Photos of the Week: May Day, Fire Festival, Finger Wrestling

Two musicians perform on stage, with the one at left playing a gigantic 17-string bass guitar.

Matt Jelonek / Getty

From left: Elwood Francis and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top perform at Langley Park in Perth, Australia, on May 1, 2025.

A person sits inside a giant wooden cone, with their hand to their ear, listening.

Robert Nemeti / Anadolu / Getty

Matej Repel, the director of Avescentrum Senne, enjoys the sound of nearby birds as he sits inside a huge birdsong amplifier that was recently installed for visitors, on April 24, 2025, near Michalovce, Slovakia.

A diver wearing a heavy-duty armored diving suit is raised onto a ship from a dive.

Kenan Gürbüz / Reuters

A Turkish-navy diver in an atmospheric diving suit surfaces after a dive onboard the Turkish navy's submarine-rescue mother ship TCG Alemdar, during a submarine-escape-and-rescue exercise near Aksaz Navy Base, Turkey, on April 29, 2025.

A worker wears a cloth wrapped around their head, as well as safety goggles, with a cell phone tucked into the folds of the cloth.

Arif Ali / AFP / Getty

A worker tucks his mobile phone into a cloth covering his face and his eyewear while working inside a steel factory in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 30, 2025.

A surfer wearing a stormtrooper costume rides a wave in front of a distant historic building.

Lou Benoist / AFP / Getty

A surfer wearing a stormtrooper costume rides the tidal bore on a paddleboard, in Mont-Saint-Michel Bay, in northwestern France, on April 29, 2025.

A person holds a trophy while standing atop a large rideable quadcopter, during a ceremony.

Josep Lago / AFP / Getty

A person operates a SkySurfer aircraft as he carries the trophy before the Spanish Cup, at the Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) final football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at La Cartuja stadium, in Seville, Spain, on April 26, 2025.

An elevated view of dozens of Catholic cardinals wearing red vestments, standing in rows.

Dan Kitwood / Getty

Cardinals attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on April 26, 2025, in Vatican City, Vatican.

Police officers in dress uniforms march in formation during a parade in Vietnam.

Richard Vogel / AP

Vietnamese police officers march during a parade celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 30, 2025.

Hundreds of people wearing orange gather in many boats, crowded together in a broad canal.

Peter Dejong / AP

Herengracht canal was jam-packed with boats as people celebrated King’s Day in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on April 26, 2025.

Two horses play with each other, tossing their manes.

Michael Probst / AP

Icelandic horses play at a stud farm in Wehrheim, near Frankfurt, Germany, on April 30, 2025.

A person dressed as Chewbacca from the Star Wars films walks past people on a walkway.

Ian Forsyth / Getty

A person dressed as Chewbacca from Star Wars interacts with members of the public on day two of Sci-Fi Scarborough, on April 27, 2025, in Scarborough, England.

A heron takes flight, seen behind a golfer during a game.

Sarah Stier / Getty

Minjee Lee of Australia looks on from the third green during the second round of the Chevron Championship 2025, at the Club at Carlton Woods on April 25, 2025, in the Woodlands, Texas.

A person wearing a broad-rimmed hat looks at large flowering bushes.

Toby Melville / Reuters

A person reacts as they view blossoms in Richmond Park, in London, England, on April 28, 2025.

A small ornate and fanciful boat sits in water inside an artificial grotto, theatrically illuminated.

Johannes Simon / Getty

The newly restored Venus Grotto in Schloss Linderhof palace, seen following the completion of a 10-year restoration project, on April 30, 2025, near Ettal, Germany. Bavarian King Ludwig II had the artificial grotto built in 1877 as a venue where he could enjoy operatic performances, especially by Richard Wagner. The grotto depicts a scene from the first act of Wagner’s Tannhaeuser.

A view from beneath of two swimmers in a clear-bottomed swimming pool.

Kin Cheung / AP

People swim in the Sky Pool on a sunny day in London, on May 1, 2025.

Sidecar motorcycle racers compete on a dirt track, with several seen in mid-air.

Lee Smith / Reuters

Riders compete during the NETT British Sidecar and Quad Cross Championships at the Iron Works Moto Park, in Middlesbrough, England, on April 27, 2025.

Paul Ratje / Reuters

A drone view of detainees forming the letters SOS with their bodies in a courtyard of the Bluebonnet Detention Facility, where Venezuelans at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling are held, in Anson, Texas, on April 28, 2025.

Flames and smoke from an airstrike are visible between tall buildings.

Hussein Malla / AP

Flames rise between two buildings after an Israeli air strike on Dahiyeh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on April 27, 2025.

Soldiers kneel down to work with a drone at night.

Reuters

Servicemen of the 113th Battalion of the 110th separate territorial defence brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine prepare a Vampire combat drone before flying over positions of Russian troops, during Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, in the Zaporizhzhia region, on April 28, 2025.

A person stands inside a Nina Liashonok / Reuters

A police officer stands at the site of a terminal of the Nova Poshta (New Post) delivery service that was damaged during a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine, on May 1, 2025.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump sit on chairs close together and speak, inside a large room in the Vatican.

Ukrainian Presidential Press Office / AP

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican on April 26, 2025.

Two men in lederhosen struggle as they each pull on the same small leather ring, trying to pull each other over a table.

Sebastian Widmann / Getty

Competitors face off during the 64th German finger-wrestling championships (called “Fingerhakeln” in German) on April 27, 2025 in Rosenheim, Germany. The sport pits two competitors matched in age and weight who sit across a table from each other and pull on a small leather band with one finger until one player has pulled the other across. The traditional sport dates back to the 17th century in Bavaria and Austria.

A large crowd of demonstrators marches in a city street.

Alain Jocard / AFP / Getty

A demonstrator holds a flag with the dove of peace during a May Day (Labor Day) rally, marking International Workers’ Day, in Paris, France, on May 1, 2025.

Performers in traditional pagan costumes, some with torches attached to rigs, dance at night.

Lesley Martin / Reuters

Performers take part in the Beltane Fire Festival, inspired by ancient-Celtic and Pagan May Day rituals celebrating the coming of summer, on Calton Hill, in Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 30, 2025.

A line of a wildfire burns along a hillside, seen behind houses at night.

Esa Alexander / Reuters

A wildfire moves close to houses as it burns across large areas of Table Mountain National Park in Tokai, Cape Town, South Africa, on April 27, 2025.

A shepherd rides a donkey beside a flock of sheep beneath a hazy orange sky during a dust storm.

Delil Souleiman / AFP / Getty

A shepherd rides a donkey alongside his flock in a field on the outskirts of Qamishli during a sandstorm sweeping through northeastern Syria on May 1, 2025.

Blossoming cherry trees with broad branches in a public park

Fatih Gonul / Anadolu / Getty

A view of sakura trees, known as the harbinger of spring, on April 3, 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. The cherry-blossom trees, known as sakura and closely associated with Japan, attract attention with their pink flowers in parks and gardens across the country.

Four women stand waist-deep in calm water at sunset.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty

Students from St Andrews University take part in the traditional May Day dip in the North Sea at East Sands beach in St Andrews, Scotland, on May 1, 2025. The May Day Dip is traditionally held to bring students good luck during exams.

Photos of the Week: May Day, Fire Festival, Finger Wrestling

A sandstorm in northeastern Syria, the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, a motorcycle-sidecar race in England, a restored artificial grotto in Bavaria, King's Day celebrations in the Netherlands, a giant birdsong amplifier in Slovakia, a stormtrooper surfing in France, and much more

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