Lyon and U.S Traditions - Essay Example

Lots of tourists visit Lyon every year to watch the event. Lyon is rich in culture and traditions that attract a lot of people all over the world. (Robert 2009) The winter festival of lights in the U.S. involves the lighting of a 5-kilometer road stretch adjacent to Niagara falls with over three million sparkling lights turning the falls into a wonder Winterland. This festival attracts visitors from across Ontario, North America, Canada, and beyond. The event began in 1983 as a result of collective consultation and participation of the Canada and Niagara parks commission with other business organizations to create the festival.

The winter festival made an agreement in 1992 with the Canadian Inc to come up with Disney enchantment displays located at the base of Murray hill in Queen Victoria Park. The festival has been highly recognized than any other display. The impact of the festival during the wintertime tourism season is highly beneficial to the local economy. In 2003 the effect on the economy was so huge that it contributed about $60million higher than the other local economies in Ontario. The festival helped the locals by creating employment opportunities for the local citizens.

(Peter Reed 1998)Folk festivals Lyon's national Opera is a 300-year-old domed glass structure. It is a major landmark that is currently attracting a lot of tourists across the country as well as within the region itself. The structure's geographical location is situated between Rhone River and the city hall. It houses five underground levels while the six higher are encased with vaulted glass. Lyon opera-ballet a dance company related to the national opera house was created in 1969 by the director of Lyon Opera, Louis Erlo, the current Lyon Opera Ballet was initiated in 1984.

Lyon Opera Ballet is much interested in showcasing contemporary choreography. The company has acquired and commissioned Ballet through a wide range of international dancers like William Forsythe, Nils christen, Nacho Duato among many others. Many American choreographers' works are also featured in the company like those by Brown Trisha, Lemon Ralph, and Lucinda Childs. The Opera Ballet Company was elevated to the level of the National Opera by being named the Opera Nationale de Lyon making France have two National Opera houses.

During the same year Opera Ballet perform as part of the 50th-anniversary celebration in San Francisco and a year later in 1996 were invited to perform at the opening of the first Lincoln Center in New York. The company has recently made twenty troupes to U.S.recently. This shows that Lyons share some similarities in traditions with U.S.(Patricia Harris 1999).