In the Philippines, there is this season called Summer Holiday where the school children go on vacation in the provinces to be with their relatives there. And the celebrations in most rural areas are the Santacruzan and Flores De Mayo. They are both Catholic in nature. The Santacruzan is a procession tracing the journey of Constantine's mother in searching for the cross whild Flores De Mayo showcases the beautiful maidens in the town. With celebrations like that, food cannot be absent so expect native foods to be served. Tourists would love to partake of the native dishes which are mostly exotic.
I think in my area Santacruzan is not being celebrated anymore, but in the 90's and early 2000's it was quite common. I think I would agree that the practice is still common in the provinces as compared to here in Manila.
Botswana's predominantly a Christian country, and although I'm Roman Catholic by birth, I don't actually practice. So I'm not sure these exist in my country. If people celebrate these holidays, I can't say I've noticed. Maybe I haven't noticed because it's just not something I partake in IDK.
Well we have a few summer holidays here in the US which are mainly known for barbecues and get togethers. Memorial Day is the unnofficial kick off of summer, and it is a good time to stock up on grilling supplies and so forth. 4th of July is a similar thing. Labor Day is typically the last relaxing day before the kids go back to school so people sometime plan their holidays and vacations before that day.
Those sound like interesting festivals. What exactly do you mean by exotic food, do you mean elaborate, or unusual flavors, etc.? Memorial Day has just passed. Despite being designed as a day to honor the war dead, it's used by a lot of people as an excuse to celebrate and barbecue. It was a big weekend here in my area, since many people like to come to the beach and play in the water. There are also a few grills down at the beach, so people will bring food to cook, and make a day of it. The whole area is pretty popular with tourists, which means there are more crowds and additional traffic on the roads. I don't do a lot of celebrating these days, but I always purchase a few decorations in Red White & Blue for July 4th, which is our (the United States') Independence Day. I am planning to buy a banner this year, as I did last year, and I'll also replace my worn out spinners in the front yard with red white & blue ones.
