FESTIVAL OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES

If life is getting dull, never fear, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Move into the light! Every year thousands of pilgrims, still drunk on a glorious epiphany, head to As Neves in Galicia, north-west Spain, to pay their respects to Santa Maria de Ribarteme, the patron saint of resurrection. To show their gratitude for managing to wangle a return ticket on what is normally a one-way trip, the living are born aloft in coffi ns by family members and paraded triumphantly through the streets to the church. Aft er an emotional service, a statue of Saint Mary is carried through the streets to the cemetery and back, once again cheating death. It’s surreal, moving and, for anyone with a monotonous life, could turn out to be a near-life experience.