Later that year, he launched Ledlanet Nights – a series of arts festivals held at his Scottish manor.
Golijov also served as composer in residence at the Spoleto Festival USA; the annual festivals held at Marlboro, Vt., and Ravinia, Ill.; the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center; and elsewhere.
The inversion of status that took place in the Feast of Fools was characteristic of the folk festivals held at the time of carnival (just before the fasting of Lent) and the New Year's Saturnalia.
Handel festivals continued almost without interruption well into the 20th century, including the triennial Handel Festivals held at the Crystal Palace, near London, from 1857 until the building burned in 1936.
Other prominent European festivals include the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence Musical May), held annually from 1933; the Spoleto, Italy, festival, inaugurated by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti (1958); and the festivals held at Besançon and Aix-en-Provence, Fr., from 1948.
Camel festivals, held at his time of the year in Saudi Arabia, witness the practice called akheth ("taking") in which girls aged 14 to 16 are "gifted" to the usually elderly members of the monarchy for a few days or weeks.
