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Ancient Guardians of the Forest: Romania’s Bear Dance Festival

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Every December, Romania’s Bear Dance Festival transforms the Trotuș Valley into a roaring realm of pelts, drums, and ancient Dacian ritual. Dancers in real bearskins stomp away evil, bless homes, and spark New Year hope—an explosive mix of pagan roots, Roma grit, and winter spectacle. The frozen Trotuș Valley is coated with snowflakes that drift like confetti as the first percussion sound is heard—deep, heavy, and unmistakably alive. Afterwards, there is the loud drumming. A hundred furs move in a wave, with red fringes going up and down, the mouths of the dancers opening and shutting in sync with the furious pounding of the ground—their intent is nothing less than to scare the earth awake. Don’t be surprised—this is just the first scene of the Bear Dance Festival—Festivalul Ursului / Jocul Ursului—Romania’s most basic and most incredibly photogenic one, and a winter event at the same time. The festival runs from December 24th to 30th, when the Moldova region bursts with fur and...
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The Nobel Prize Story of 2025

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The 2025 Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo blend tradition, culture, and global celebration. From grand banquets to the inspiring Peace Prize, both cities offer rich experiences, historic venues, and festive winter charm, making Nobel Week a truly unforgettable journey into human achievement. On December 10, 2025, the two Nordic capitals, Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway, will once again be the focus of the world’s premier celebration of intellect, courage, and creativity—the Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony. Each winter, for generations, these cities transform into grand stages, thereby honouring many of the most outstanding achievements in history with a level of appreciation usually reserved for the finest artistic and cultural productions and by maintaining some of the oldest customs of honouring achievement. No matter the reason—culture, science or travel—it is apparent that the 2025 ceremony will blend ceremony, storytelling and winter wonder into memorable events...
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Hornbill Festival 2025: Nagaland’s Cultural Blitzkrieg

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Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival is a vibrant 10-day celebration of tribal culture, music, food, and tradition at Kisama Heritage Village. With dance performances, morungs, craft displays, and night carnivals, it offers an immersive glimpse into Naga heritage, making it one of India’s most unique cultural experiences. As Nagaland’s culture grows bolder and more vibrant every December, when the winter mist rolls over the emerald hills. Drums are echoing from the valleys, with warriors and sports teams making their way to arenas, while the smells of bamboo-smoked meat fill the air at Kisama Heritage Village, which is about 12 kilometres (8 miles) from Kohima on the mainland and is transformed into an incredible cultural event at the Hornbill Festival, one of the largest gatherings of artistic activity in all of Southeast Asia. The Hornbill Festival is regarded as the “Festival of Festivals” because it hosts many events, attracting large numbers of tourists to witness different forms of...
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AN EVENING IN PARIS @ LE BAL DES DÉBUTANTES 2025

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Le Bal des Débutantes is the most talked about fairytale-meets-charity-meets-ballroom-chic-by-invitation-only event in the world! On 29 November, the city of romance and love – Paris – scenes from the Regency-era series Bridgerton come to one’s mind; however, Le Bal is a party with a difference! Bringing a touch of olde-worlde charm in an AI-driven age of robots and technology, some traditions keep the memory of the old days alive. La Polo lets you in on what to expect this year as this bevvy of debs sashays across the ballroom in a night which is the envy of every grandee on the planet! The Waltz of the Debs So who’s it going to be this year? The buzz is getting stronger, as Shangri-La Hotel spruces up for the event… twelve countries with beautiful debutantes – European princesses, aristocracy, the world of design and celluloid…shhh…we aren’t telling you yet! The past debs include Jaipur’s Princess Gauravi Kumari, with her cavalier, her brother and the young Maharaja Sawa...
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IN GRATITUDE WE GATHER- THANKSGIVING 2025

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The American tradition of Thanksgiving began as a modest harvest feast in the mid-17th Century; celebrated on the last Thursday of November, it is one of the most loved of American traditions (although it is celebrated in Canada, too and many European countries). In November 1621, the English Pilgrims at Plymouth sat down with the Wampanoag people for a three-day harvest celebration that marked a year of barely surviving their first, meagre harvest. The celebration would be rechristened Thanksgiving in the centuries to follow, celebrating the bounty of Nature, and in modern times, gratitude for family, and being able to gather with loved ones for the holiday. For the next two centuries, individual colonies and later states across the colonies held their own days of thanksgiving whenever leaders felt the need to mark a collective sense of relief, whether recognising the end of wars, restoration of power following storms, droughts, or simply miracles. But the idea of one national ...
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THE TIMELESS FABERGÉ STORY

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The tradition of Easter eggs dates back to the Middle Ages in Europe, when people fasted during Lent. Today, the eggs are made of chocolate, praline, and other edible materials. But the Fabergé eggs were the prettiest of the decorative, of which the Lillies of the Valley Egg, made in 1898, has portraits of Czar Nicholas II with his two daughters and is housed in the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg. A Jewel in the History of Luxury The name of Fabergé is linked with the concepts of luxury, superb diamond-set jewellery, excellent skilled labour and also the myth that was experienced at the court of the last Russian Tsars. The House of Fabergé was started in St Petersburg in 1842 by Gustav Fabergé, but its formal inauguration took place when his son, Peter, took over in 1882. The creations of Gustav, which were mainly concerned with the use of the finest craftsmanship, eventually became synonymous with elegance of design and the use of the most innovative colours, as well as th...
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FEAST LIKE A KING!

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In the universe of ultra-luxury dining, a reservation is much more than a pass to a restaurant; it is an invitation to a parallel world in which art, science, craftsmanship, and theatre come together. The world’s most expensive restaurants are offering guests much more than a meal; they are creating multisensory journeys, performing gastronomic theatre, and turning every plate into a passport to excess. This is where the global elite dine and drink while spending ginormous sums of money for the privilege of cette expérience gastronomique! Sublimotion, Ibiza: A $2,380 All-Senses Odyssey Dining here feels like stepping into a sci-fi fantasy land where dystopian food culture meets futuristic fantasies. With only 12 seats, Sublimotion surrounds diners with shape-shifting rooms, VR moments, mood-shifting lights, cinematic visuals, and music that is synced to every course. Chef Paco Roncero’s 20-course molecular parade is choreographed by 25 staff members, all seamlessly working ...
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