Get Ready to feast on some Culture

• Are you interested in travel, culture and history?
• Are you looking for inspiration?
• Do you want to get writing on Steemit and build up your followers?

Image Source pixabay.com

This challenge has been running for the last two months but there are some exciting enhancements for this month which will increase exposure and rewards for contributors.

Translations and Weekly Prizes (New)

The lucky post(s) will be translated to Chinese in conjunction with @deanliu and @ygern. The translated post will be from @deanliu s account and the original post will be promoted and any liquid author rewards from the translation will be shared with the original author and the Culture Vulture Challenge fund.

Image Source pixabay.com

Weekly Roundup

Each Sunday I will promote posts from the competition with a roundup of my top picks for the week. This is a great way to get exposure, especially if your a new writer. I have nearly 2k followers on my account!

Monthly Prize

For the last few months the prize has been 30 SBD guaranteed with notable mentions getting a contribution. This month the guaranteed prize will be increased to 40 SBD, but don't forget if you get picked for translation you will share a significant portion of the post payout on the translated post.

A New Home (New)

In collaboration with the guys over at Steemit Blogger Central @steemitbc, Culture Vulture will be taking up residence in their new discord channel and posts will be promoted through the Blogger Central Platform on Facebook and Twitter. It will also be a place where you can come and chat, get advice and make some friends.
If your planning a holiday why not head over and ask some questions from knowledgeable locals about what is on when your travelling, when is the best time to go...

Image Source pixabay.com

Website (New)

It can be hard to find posts though Steemit, even using the tags feature. I will be hosting a website dedicated to the Culture Vulture Challenge where you will see listing of all posts that have entered as well as some stats and further information about the competition. This should be up in the next few days. I will post a link when its ready.

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Culture Vulture

The tag #culturevulture is a place here on Steemit, where you can share something unique about your country with the world. Instead of being a post about travel or tourism this tag is about sharing local experiences.

Some examples which would be suitable

• Family Celebrations
  Is there a tradition at each Christmas, Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah that you share?
• Family Gatherings
  Is there a weekly family dinner or other occasion that you look forward to each year?
• Morning Tai Chi in the office in Japan
  Does your office do something that is culturally unique, what is its background and what do you get out of it?
• The Tea Ceremony Ritual in Japan
  Is there a unique tradition in your country that is more of an art form. What is its history and describe it to us.
• Home Cooked Lunches delivered by Dabbawalas in India
  Is there a unique tradition in your country that you miss if your working overseas?
• The Tapas Ritual and the best places in Spain
  What do Tapas mean to you?, Who do you share them with, what is your ritual?, Where are the best?
• Enjoying Beer in Belgium
  What do you miss most when your abroad? Why is Belgian Beer the best? What makes it special?
• Chewing Qat in Yemen
• Enjoying Nargila in the Levant

My regular contribution is a series on Irish Pubs in Ireland, The Irish Pub & A Dirty Old Town...

Tell us a bit about the ritual and fill in the details about why, how, and the cultural background. Don't forget a few pictures to bring it to life.

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Monthly Challenge

For the Month of September any post tagged with "#culturevulture" will be eligible for the challenge
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The Rewards

• 1st Place 40 SBD
• Weekly promotions and original authors will get a share of translated posts
• Notable mentions 5 SBD each

Rules

• All entries must be tagged with "#culturevulture", it doesn't need to be the first tag.
• The work must be your own, don't copy and paste from websites and claim credit. Feel free to reference work for descriptions/background but use quotes and provide a link to the original work.
• The posts will be judged on how well they met the challenge, how they shared a unique cultural aspect of the country. We would prefer post from locals or people living in a country rather than tourist posts.
• Please make it clear whether the photos are yours or not. We prefer original content.

Final Decisions

• Post votes or payouts will not be the highest consideration.
• My decision will be final, I will try to be fair and unbiased.
• The SP from translated posts will go to @deanliu, the liquid rewards will be split with the original author and the Culture Vulture Prize pool on a 40:60 basis for September. That is if the author rewards for the translated post is 100 SBD the liquid rewards will be 50 SBD. The original author will get 20 and Culture Vulture will get 30. That will be used to go towards future prizes and promotions.
• For translations you will be contacted in advance and if you do not wish your post to be translated and posted by @deanliu, your wishes will be respected. The original post will be referenced in the translation.

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August Competition

For the second monthly competition there were over 450 entries from all over the world.

These post are not just travel posts but posts that share a special part of the culture. These are the experiences that I travel for and #culturevulture now brings them here to steemit.

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Inspiration is all around us. It may be a daily ritual where you live or a local passion that always reminds you of home.

The Spirit of a Culture Vulture

Below are some recent posts that stand out and really capture the spirit of the vision of this tag. There have been so many, this is just a selection but for more you can check out the #culturevulture tag or our website. Winners of this months prize will be announced at the end of the month and translated posts will feature in the weekly promotions.

Festivals

Every country or region you travel to have different festivals, and national or local celebrations. They may commemorate a significant even in the history of a people or may be a cultural ritual.

The Philippines' Sinulog-Santo Niño Festival by @dandalion

Image Source @dandalion

Traditions

Traditions can be passed down from generation to generation and may have a symbolic meaning or cultural significance. Clothes, Dress, Food, local Holidays, Passtimes.

Getting To Know The Traditional Zulu Culture - Visit Us Here In South Africa!

Image Source @sweetpea

The Tambo is a traditional means of signalling to the people of Aceh certain events.

Tambo as a traditional signaling

Image Source @keuudeip

Food

Food is close to my heart and the types of food we eat, when we eat it, who we eat it with clearly distinguish different peoples. What is that food you long for from home when you travel?

There were many contributions from Aceh this month, covering traditions, food, heritage, preservation, music and much more. This following post captures an important part of Aceh culture and also gives some insight into why Steemit is a perfect fit for the Aceh community and why is has taken off there to such a great extent. It's a perfect fit in many ways for a very popular cultural passtime.

New Culture In The coffee Shop After Joined Steemit by @ijoel

Image Source @ijoel

Art

Art expresses a people like no other medium. I bet you visit gallaries when you travel! Every time I visit a place I like support local artists by buying some work.

I wasn't sure which category to include this following post under; Art, Food, Festivals, Traditions. One thing for certain it deserved a mention!!!

Autumn pastoral" in the Russian tradition by @madlenfox

Image Source @madlenfox

Tell us a bit about the ritual and fill in the details about why, how, and the cultural background. Don't forget a few pictures to bring it to life. We prefer posts with some original photography. It's ok to use some stock photos (but reference the source) as long as these photos are not the main focus of the post. We are looking to reward original stories for this challenge.

For more details about the rules and examples of what we are interested in check out this months announcement post Culture Vulture Challenge August $30 SBD Prize

August Challenge

50 SBD was paid out in the August Challenge. The results can be found at https://steemit.com/culturevulture/@eroche/culture-vulture-challenge-august-results

Thanks

Many thanks to @boxcarblue and @deanliu for a generous donation to the prize fund in August, and @sweetpea who has contributed for the September prize.
Also a big thank you to all those who have taken part. If you wish to support this challenge you may write an article, donate to the monthly prize fund, spread the word, resteem or most importantly check out the tag from time to time and comment and upvote peoples posts. Thank you for reading.

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Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Travel and lots of random topics.