ABSTRACT
In many cultures festivals are closely associated with religion and rituals prescribed by the traditions of the community (Getz 2010). Rituals typically involve special gestures and words, performance of special music, songs or dances, processions, manipulation of certain objects, use of special costumes and consumption of particular food or drink with a special meaning or history. Some of these activities are exclusively and privately performed but in many cases the ritual involves community members and guests sharing sacred and spiritual experiences and these naturally take on the character of an event. They may include rituals of affliction, performed to placate or exorcise preternatural beings or forces believed to have afflicted community members with illness, bad luck, gynaecological troubles, severe physical injuries and the like (Turner 1973).
