Winning tip
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The Ceri in Gubbio, Umbria, Italy
Posted by milamila
On 15th May, every year the town of Gubbio comes alive with the most amazing pagan-converted-to-catholic festival: the Ceri. The local enthusiasm gets very high as the three ceri (three very heavy wooden structures topped by three saints) are carried around all day by the ceraioli (the people who carry the ceri) in a town decorated by banners and flags. Everyone dresses up according to the saint they support and start the day at 5am till night when people eat, drink and dance till very late in the piazzas. It is called a race but the winner is not the first to arrive in the church at the top of the mountain (a 7 minute run up a very steep mountain), the winner is the cero (singular of ceri) that falls the least. A bad fall of a saint is considered a bad omen. Read more and see videos on www.ceri.it
Gubbio, near Perugia and Assisi in Umbria. Central Italy.
Closest train station: Fossato di Vico.
Buses to Gubbio from Perugia. Ryanair flies to Perugia from the UK.
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Musical nights in Nant, Averyon, France
Posted by ThelmaLives
Every July the tiny little village of Nant near Millau in the south of France holds a brilliant music festival in true 'local' style. They get a fun fair out on the green, you can drink red wine until the very early hours and they clear the boules pitch for dancing - and of course it's the oldies who are first to hit the dancefloor.
There is beautiful little square qith foutains running through it and it's just magic on a warm night to sit there and people watch. As it's usually such a peacful village, it's great seeing all the local characters come out to play.
Averyon region
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Seafood festival, Galicia, Spain
Posted by mofli
This is a festival in honour of seafood. It is celebrated in O Grove (Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain) during the first two weeks of October and it is one of the most important festivals of Galicia.

Here, anyone can taste the different kinds of seafood: from oysters, mussels and cockles to prawns, crabs and barnacles. It is amazing how many different dishes there are for a good price. Moreover, there are also folk performances.

This year, there were more people than ever. The village was full of people from all parts of Spain, and even from outside. It was very difficult to book a hotel for those people who did it in the last days before the event because the occupancy rate was at the highest level.

Two of the main important characteristics that make this festival different are the fact that the seafood from this area is among the in the world; and the second fact is that it is awesome to have lunch in front of the estuary Ría de Arousa. It is a perfect location for this festival: you can enjoy this wonderful landscape while you taste the best seafood.

www.riasbaixas.org
www.galinor.es/ogrove/
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Barretos village bull run in August
Posted by Sintra
Barretos, a small, sleepy, typical Alentejo village near Marvao, comes alive on the 2nd weekend in August with a bull run through the village, followed by a festa (festival) which continues well into the night. See the real Portugal and join the friendly locals in their tradition (they do not kill the bulls here in Portugal).
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Feasts and festivals on Karpathos
Posted by gtpark
There are a lot of traditional religious feasts and festivals on the island of Karpathos in the summer. Don't miss the festival of Kyra Panagia on August 23 at the church of this small village, another one is held in Vroukounda village at the church of St.John on August 27.
www.karpathos.org.uk/
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Sidmouth Folk Week
Posted by nonnymouse
Sidmouth itself, for most of the year, is a gorgeous sleepy little seaside town, with a pebbly beach, great coast walks and really good ice cream.
But for the first week of August every year it turns into a fantastic festival - traditional music from all over the world, dancers, singers, musicians, ceilidhs until the early hours of the morning.
It's really family-friendly, with loads of craft activities for kids, and lots of the young musicians now performing at the festival got dragged there by their parents as children, so there's a real cross-generation atmosphere.
Personally, I wouldn't miss it for the world - spending a week in seaside sunshine, in pubs and marquees, listening to some of the best folk musicians around...bliss!
www.sidmouthfolkweek.co.uk - nearest train station is Honiton, with regular buses to Sidmouth.
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