Photo of the Day (7.4.10)

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Happy birthday, America. What better way to celebrate this great day than with some fireworks? While we’ve seen plenty of stellar fireworks photos over the years, we’ve got to hand it to Flickr user ohad*, who captured this quirky shot during a visit to Delray Beach, Florida. True, the fireworks in question were for New Year’s. But no matter, the feel of the image is great – the slow shutter speed makes this burst look like it was some kind of glowing palm tree.

Take any great fireworks shots during this year’s holiday weekend? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

Walt Disney World debuts Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular

by Leigh Caldwell on

Walt Disney World‘s newest fireworks show, the Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular, opened this weekend at the Magic Kingdom.

The show replaces the popular “Wishes” nighttime entertainment at Walt Disney World for a limited summer run.

When I went to see the show on its opening night, I was worried. I’m a sucker for fireworks, but I was such a big fan of the “Wishes” show and soundtrack that I was afraid the evening would end in disappointment.

The score includes classic Disney tunes, as well as newer music from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie soundtracks. The show is hosted by the Fairy Godmother and other “famous fairies” in the Disney stable.

There’s a recurring fight between Fauna and Merryweather over the color that the fireworks should be (“Pink,” “Blue,” “Pink,” “Blue…”), just like the magical fight they had over the color of Aurora’s birthday dress in “Sleeping Beauty.”
Capt. Hook and his pirates arrive to lay siege to Cinderella Castle until a familiar fairy — Tinkerbell — shows up to save the day.

Disney promised “dazzling effects” for this new fireworks show, and they delivered. The cannon battle for the castle is particularly impressive, with smoke that obscures it and the reflection of a skull-and-crossbones flag denoting that the pirates have taken over Walt Disney World’s most famous landmark.

Disney’s typical fireworks show happens over and behind Cinderella Castle, which means you really need to be in front of the castle to get the full effect. And you know what else that means: The areas of the park in front of the castle get crowded with what seems like the entire global population in the 30 minutes before the show begins.

Bigger displays that happen around the park — dubbed “perimeter fireworks” — were reserved for special events, such as the Fourth of July and Halloween. But the Summer Nightastic! fireworks will have perimeter fireworks every night.

They are cooler, of course, because at certain points in the show you have fireworks exploding in a circle surrounding. And they give you a chance to be cooler, too, because you can see them from just about anywhere in the Magic Kingdom and there’s no need for the larger summer crowds to all pack in one spot in the Florida heat.

The Summer Nightastic! Fireworks Spectacular runs nightly through Aug. 14 at Walt Disney World.

Theater, art, and Haggis! A guide to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

by Gadling Staff on

Each week, Gadling is taking a look at our favorite festivals around the world. From music festivals to cultural showcases to the just plain bizarre, we hope to inspire you to do some festival exploring of your own. Come back each Wednesday for our picks or find them all HERE.

Known as the “largest festival on Earth“, Scotland’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival has something for everyone. From students donning kilts wanting to groove to the newest Jazz singers to street performers on stilts, this annual festival is an adventure where the energy flows into the streets and makes everyone feel like a performing artist for the day. The Fringe has come a long way: from its 1947 beginnings with only eight theater companies, to the present day festival, which sells over 1.8 million tickets each year! Tourists now travel from around the globe to experience this extraordinary event.

Begun by the Festival Fringe Society as an “open access festival” allowing unrestricted exhibition by anyone interested in performing, the modern version of the festival now features some of the world’s most unique and avant-garde artistic and theatrical pursuits. The shows range from dramatic Shakespeare told from the perspective of dinosaurs to puppets singing show tunes. However, the performances are only half of the experience that comes along with the price of the ticket. What else happens at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival? Keep reading below.

With over 34,000 performances taking place over three weeks, the word ‘venue’ takes on a whole new meaning at the Edinburgh Fringe. The performance spaces range from a traditional stage to more progressive bars to classrooms with floor seating to places not so appealing like toilets!

Shows start all throughout the day and run long into the night, so every attendee should pick up a program. Treat the program like your tour guide for the length of your visit. Inside you’ll get reviews, a synopsis and location information for each show. Grab a scone and your program and hike up to Arthur’s Seat, the highest point in the city, for a panoramic city view and chart out each day. Since performances vary a great deal in length and are located all throughout the city, double check your times and locations before buying tickets.

Though the offerings of the Fringe Festival change every year, the one show that is on the top of every must-see list is the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, a 90-minute celebration lead by over a thousand musicians and ending with fireworks. Tickets for the event are in high demand every year, so make sure to buy those tickets in advance. When it’s over, walk to a pub and have yourself a “dram” of Scotch while trying the Haggis (a Scottish tradition of a sheep’s heart, liver and lungs mixed with spices) and tasting the tatties (potatoes). Like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it’s a one-of-a-kind Scottish experience!

This year the festival is scheduled from August 6-30th. Follow on Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date on the latest happenings of the Fringe!

Celebrate Chinese New Year, Hong Kong style

by Jeremy Kressmann on

For anyone not of Chinese descent, Chinese New Year is a confusing concept. Travelers who visit Hong Kong during this important festival are likely to have questions. What’s the significance? How do you celebrate? But fortunately, Hong Kong is the perfect introduction to this most significant of Chinese celebrations. Hong Kong’s unique blend of familiar Western amenities and authentic Chinese culture make it the perfect place to begin your Chinese New Year experience.

Understanding and enjoying Chinese New Year in Hong Kong depends on three distinct activities: the main rituals, the typical foods and the public celebrations. Each of these activities is tied to longstanding Chinese traditions, dating back centuries, and are designed to ensure good health and prosperity in the year ahead. Experiencing the festival in the dense urban environment of Hong Kong adds an additional layer of fun, allowing you to enjoy the festivities on a huge scale.

Ever wanted to learn more about Chinese New Year? Don’t know the Year of the Tiger from the Year of the Ox? Let’s take a closer look at how to celebrate in Hong Kong and how to get started. Keep reading below for more.The Rituals
To truly understand Chinese New Year, you need to get familiar with the festival’s unique rituals. The best place to get started is at Hong Kong’s Chinese temples, where citizens head to pray for good luck, burn incense sticks and have their fortunes told. Hong Kong’s most famous temple is Wong Tai Sin Temple in Kowloon, which sees nearly 300,000 visitors during the New Year festivities.

Upon arriving at Wong Tai Sin, take a moment to soak in the temple’s solemn atmosphere with worshipers bent on their knees, the air thick with sweet incense smoke. Grab a tube of fortune sticks from the table near the entrance to inquire on your prospects for the year ahead. Ask a question, give the cylinder a shake, and wait for a stick with a number to fall out. Then bring your number to one of Wong Tai Sin’s numerous fortune tellers to have it interpreted. Good or bad, the answers you receive are meant to help guide your decisions in the year ahead.

The Foods
Chinese New Year is a time heavy with symbolism. This is particularly true of the holiday’s typical foods, all of which are laden with spiritual significance. Everything that’s eaten during these important days is intended to bring prosperity, happiness, longevity and good fortune in the months ahead.

A good place to begin your culinary exploration is at Hong Kong’s daily markets. In neighborhoods like Wan Chai, you’ll find a flurry of activity in the days leading up to the festivities, as market goers pick up supplies for the traditional reunion dinner. Butchers wield cleavers like madmen, chopping, hacking and yelling. Giant carp thrash about in bubbling fish tanks. Typical Chinese New Year foods are everywhere. At the dried goods stalls you’ll find a variety of New Year specialties like chocolate coins, dried oysters and Chinese Sausage. At the produce stalls, take your pick from New Year favorites like juicy mandarin oranges or crunchy melon seeds.

Each New Year food has been specially chosen to bring good luck in the New Year. For instance, the Cantonese word for dried oysters (ho see) sounds similar to the words for “wealth and good business.” It’s eating that’s as much about symbolism as it is about the taste.

The Events
The celebration of Chinese New Year in Hong Kong happens on a scale and size like nowhere else. The city’s seven million residents come out in force to enjoy a variety of festive activities surrounding this annual event.

On the first day of the New Year is the annual Hong Kong Chinese New Year Parade, packed with colorful floats, wild drumming, manic dragon dancers and throngs of spectators. The parade is a microcosm of Hong Kong’s frenzied street life, awash in a flurry of sensory delights. Make sure to secure yourself a spot a few hours early and watch out for pickpockets, as the crowds can be intense.

On the second day of the New Year, the city celebrates with a massive fireworks display over Victoria Harbor. Few places in the world can boast of such an impressive light show set against the city’s towering skyline. Whether you choose to watch from the harbor or from on high at The Peak, you’re sure to have some of the best seats in the house.

Celebrating Chinese New Year in Hong Kong is much like the city itself – an overwhelming array of sensory pleasures and confusing rituals. But with a little background info from Gadling and a spirit of fun, you’re guaranteed to enjoy all it has to offer. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Chicago cancels fireworks for July 3, 2010

by Melanie Nayer on

Looks like the people of Chi-town will have to come up with their own fireworks extravaganza this year. Breaking news from the Chicago Tribune reports that Chicago’s traditional July 3 Grant Park fireworks display is canceled.

“I would say we’re doing it to be fiscally responsible, because we have to be,” said Megan McDonald, director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events. “We’re also doing it to more effectively manage what happens at the Taste of Chicago, as well as citywide on an already busy holiday weekend. I think it is always challenging to manage a million, 2 million people in a very small space.”

The fireworks display – part of the Taste of Chicago – is just one of the many celebrations Chicago plans to put on hold in 2010 (the famous South Side Irish Parade, Venetian Night and the Outdoor Film Festival were also cut). Canceling these celebrations, said McDonald, will save the city between $1 million and $2 million.

Not all is lost for Chicago residents wanting to celebrate their Independence Day with a little flare. The Mayor’s office announced it will stage three smaller fireworks displays spread out along the lakefront – the North Side fireworks will be held around Montrose Beach; the South Side fireworks in the vicinity of 63rd Street Beach; and the third display will take place at Navy Pier. Each fireworks show will be 15 minutes.%Gallery-64025%

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