There are a lot of Christmas and Halloween movies and TV series we see and love, but can you name other entertainment movies that are based on different festivals and cultures from around the world? If not, check this list with both the popular festival movies, such as Disney’s Coco’s Day of the Dead, and lesser-known ones like The White Balloon, which shows Nowruz, the Iranian New Year!
Must-See Cultural Festival Movies:
1. Iranian New Year in The White Balloon (1997)
Nowruz is celebrated on March 27 as the New Year in Iran to honor nature and celebrate the arrival of spring. In the Movies about cultural celebrations, this Jafar Panahi flick is a hit where a little girl (Dash) aims to buy a goldfish for Nowruz. We get to see the charm of Iranian traditions and the meaningful message of celebrating even the smallest of gifts through the movie.
2. Day of the Dead In Coco (2017)
Disney’s non-Christmas festival movies, such as Coco, brought families to the theater and reminded us to value and learn from our ancestral connections. When Miguel, a boy, accidentally gets sent to the “Land of the Dead” on Día de (los) Muertos (Day of the Dead), he has to find ways to get out to the present world. During his time with his generational spirits, we see him understanding family and more about his cultural heritage!
3. Irish Matchmaking Festival In The Matchmaker (1997)
In this underrated romcom, we see Marcy (Janeane Garofalo) going to an Irish town to complete a mission for her boss, finding his Irish roots. But the town is in preparation for the annual matchmaking festival, and our lead gets mixed up in the whole debacle. Ireland’s spa town, Lisdoonvarna’s annual Matchmaking Festival, which happens in September and still attracts thousands of people!
4. Essence Festival In Girls Trip (2017)
Even though this is probably the biggest African American festival happening during the fourth of July weekend since its inauguration in 1995, no popular movies about cultural celebrations or TV series have shown this bright and colorful New Orleans festival until the smash hit, Girls Trip, starring Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Regina Hall.
The fun comedy of the girl group going on to the Essence Festival after they have distanced themselves with busy schedules in their lives has the hilarious similarity to the drama and comedy as expected from a Sex and the City episode.
5. Midsummer Celebration in Midsommar (2019)
This is a festival or national holiday that different countries celebrate at different times and for different reasons. The activities are spiritual and vary across. For example, in Nordic countries, it’s a popular time for christenings and weddings. In Sweden, rituals can include collecting flowers and making a wreath as a way to welcome summer and the fertility season.
The Florence Pugh movie has certainly helped make the traditional celebratory period more popular in the West and other parts of the world. While the movies on our global festival movies list are about fun and warmth, Midsommar is an exception because it’s a folk horror movie set at a remote midsummer solstice festival in Sweden.
6. Lent in Chocolat (2000)
If you adore those classic small French towns and imagery, then this 2000 cultural celebration movie needs to be added to your list. Based on the 1999 bestseller novel of the same name by British author Joanne Harris. The magical movie focuses on the period of Lent and climaxes just before Easter.
While Lent is a Christian celebration, it is not as popularly shown in the movies compared to Easter and Christmas, so when a Mystical romance drama of a woman with her daughter going to open a chocolate shop on the 1964 French side through which literally makes people feel happy, you have to watch it!
7. Kwanzaa in Holiday Heritage (2022)
While the popularity of Kwanza, which was first introduced in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga to honor African heritage in the U.S. diaspora, has increased, there aren’t many movies on the occasion (even though the list of Kwanza TV series, such as The Proud Family and Everybody Hates Chris, is abundant).
That’s why this Hallmark channel movie is not just a simple rom-com. We get into the lives of a family and their traditions as they try to grow into a family once again after suffering a loss during the bright season.
8. Hanukkah in Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
When this was first released in the theaters, the movie wasn’t successful, but now, it has gained a small cult following, probably due to the niche variety of non-Christmas festival movies, Hanukkah-centered animated comedy, perfected with that early 2000s animation style that our generation gets nostalgic about.
It is produced and stars Adam Sandler as Davey Stone, who is sentenced to community service as a youth basketball referee one day after his run-in with the law. During the span of the eight nights of Hanukkah, we see the growth in Davey as he gets in touch with his feelings, and we learn why he is what he is.
9. Something Extra: The Rio de Janeiro Carnival in Rio (2011)
While the Rio Carnival may not be an official celebration, as it is a celebration before the time of Lent, it is the biggest carnival in the world, and the significance is Cultural, i.e., to indulge before the solemn period of Lent, but the festival is celebrated only in Brazil.
In the animated cultural festival movie, two birds, Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), go to Rio, and we get to indulge in the bright and bold festival with the rich imagery, music, and authentic location of the parade, Sambadrome!
Conclusion
This concludes our list for the non-Christmas holiday festival movies. I have tried to make the list as fun as possible to get you into the period. Of course, there are hundreds and thousands of festivals all around the globe, and documentaries are the way to go if you want to see the reality of how people celebrate their culture and heritage. But if you just want to spend a couple of hours with some lighthearted movies, then bookmark and share this page for the future!