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Christmas season is a time for food, music; family and fun so why not take all these things and put them into one big, unforgettable Christmas party. Not only will the occasion be entertaining for your guests but you can make the planning an enjoyable experience for you too.
party decoration is endless with Christmas designs and you’ll be surprised at the amount of ranges on the internet you can grab and at low prices too! From tablecloths and crockery to door plagues and ceiling hangers there’s always something for everyone and whether the design of the party is modern or old fashioned, you can never have enough!
The party invitation sent to each guest can contain more than just the boring party details and a picture of Santa. Try different ideas like informing them there will be a fancy dress competition with a prize, describing how to play the different games that will take place or by simply designing the invitation yourself to apply to each individual guest.
The ideas for games are never ending and a few of the best are ‘human Christmas trees’ in which the guests use green paper and real Christmas ornaments to make and decorate their friends for a prize, or a game in which contestants compete by opening a 7 layered present wearing a hat, scarf and oven mitts. Again the internet is a good place to search for these types of games.
Party supplies are best when they are traditional. Little platters filled with Christmas party goods and old fashioned nibbles are always popular with everyone and a good tub of chocolates will make every guest’s eyes light up. It’s best to go for sweet and savoury on your Christmas food list to apply to everybody’s taste buds.
Music is among the easiest of all. Christmas albums filled with traditional tunes are available everywhere or you could even upload them to an iPod or mp3 and ensure there’s music constantly playing with all your guests favourite tracks.
As a fun little treat to remind your guests of a young era, why not give them Christmas party bags at the end of the bash. Silly treats like mini mince pies, small bottles of alcohol and even fake Santa beards and reindeer antlers. Children’s bags could contain Christmas cookies and sweets, and party products like miniature games and toys.
There’s lots of fun to be had at Christmas gatherings so try and make it something your guests will never forget.

Spanning back to centuries we can track the origin of May Day – a day for celebration back in the period when Christ was not born. Like many other ancient festivals May Day too has a connection to the Pegan culture. May 1st was the second most vital holidays of the year for the Druids of the British Isles, since it was when actually the festival of Beltane held. It was believed that May Day (May 1st) divided the year into half – the other half to be ended with the Samhain on 1st day of November. It was those days when May Day customs was actually setting of new fire and New Year rites used to be held all over the world. The fire itself was believed to lend life and purity to the springtime sun and cattle was made to rush through the smoke for purification. Men used to walk through the smoke along with their soul mates with a hope to be blessed with good luck.

With the passage of days, celebration of May Day had subtle twists. By Middle Ages the English village had its Maypole, the bringing of which from the woods used to reveal loads of scopes for merrymaking.

Time has changed; so the way of celebrating the day too. It is celebrated each year through generosity and support of millions of generous Americans as days grow longer and blooming of buds. There are May Day marches and rallies held out in the various part of the country. The Nottingham Refugee Campaign Group is organizing a grand May Day march at the the famous Brewhouse Yard gardens, located near the Castle, Nottingham. There are many other rallies and marches across the nation and the ways of celebration have got a modern flavor. But even today celebration of May Day is still having a touch of ancient culture and tradition. Even today Maypole is still one of the major features of the May festivities with distinctive interpretations. But whatever way you look at it the theme of the May Day celebration is all about celebrating the renewal of life with new hopes, new dreams and new resolutions. In many parts of the country May Day flower baskets are made and treats are left at the thresholds of the loved ones as a token of good wishes and love to strengthen the bondage and to rekindle the lost touches.

Dorothy Smith is the author of this article wants to send information about the events & other special occasions. Want to know more about may day or may day ecards. Celebrate may day by sending happy may day cards and other free ecards .

Weddings are a time of celebration for every family. It is a wonderful sight to see your own son or daughter finally decide to say “I do” at the altar. Weddings bring out the romantic hidden within every Mr. or Mrs. Scrooge. Weddings are also a time of great expense for the family. No matter how much you try to scrimp, expenditure is going to skyrocket. You will not manage to ignore the immense expenses that are involved. From buying the wedding rings and the jewelry to the clothes for all those who are involved, to paying the caterers and the people involved in decorating the place, there are several expenses that just cannot be avoided. That is, unless you choose to have a quite court marriage minus all the drama of a regular ceremony.

Now, if at this point of time you also feel the need to do some home improvements so as to groom your apartment for just in time for the wedding, be prepared to get stuck with a pretty huge bill. Of course, the costs involved will vary depending on what exactly you are planning to get done in your home.

Let us list out some of the things that you might want done your home. You might want to revamp your old electrical fixtures and get new, ultra-modern ones. You might want to get rid of the old oak dining table and bring home a more lightweight, wrought iron one. You might think about a complete revamp of all your furniture by getting home some new pieces. If you are not ready to part with all your furniture, you could give the existing ones a makeover by polishing the woodwork or changing the covers. Changing the upholstery is a great way to make changes to your house. All or any of these things would make a great impact.

If all this seems too simplified for you and you want to go and break some walls and create new windows and change the flooring, get ready for much greater costs. If you are going to carry out such heavy-duty home makeovers, it would be a good idea to try getting a secured home improvement loan. These loans are not at all difficult to get and you would save yourself from a lot of nerve-racking moments by getting a bank to take care of it for the present moment. Once the wedding is over, you could always repay it with a calmer mind.

Get secured loans UK, secured home improvement loans and secured homeowner loans.

What does a royal couple do to mark such an important occasion as a diamond wedding anniversary? Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their nuptials by returning to their roots, so to speak.

While Queen Elizabeth has lived most of her life in England, she did reside for a brief period on the island of Malta. Those around at the time of the closely watched and somewhat controversial wedding of Princess Elizabeth to the Grecian-born Prince Philip will remember the short stint the royal couple spent on the island of Malta.

Just two years after renouncing his Greek heritage and claim to royalty there, Philip was fulfilling his duties as a British royal and serving in the Royal Navy at his post on the Mediterranean island.

Additionally, he had been conferred the title of Duke of Edinburgh by Elizabeth`s father, King George VI. Elizabeth visited her new husband at various times in Malta, and both lived there for a two year period between 1949 and 1951, not long after the birth of their first child, Prince Charles.

Little is known about the couple`s private life in Malta at the time. It seems fitting, however, that the Queen and Duke returned to the place they spent a significant part of their early years together. And that they did; to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary last November. The couple paid tribute to their own wedding vows by sharing the occasion with other couples who were also marking their diamond anniversaries. Indeed, what better way to celebrate such a milestone than to meet and consort with the royal couple of Britain? Said one diamond anniversary celebrant: “My husband and I were delighted to meet the Queen for the first time in our lives.”

Many royal watchers and newscasters have billed the Queen and Duke`s visit to Malta as a “second honeymoon.” Though neither of them has ever admitted this publicly, it was reported that the trip was the idea of the Duke himself, perhaps an anniversary gift to his wife.

Their stay in Malta was only one stop on a royal tour, which included an official trip to Uganda. While they may have been able to disguise their stay in Malta as official business, many of those who had the opportunity to mingle with Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh speculate that there must have been an element of romance in their brief visit.

The Queen is said to have many fond memories of her early years with her husband and young son in Malta before ascending to the royal throne of Britain at the tender age of 25. At the time of the royal couple`s residence there, Malta was a Protectorate of the British government. Though Malta gained independent status in 1964, the island still maintains very close ties to the British Monarchy. Those who reside there joyously celebrated with the Queen and the Duke in November. There is little doubt that Malta remains an important location in the lives of the royal couple.
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Malta is becoming increasingly popular as a wedding and honeymoon destination in Europe.

For holidays in Malta with well known travel companies like Thomas Cook, Expedia and Thomson Holidays visit YourMalta.com

Are you the type of person who falls asleep at Fourth of July fireworks celebrations? The type of person who yearns for just a little more “oomph” in your pyrotechnics? Then the Las Fallas festival in Valencia, pain is your kind of celebration.

Beginning on March 15 and culminating with huge bonfires on March 19, Las Fallas, or “the fires” is exactly what the name implies – a celebration of fire. For six months leading up to Las Fallas, “ninots,” huge cardboard wood and plaster statues, are constructed by community organizations. They depict people and scenes from current events (sometimes resembling local politicians), and can stand several stories high.

Hundreds of these ninots are constructed and placed around the city until March 19, which is the day called “La Crema.” On this day holes are made in the ninots, which are then stuffed with fireworks. Crowds gathered around then begin to chant, streetlights are turned off and at exactly midnight all the ninots are set ablaze. All the ninots, that is, except one, which has been chosen popular vote to be taken to the local Museum of the Ninot to be exhibited along with winners from previous Las Fallas celebrations

No one`s really sure how it got started, but most believe it harkens back to the days of the Pagans, who celebrated the end of winter and the beginning of Spring and the planting season. It is known that that in sixteenth century Valencia streetlights were used only during the long winter nights. The street lamps then were hung on wooden posts, called parots, and as the days became longer and the streetlights were no longer lit, the parots were rendered useless and ceremoniously burned on St. Joseph`s Day.

Some believe the huge bonfires thus started as a bit of housecleaning, or, village cleaning as it were. Back then the carpenter`s guild used tall sticks with various rags soaked in tar to make candelabra, if you will. They then became the streetlights. And, when they became no longer needed and were burned, the townspeople began adding unnecessary items from their own households (apparently they weren`t into recycling back then).

So, how did the burning sticks, rags and people`s discards take on the
current-day Las Fallas celebration of the ninots resembling people and scenes?

Quite simply, many of the discards were people`s clothing, so the creative among them began dressing the sticks with the clothing, assigning them characteristics of politicians and other characters in the community (many of them corrupt). And so…a festival was born.

What`s it like to attend Las Fallas? I admit, the first one I
attended was a little frightening. I mean, everything`s on fire. But, the firefighters there make sure the festival fires don`t get out of hand. So, after my third Las Fallas (yes, I`ve been back a couple of times), I actually find it an exhilarating experience, a cleansing so to speak. I sometimes just imagine it as an “out with the old, in with the new” sort of thing, much like firecrackers on New Years. Only bigger. Much, much bigger. With a lot more oomph.

If you`re looking for an experience like no other, I truly recommend
Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain. You won`t regret it, I`m sure of that.

Not everyone has the luxury to travel to France
for Bastille Day, but that doesn`t mean you can`t
celebrate the French version of Independence
Day right from your home town. Here are some
ideas to get you started:

Check your local paper for French events. Many of the larger
cities in the United States have cultural centers which plan
Bastille Day events.

You can go to a French restaurant. Just about any French
restaurant is sure to be honoring Bastille Day.

Throw a Bastille Day party at home. Grab some wine, cheese,
crackers, and a few friends, and have your own tres francais
party.

Create a gourmet French meal, complete with French wine. You
might consider featuring champagne toasts, truffles, and bistro
fare.

chocolate mousse cake
Of course, you`ll want to top off any
celebration with chocolate! Here are some
delicious French recipes contributed by
Harmony Sweets visitors that you can try:

Croissant Roulade au Chocolate with Marrons Glace

Double Chocolate Honey Bon-Bons

Chocolate Lime & Ginger Truffles

Individual Chocolate Soufflés

With a little imagination, you too can celebrate French
Independence!

Vienna is giving a surprise with the incredible boom in its youth scene. Wild clubbing, hot gigs, day-long street parties, an entire island to live it up and a profusion of cafés and places to hang out make up the pulsating, young face of the venerable Danube metropolis today.

The classic beat for Vienna-scene freaks was and remains the Triangle around St. Ruprecht`s Church in the old town. The pubs here are trendy as well as full of life and zest with pubs like First Floor and Krah Krah, Ma Pitom, Kaktus or Ron con Soda.

Spittelberg – the revitalized Biedermeier area in which Donau Bar, Plutzer Bräu and Verde are just two of the many trendy haunts that surround the Amerlinghaus event center. Spittelberg is always in season: in winter, when a sticky sweet aroma of hot punch hangs in the air and the Christmas market comes alive, and when summer comes in, when the first warm breezes of May drift down the lanes and the pavement cafés that spring up mark the beginning of several months of effervescent street life.

When the sun shines on the Copa Cagrana, the strip of embankment on the Danube near the Reichsbrücke Bridge is a small world in its own right. Bars and restaurants, cafés and beach discos make this the ideal place for cool drinks and hot flirts from May to September. The Copa Cagrana stands for high life, Vienna style, enjoyed by plenty of others apart from the many who take the day off to go swimming, sunbathing, wind-surfing, biking and skating on Danube Island.

In summer the Vienna youth scene finds the coolest place to be is out of doors. It`s time to join the others sweating along with the Vienna City Marathon that runs through the heart of the city.

City events like the music-film festival in front of City Hall lure visitors with their combination of warm summer evenings and big-screen showings of concerts and opera performances by legends like Karajan and Bernstein. Here, artistic enjoyment goes hand in hand with culinary pleasures when one`s taste buds go on a world tour round the countless food booths.

In the “Tanzquartier Wien” in the Museumsquartier dancing performances now have their constant home. Local and international programs are interpreted and shown there in new productions every week. Also the ImPuls festival has become a window on the latest developments in dance around the globe. Top ensembles, soloists and newcomers from the dance world present a wide variety of trendy styles such as modern dance, contact improvisation, Hip-Hop, Break-dance and dance theater.

It will be wrong to assume that Vienna is only about the musical giants of bygone centuries like Mozart and Schubert is way off beam. The city has quickly risen to become a super power in electronic music and has produced DJ stars of today along with sampling and remixing gods like Kruder & Dorfmeister, Pulsinger & Tunakan, and DSL.

Vienna`s youth scene is booming as never before. Whole quarters of the city appear as if the hills had never been alive with the Sound of Music and as if the Viennese had never heard of a waltz. The motto is of the youth is to go out, tune in, cut loose, relax and dance.

Anil Gupta recommends that you visit vienna hotels for more information.

We were told that Star Trek would let us “boldly go where no man has gone before.”

But there were women who went into the unknown, too.

These are the women who traipsed among the stars.

Nichelle Nichols was one of the first. Playing Communications Officer Lt. Uhura on the Original Series, she showed women and racial minorities that there was a future for us. Nichols thought about leaving the show after the first series because her role wasn’t very substantial but after talking to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., she changed her mind. He told her that people needed to see a Black Woman when they envisioned the future.

Nichol’s role in space wasn’t over with the cancellation of the show. She has remained active with NASA, helping to recruit women and minorities to the space agency.

On the original pilot for Star Trek, Majel Barrett played Captain Pike’s Executive Officer, a position NBC executives in 1966 vetoed. Barrett was recast as Nurse Chapel in the original series and went on to become the only actor to have a role of some kind in every single Star Trek series.

On The Next Generation, there were two strong women who came to embody the series. While they were still in support roles, Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher and Marina Siritis as Counselor Deanna Troi were active participants in the series. Dr. Crusher was gentle. Counselor Troi was insightful.

By the time Deep Space Nine rolled around, it was time to give women a leadership role. Nana Visitor played the prickly Kira Nerys. No longer were women always sweet, all the time, Visitor had a more complex personality.

And then came Voyager. Women made up a large portion of the cast starting with Captain Kathryn Janeway played by Katherine Mulgrew, was a take charge, no nonsense leader who had to guide her motley crew of Starfleet officers and Maquis rebels through the Delta Quadrant back home.

She was assisted by several other strong women. One was B’Elanna Torres played by Roxanne Dawson. Torres was a Maquis rebel who was half Klingon and half human. She was forever battling the two sides of herself.

Jeri Ryan came on mid show playing the famous Borg defectee Seven of Nine. Ryan continues to be among the most popular Trek personalities.

Enterprise had some notable female characters. Jolene Blalock served as T’Pol, the Vulcan science advisor who was onboard to guide the humans. While just an advisor, she was supposed to be the wise advisor. The humans on the crew often chafed under her direction, though. And the Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) often disregarded her advice.

Star Trek women faced the challenges of being women in the 20th century as well as in the 23rd century. That they did it with as much compassion and humanity as they did is a credit to both the actresses who played the role and the men who created them.

On Tuesday, November 14, Majel Barrett Roddenberry joins son Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry and writer/director Nicholas Meyer for a special 40th Anniversary “Star Trek” Celebration at the world famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatres Complex in Hollywood, California following a screening of “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” as part of the “Story Makers Studio” series at the Chinese. Tickets are available at the Chinese Theatre’s box office and online at www.stiylagency.com/startrek

The Fourth of July may only be celebrated in the United States but America`s Independence is well known throughout the world. Over the years, the Fourth of July has morphed into one of the world`s most dazzling celebrations, with cities and towns across the States embarking on ambitious firework displays that draw visitors from across the globe.

Almost more than any other city, New York is well practiced in holding breathtaking Fourth of July festivities. Macy`s fireworks are, without doubt, a main fixture in the city`s calendar of annual celebrations. The display incorporates over 80,000 separate stunning explosions – from bursting comets and glittering gems to giant silver swallows and more. Traditionally lit from the East River, the celebrations usually begin at 7pm and last for hours. Moreover, New York`s unique cityscape means that there are a variety of great locations from which the fireworks can be viewed.The FDR Drive in Manhattan is one of the most popular viewing spots, while smaller crowds can be found on Roosevelt Island and Liberty State Park.

New York`s Fourth of July celebrations aren`t confined to the day itself; in fact, the days leading up to Independence Day offer both New Yorkers and visitors to the city a range of interesting attractions and opportunities for revelry. For instance, the Brooklyn Independence Day Parade takes place every year a few days before the event and incorporates marching bands, pipe and drum players and a crowd of patriotic New Yorkers! The event usually ends with a ceremonial flag presentation and a salute to the parade`s Grand Master.

You`ll also be able to take a pre-fireworks presidential walking tour through Greenwich Village and the Gramercy Park area. This guided tour explores locations associated with Presidents Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Wilson and Washington and traverses the city. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra also poses a yearly tribute to New York on the days leading up to the Fourth of July, with rousing renditions of musical pieces related to New York.

Ultimately, of course, New York`s Fourth of July celebrations would be incomplete without one of its `tastiest` attractions: Nathan`s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest! Thousands of spectators flock to Nathan`s famous Coney Island hot dog stand every year to see which of the competition`s brave contestants will be able to gobble down as many hot dogs as possible in the 12-minute time frame. In 2007, Joey Chestnut beat Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi, the competition`s previous winner for six consecutive years, setting a world record of 66 hot dogs eaten – so viewers at Nathan`s hot dog eating contest can be sure of an entertaining spectacle every year!

With so many regular flights to New York departing from airports across Britain, there`s plenty of opportunity to visit the city over the Fourth of July celebrations. Moreover, with a flight time of little over eight hours, there`s no need to make your holiday a long one. A three or four-day city break in New York over the Independence Day celebrations is sure to provide ample time for you to enjoy a unique holiday experience – one that you won`t be able to encounter anywhere else!
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Elisha Burberry is an online, freelance journalist and keen traveller and watersports enthusiast. Originally from Scotland, she now resides in London.

If it’s been quite a while since you’ve last found yourself staring up in amazement at something, then the Fires de Sant Narcis Festival in Girona is the right cure for you. And if you’re afraid that it might not be the right thing for you, then you can’t be more mistaken. Old and young, worker or student, poor and rich- you will most surely find something which would fit your personal taste, as this is not a usual Festival. Unlike all the others, the Fires de Sant Narcis combines a wide range of activities for all ages and likes.
Starting from October 26, citizens and tourists altogether can enjoy 10 full days of traditional Catalan activities (such as castellers, correfocs, processions of gegants and caps-grossos), as well as trade and fun fairs, concerts and a number of other children and family oriented activities. An interesting add-on to this year’s Festival is the children’s treasure hunt across the city by means of public transportation, activity that sounds quite promising.
And if I were to talk from my own experience, I (and I am sure that anyone else would do the same) would warmly recommend that you don’t miss the Castellers and the procession of the Gegants or Caps-grossos.
Queens and kings, merchants, pirates, and lots of other gigantic medieval and modern figures will dance for you during the procession, dragging you into an atmosphere of tales, keeping you alert and fascinated throughout the entire parade.
And if you feel you have to see something more thrilling afterwards then you can just join the crowd in gazing up at the courageous and famous Castellers (or the so-called Human Towers). You won’t only be amazed at the agility with which people can climb one another, but you will also feel the whole adrenaline and find yourself being afraid for those building up the tower.
If you also make sure that you will be there for the fireworks spectacle at the end of the Festival – November 4- then your trip will have proved worth it. And, to make it even easier for you, bcnloft.com will be your accommodation partner, hosting you in apartments located in some of the best places in Barcelona.