Lesson Plan: Weird Festivals Version 2

Lesson Level:   Senior                     Duration:  40 Minutes

Lesson Title:     Weird Festivals

Grammar and Vocabulary

Vocabulary items arising from lesson.

No new grammar..

Lesson Objectives

Students will discuss pictures to identify what is happening in them.

Students will listen to and read information about six different festivals.

Students will collaborate to create ideas for a new festival

Materials Required

Sheet of photographs showing Pamplonas Bull Run, La Tomatina, Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling, Bog Snorkeling, Newtown Santa Run and Cows On Parade.¹

Written descriptions of the six festivals (in a different order to the pictures.)²

Preparation

Prepare the materials as specified above.

Procedure

1 Write “Weird Festivals” on the board.

Elicit meanings of “Weird” and “Festivals” from class.

Write definitions on board.

Ask class if the know any Chinese festivals.

Ask if they know any unusual festivals.

Elicit answers using ball toss to students.

2

Put class into groups. Give each group a copy of the picture sheet.

Tell class that each group must look at the pictures and decide what is happening in each picture. They have five minutes.

Write the instructions on the board.

After five minutes, elicit some ideas about the pictures.

3

Give each group the written handout.

Groups must match the texts to the pictures.

Elicit the correct matches.

Use ball toss to select students and ask questions based on the texts.

4

Tell class that groups must now devise their own festivals.

Write these instructions on the board.

Each Group.

Create your own festival.

You must answer these questions.

What is the name of your festival?

What does your festival celebrate?

What will people do at your festival?

Where will your festival be held?

When will your festival be held?

(For stronger groups, add these questions.

Why do you think this would be a good festival?

Are there any dangers in your festival?)

5.

Monitor and assist groups to create festival ideas.

6

Ask each group in turn to stand up and describe their festivals.

Write the names of each festival alongside the group number on the board.

7

Have the class vote on which is the best festival idea.

Notes

1. Pictures of the festivals can easily be found on the internet.
2. . There are two versions of the written notes according to the student levels.

Easier version:

1.      Santa Run

The Santa Run takes place every December in the town of Newtown in Wales.

Every year about 5000 people, all dressed as Santa, run 7.2 km.

It all started in 2001 and every runner pays to take part. All the money raised goes to local charities.

2.      Cheese Rolling

Every year in May in the small town of Cooper’s Hill in England there is a “cheese rolling” festival.

A large round cheese is rolled down the hill and people run after it trying to catch it.

The hill is very steep and there are often injuries such as broken arms and legs.

As the cheese moves very fast it is usually not caught.

3.      Bog Snorkelling

This takes place in August. It is in a small town in Wales. Near the town there is a peat bog. People taking part have to run 110 metres through deep, cold, muddy water. They are not allowed to swim.

The world record is one minute and twenty two seconds.

4.      Tomatina

This strange festival is held in Spain.  It is always held on the last Wednesday in August.

Over 150,000 (One hunfred and fifty thousand) tomatoes are thrown into the city square. Then everybody runs in and they all throw the tomatoes at each other until they are covered in tomato juice.

5.      Pamplona Bull Run

The city of Pamplona in Spain is famous for its Bull Run. Every year bulls are sent to run through the streets and brave people run ahead of them . Every year between 200 and 300 people are injured during the event.  Most injuries come from falls but sometimes people are injured by the bulls. It started in 1910 and since then 15 people have been killed.

6.      Cows On Parade

This is not a regular festival and does not always take place in the same city. It started  in 1998 in Switzerland. Since then it has appeared in many cities including London, Chicago and Toulouse in France. Artists decorate statues of cows and place them all around the city. At the end of the event they are sold and the money goes to charity.

Harder Version

1.      Cows on Parade

Cow Parade is the world’s largest public art event. From Chicago and New York in 1999 and 2000 to Kansas City and Houston in 2001 and London in 2002, CowParade continues to evolve, not just in size, but in creativity and quality of art.

Local artists all compete to see who can make the most original, most beautiful or just plain silliest decoration of a fibre-glass cow. The results are placed all over the chosen city and stay there for a month or everyone to see.

Cow Parade is not meant to be high art, however. It is first and foremost a public art exhibit that is accessible to everyone.

Most important, CowParade benefits charity. At the conclusion of each event, the cows are herded up and many are auctioned, with a the proceeds benefiting charity

2. Bog Snorkelling

This international sporting event, takes place annually on August Bank Holiday Monday in the dense bog on the southern outskirts the smallest town in Britain - Llanwrtyd Wells - in Powys, Mid Wales.

Competitors have to complete two lengths of a 60 yard trench cut through the peat bog in the quickest time possible, wearing snorkels and flippers (wet suits optional but advisable) but without using any conventional swimming strokes.

Competitors came from all over the British Isles and many from Europe, Australia and America.

Pictures of the crazy sport are shown around the globe.

All proceeds from this funny, fascinating and fantastic sporting event are donated to charities and good causes in the region. The 2004 proceeds went to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, as will the proceeds from the 2005 event.

The current world record is one minute and twenty two seconds.

3. Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling

This is an annual event held in May at Cooper's Hill near Gloucester. Competitors race down the hill after a Double Gloucester cheese, and the first person over the line wins the cheese. In theory, competitors are aiming to catch the cheese, but since it has a second's head start and can reach immense speeds this rarely happens.

Due to the steepness and uneven surface of the hill there are usually a number of injuries, ranging from sprained ankles to broken bones. A first aid service is provided by the local Saint John's Ambulance at the bottom of the hill, with a volunteer rescue group on hand to carry down to them any casualties who do not end up at the bottom through gravity. A number of ambulance vehicles will attend the event, since there is invariably at least one injury requiring hospital treatment.

4. Santa Run

For one day of the year the sleepy Mid Wales market town of Newtown becomes a  sea of red and white, as people come to take part in the world famous Santa Run.  Each year thousands of Santas descend on the town to take part in 4.5 mile festive charity fun run organised by charity, Newtown and District Dial a Ride.

Over the past five years Santa Run has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for good causes, national and international. 

"Santa Run was set up in 2001, with what we thought was an amazing 501 Santas taking part in the unique event.  Since then the phenomenon that is the Santa Run has grown from strength to strength, resulting in 2004 breaking Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest Gathering of Santas’

5. La Tomatina

La Tomatina is a festival that is held in the Valencian town of Buñol, a town located 30 km / 19 miles from the Mediterranean, in which participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for fun. It is held on the last Wednesday of August, during the week of festivities of Buñol.

The signal for the onset is at about 11 when a loud shot rings out, and the chaos begins.[2] Several trucks throw tomatoes in abundance in the Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, where they are less expensive and are grown specifically for the holidays, being of inferior taste.[3] For the participants the use of goggles and gloves are recommended. The tomatoes must be crushed before being thrown so as to reduce the risk of injury. The estimated number of tomatoes used is around 150,000 or over 40 metric tons.[4] After exactly one hour the fight ends with the firing of the second shot, announcing the end.

6. Pamplona Bull Run

The Running of the Bulls is a practice that involves running in front of a small group of cattle, typically six, that have been let loose on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets. The Pamplona bull run is the most popular in Spain and has been broadcast live by RTVE, the public Spanish national television channel, for over 30 years.

Every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run although most injuries are contusions due to falls and are not serious.Since the festival began in 1910 there have been 15 people killed by the bulls.

The length of the run is 826 metres. It goes through four streets of the old part of the city