Introduction
Nowadays, people are so busy with their work or studies that most of them ignore the cultural background of the traditional holidays of their country or nation. Although schools are closed during holidays, most learners are only aware of such a holiday because it gives them a few relaxing days off. Perhaps they can learn about these holidays through the school’s publicity or the Internet, but few learners are willing to learn more about the traditional culture behind them.
Learning Outcome
After studying this topic, learners will learn:
After studying this topic, learners will learn:
- The connection between festivals and culture.
- The composition of culture, where festivals play a very important role.
- The importance of traditional culture and festivals to people’s lives, social status, and the maintenance of interpersonal ties and relationships.
Festivals & Culture
“Festivals are a chance for tribes and groups to get together – whether it’s their religion, views, social beliefs or interests that binds them”(VickyFlipFlop, 2022). In addition to celebration and relaxation, festivals are also a link to culture, tradition and faith. Since every holiday sends a message, then a connection is made when people come together to celebrate for that message.
Festivals are an extension of culture, and festivals are a cultural celebration ritual. “Festivals are arenas for displaying, reinforcing, and acquiring culture”(Rossetti & Quinn, 2021). Each holiday is then a different way of celebrating a different culture. For example, the Chinese New Year, the ancient Chinese people would set off fireworks to drive away monsters with firelight on this day. This is the heritage of culture and the celebration of culture. On the other hand, the promotion of the festival is also a way to attract people to learn about the culture. Also in terms of New Year, many people from other countries have some knowledge about New Year, then they will be curious to know the cultural meaning behind it.
Festivals also play a very important role in the transmission of culture. According to Why Festivals are Important by Kahar Zalmay(2017), “Life is all about happiness and as human beings, social interaction with our fellow beings not only brings happiness but helps us grow our capacity to learn languages, familiarise ourselves with cultures, inquire, think, play and work.” It is the most convenient way to learn about culture because children will be more likely to remember things that are relevant to their own lives. ” To keep this simple we can all agree that religious festivals help us to teach principles and ethics to our next generations”(Festivals). For people, just simply understanding and learning about culture is boring. But festivals are a light-hearted way for people to understand and learn about culture. For example, schools will be closed and workplaces will be closed. Then while people relax they will be aware of the festival and culture. Nowadays most of them are busy with work and study, they may not have so much time to learn and understand, then this will be a good way to let the festival and culture into their life.
As mentioned earlier, most of the holidays bring relief in the form of a holiday. Then it is also a way to bring people together. Some people come together for the same cultural beliefs, such as the Chinese New Year, which has slowly become a family reunion through cultural transmission. Many Chinese people spend the whole year wandering around for a living, and come back home to their families for this festival.
The impact of different types of festivals on people and the cultural meaning behind them
Different holidays have different meanings, so the way they are celebrated and the people are different. For example, the Chinese Qingming Festival is to commemorate dead relatives “The main activity that people engage in on this day is cleaning the tombs of their ancestors” (Meredith, 2022), while the Mid-Autumn Festival is to miss distant relatives and friends. Although their main purpose is to miss and remember, but the cultural background and meaning behind them are different.
Formative assessment
Separate what you do and what you do not know.
- Learners will write down what they have learned and do not understand, including asking a question on their blog post. For example, do they understand the importance of the festival to understand the culture?
- The learners comment to each other and answer other participants’ questions.
These activities will be worth 10% of the learner’s final grade.
References
Meredith, A. What is Qingming Festival and how is it observed?: Tomb sweeping day. CLI. (2022, April 1). Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://studycli.org/chinese-holidays/qingming-festival/
Rossetti, G., & Quinn, B. (2021). Understanding the cultural potential of rural festivals: A conceptual framework of cultural capital development. Journal of Rural Studies, 86, 46–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.05.009
Zalmay, K. (2017, 24 February). Why festivals are important. thenews. Retrieved 25 May, 2022, from https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/188562-why-festivals-are-important#:~:text=Festivals%20contribute%20immensely%20to%20feelings,for%20maintaining%20unity%20among%20families.
FlipFlop, V. (2022, 14 January). The importance of festivals for Society & Our Unique Cultures. VickyFlipFlopTravels. Retrieved 25 May 2022, from https://vickyflipfloptravels.com/importance-of-festivals/
Festivals: http://www.hattours.com/blog/festivals-2/
