Festival: Did you mean...?

The Festival of the Federation (Fête de la Fédération) was a celebration that occurred on the Champ de Mars outside Paris on 14 July 1790, the first anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille. With over 300,000 people in attendance, the...

The gods of the ancient Egyptians were always apparent to the people through natural events. The sunrise was Ra emerging from the underworld in his great ship, for example, and the moon was the god Khonsu traveling across the night sky. When...

The greatest party ever thrown in antiquity is the inaugral event thrown by Ashurnasirpal II (r. 884-859 BCE) in 879 BCE at the completion of his new city of Kalhu which was attended by almost 70,000 people who were served, among other treats...

The Festival of the Supreme Being on 8 June 1794, held on the Champ de Mars, marked the height of Maximilien Robespierre's power. Painting by Pierre-Antoine Demachy, c. 1794. Musée Carnavalet, Paris.

Depiction of the Festival of the Supreme Being, 20 Prairial Year II (8 June 1794), unknown artist, c. 1794. Musée Carnavalet.

Festival of the Federation (14 July 1790) on the Champ de Mars, from a perspective close to the king's pavilion, engraving by Isidore Stanislas Helman, after a painting by Charles Monnet, 1790. Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Overhead view of the Champ de Mars during the Fête de la Fédération (Festival of the Federation), 14 July 1790. Musée de la Révolution française, Vizille.

Fragment of a Babylonian clay tablet, with 16 lines of inscription describing rites in Babylon relating to the Akitu festival. Fragment of the right half, copy of a text containing regulations for making offerings. From the Library of Ashurbanipal...

The Hungry Ghost festival continues to be celebrated in China on the fifteenth night of the seventh month, when it is thought that the dead can cross over into the land of the living because the veil that separates the two worlds is thinnest...

Celebrations of the Ghost Festival include public altars and parades where food is thrown into the air. The ghosts are thought to be hungry and so food is provided for them in homes and also in public places. Altars of fresh fruit and sweet...