St Ives September Festival :: St Ives, England

During September the seaside town of St Ives in Cornwall, England is home to the St Ives September Festival, one of the longest running festivals of the arts in the United Kingdom. The festival has been going on for over 30 years and runs for 15 days (the 2010 festival runs from Sept 11-25). It features a wonderful eclectic mix of music, film, poetry, talks, exhibitions and much more. Started in 1978 by local entrepreneurs and the nearby International Musicians Seminar, the festival has grown to attract thousands of visitors from around the world. Read more

Boryeong Mud Festival :: Boryeong, South Korea

Boryeong City in South Korea on the coast of the Yellow Sea was once renowned for its amazing agriculture. Today, however, this same rich earth is drawing millions of visitors to Daecheon Beach in Boryeong City for very different reasons. In 1997, several institutes in South Korea did studies on the soil and determined that not only was the dirt good for plants, it was good for skin too. To market these newly discovered properties, Boryeong decided to engage in a huge festival and invite people far and wide to enjoy their mineral rich mud. But unlike most ad campaigns, this one asked people to come and get dirty. Really dirty. Welcome to the Boryeong Mud Festival! Read more

Venice Film Festival :: Venice, Italy

Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpe in 1932, the Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. Taking place every year in late August of early September on the island of the Lido, the festival is one of the world’s most prestigious and is also part of the Venice biennale, an exhibition and festival for contemporary art. The first “Esposizione d’Arte Cinematografica” was held in 1932 at the Hotel Excelsior as part of the 18th Venice Biennale. The 2010 festival takes place from September 1st – 11th and the official lineup will be announced in Rome at the end of July. The festival’s goal is to raise awareness and promote various aspects of international cinema in all its forms. It includes homages and retrospectives to major figures in the industry that have helped raise awareness. Read more

Redbull Flugtag

Most festivals take place at a certain place or a certain time of year. The Flugtag, however adheres to very few rules. Sponsored by Red Bull (yes, the famous energy drink that gives you wings) the Flugtag is a wet and wild event that occurs at various spots all over the world each year. The official goal is to create a homemade human powered flying machine that glides as far as possible off a long pier with a 30 foot drop off. Unofficially very few of these quirky crafts do anything even close to flying and become more of a comical fall into the waters below. This is where all the fun for the thousands of spectators comes in. Read more

Battle of the Oranges (Carnevale di Ivrea) :: Ivrea, Italy

Ivrea, a town in northwestern Italy is most famous for its traditional carnival celebration. The core of the Carnevale di Ivrea is the famous Battle of the Oranges where thousands of citizens are divided into nine teams who them violently pelt each other with oranges. These orange battles occur on the traditional carnival days of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Held every year in late February, the celebration revolves around a 12th century legend of a miller’s daughter who refused the local duke’s “right” to spend a night with each newlywed woman in his domain and instead chipped off his head. This refusal lead the commoners in the town revolting against their rulers, they then stormed and burned the palace. Each year a young girl is elected “Mugnaia” and plays the role of Violetta, the miller’s daughter who still today, honored as a local symbol of freedom. Read more

Batalla del Vino :: Haro, Spain

One thing you have to know about the Spanish, they really do know how to throw a party. And for some reason they can get pretty darn messy. We already told you about “La Tomatina“, the tomato throwing festival in Buñol, Spain, but surprisingly there is an even wilder fiesta brewing about 350 miles north in the city of Haro. Here in the Rioja Region, June 29th is the Batalla del Vino or Wine Battle. Though many Spanish festivals are meant to celebrate various patron saints (June 29th is also St. Pedro’s Day) this little shin dig is anything but saintly. Whereas most people think the point of a wine festival is to get the drink IN you, here the goal is to get it ON you (well mostly). Read more

Loveparade :: Germany

What started in Berlin as an alternative parade for 150 peace and techno loving partiers in 1989 has grown exponentially over its 20 plus year history reaching a record 1.6 million revelers in 2008. The Love Parade (actually shortened to the one word moniker “Loveparade”) in Germany is one of the biggest and most adored festivals in Europe. The Cold War had separated east and west for over 40 years and those in the heart of the struggle felt they needed to make a statement of openness and togetherness in the spirit of glasnost. Loveparade was born as a child of both Read more

Bregenzer Festspiele :: Bregenz, Austria

Started in 1946, the Bregenz Festival (Bregenzer Festspiele) is an amazing performing arts festival held every year in July and August in Bregenz, Austria. The festival presents a wide variety of musical and theatrical events in various venues throughout the city. The plays of Shakespeare and the music of Beethoven, Bach are just a sampling of what awaits at this wonderful arts festival. Quite the popular celebration, In 2009 the Bregenz Festival set a record for visitors with 259,084 people attending the festival effectively selling 98% of the tickets available. Read more

Winnipeg Folk Festival :: Manitoba, Canada

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a wonderful outdoor music festival in Birds Hill Park, Manitoba. It is one of North America’s premier outdoor music festivals and is celebrating 37 years of summer fun and education. Each year it takes place over the second weekend in July with the 2010 festival running from July 7th to 11th. Read more

Imilchil Betrothal Festival :: Morocco

Deep into the desert and far up into the mountains of Morocco lies the sleepy but hard scrabble little town of Imilchil. Here, legend has it, that two star crossed lovers from different villages met and fell in love. But the Moroccan Romeo and Juliet were forbidden by their families to see each other and distraught. They ran off separately into the Atlas Mountains and died alone and in despair. It was decided that suffering like this was too much so instead Read more

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