All around the world there are festivals that reach back through the sands of time to the very roots of civilisation; to agrarian rites and pagan traditions. The festivals in this book are often little known outside their locale and they are all characterised by the most radical and bizarre costumes imaginable. The Kukeri in Bulgaria wear enormous headpieces made of goatskin. Burryman festival in Edinburgh features a man covered from head to toe with burrs and thorns. Paraders in Switzerland’s Silvesterklausen wear vast wooden doll masks and hats carved with peasant scenes. Each costume is brought to life in Rob Flower’s joyous, surrealist, urban illustrations. Brief, engaging texts describe the festival, its history and the traditions that surround it.

From Columbia to Nigeria by way of New Orleans and Romania, this is a delightful book that brings the cultures of the world to life in a fresh new take that will appeal to children an adults alike.