This illustrated reference work covers a wide range of festivals that have sacred origins and are, or have been, part of a folk tradition, a world religion, or a major civilization.
• More than 150 A–Z entries on the content and context of each festival, tracing its historical development and geographic variations, from Ashura (Islam) to Whitsuntide (Christianity)
• 70 illustrations of festive rituals including photos of Belgium's Binche Carnival, Japan's Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Zulu Reed Dance
• Tables of dates for the major feasts in Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as for the Chinese New Year
• Calendar graph showing at a glance the relative places of all the festivals discussed in the seasonal cycle of a single year
