The grand finale is the highly fashionable Miss Miscellaneous Contest. They've even created a song: "Miss Miscellaneous, so, so spontaneous, never extraneous, even if it would rain on us, it wouldn't be a pain to us, because we adore you, we adore you, Miss Miscellaneous."
Evelyn Cameron, the subject of Photographing Montana, is a fascinating figure of the turn of the century American frontier. As one of the few women to live in the harsh, rugged Montana environment, Cameron's work offers a unique look at the role of women during the early 20th century in Montana.
As the subject of an upcoming PBS documentary, a special event is being held in her hometown of Terry, MT, which will feature a gala reception, screening of the film, 4-mile guided hike, and book signing by Donna M. Lucey, author of Photographing Montana. Be sure to RSVP by August 1st, 2005.
August 24 -
September 4,
2005 58th Annual Requena Grape Harvest and Water Festival - Requena, Spain
The Valencian town of Requena stages a beautiful festival (read waterfight) to celebrate the beginning of the grape harvest. Known as La Fiesta de la Vendimia, one of the highlights is the Noche de Zurra, which has some bizarre traditions in store for the unaware.
People take to the streets to beseech the powers-that-be for the water needed for the next harvest. Their neighbours waste no time in granting their request - with the help of buckets of water and hoses the inhabitants of houses which line the main streets make sure that the people below get a thorough soaking.
The event also gives visitors the opportunity to taste wine from the first pressing, as well as featuring a procession with offerings of fruit and flowers.
The spectacular music and dance of Tibet are the star attractions at this colourful two-day festival at the Seattle Center. Featuring arts, crafts, literature, lectures and plenty of food, TibetFest is a cultural feast of entertainment from the Land of the Snows that is guaranteed to dazzle all visitors.
Members of the esteemed Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts from Dharamsala in India (where His Holiness the Dalai Lama lives) join local dance troup Nyenchen Thangla to present traditional folk music and dances of Tibet. Dressed in stunning silks and brocades of many colours and dripping in silver and turquoise jewels, the dancers wow audiences with tales of nomads and farmers and dances of gypsies, stags and yaks.
TibetFest has been running since 1985 and is brought to Seattle by the close-knit community of Tibetan refugees who live in the area, through a local organisation called the Tibetan Association of Washington.
August 29 -
September 5,
2005 Burning Man Festival - Black Rock, NV
The isolated barren Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada will once again sprout its perennial fantasy metropolis of Black Rock City. This huge counter-culture event usually features a full-blown city of improbable structures, fascinating art installations and strange events that attract thousands of participants and spectators at one of the wildest and most imaginative happenings in the USA.
Every year the 9000 inhabitants of the tiny village of Buñol find their population has quadrupled overnight as a multitude of enthusiasts turn up for the largest tomato war on the planet. It's the opportunity of a lifetime - let battle commence!
By 11am the 30,000-strong army are well breakfasted on pancetta, chorizo and lots of rosé and have been prepared for action by copious soakings. The tomato wars are about to begin.
Five bulbous, tomato-packed rockets are sent whistling into the skies and the masses congregated below launch into a frenzy of flinging, slinging and lobbing - it's every man and woman for themselves.
There are very few rules in La Tomatina - it is compulsory to squish your tomato before sending it into the red blur of the crowd before you, and other projectiles are not allowed. Don't worry about running out of ammunition because there's a monumental 125,000 kilo arsenal of ripe fruit. Participants have two hours in which to hurl them at what will be, for that brief time, thousands of enemies.
The aftermath of La Tomatina puts any blood-injected, horror-film set to shame. Don't count on recognising your mates, or them recognising you for that matter. Within hours, though, the town is transformed back to its former self. Shopkeepers take down their tarpaulins and everyone chips in to hose down the town and return it to its former "tomato-less" glory.
So how on earth did this gastronomically obscure tradition start? There is no patron saint of tomatoes or miraculous explanation of a tomato ritual, whereby locals beseech the gods for good weather and fortune for next year's harvest. It so happens the tradition was born way back in 1945 when some locals got carried away in a restaurant food fight. It must be the sheer fun of it that led to the "small-time" altercation taking on such epic proportions.
