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Basically, nearly every village in Greece has a church named after a saint, and when it is that saint's day, the village usually has a party.
Ikaria is justly famous for its panagiria, which tend to start at midday and end when the last musician drops off his/he chair from exhaustion, some time around dawn the next day. Food is usually basic: roast goat, rice, chips and salad, with wine or beer to wash it down. Music (always live) tends to be predominantly nisiotika (traditional island music) with a fair amount of rebetika thrown in. All ages attend (at one, the youngest person at our table was my daughter, then aged 6 months, and the oldest, my wife's aunt aged 102!).
You will drink and you will dance, even if you normally do neither. Fantastic fun, and a great chance to participate in a folk culture that is very much still alive.
Ask around when you get there or check this site:
www.island-ikaria.com/
This amazing festival and fiesta is a cacophony of light and sound for a week as Barcelona celebrates its Patron saint. A run of fire, dragons, giants, fireworks and the study of Cava are accompanied by numerous free music festivals.
There is more information at www.barcelonaflats.co.uk/whats-on-guide-la-merce-festival.htm
Oktoberfest is the single greatest display of drinking the world has ever seen. Over 16 days, 6 million people drink over 6 million litres of beer. What a party!
To help you get the most out of your experience, we've assembled a list of 5 inside tips to help you get the most out of your trip to Oktoberfest.
Why should you listen to us? We lived and worked in Germany for years, and have attended the festival many times. When it comes to Oktoberfest, we are experts.
Tip #1) Know what you're drinking
The following are the types of beers you'll find at Oktoberfest:
- Märzen / Oktoberfest: This beer is brewed solely for Oktoberfest and is the most common brew sold there.
- Bavarian Lager/Helles: If you walk into any traditional beer hall in Munich and simply order a beer, this is what you’ll get.
- Hefeweizen / Weißbier: The state of Bavaria is famous for this refreshing wheat beer. This beer is unfiltered, hence its cloudy appearance.
- Dunkelweizen: Same concept as the Hefeweizen, only brewed with the addition of some darker grains.
- Dunkel: Means “dark” in German. If you take a Helles and brew it with darker Munich malts, this is the result.
- Pilsner: Referred to as Pils in Germany, this style of beer originated in the former Czechoslovakia.
- Radler: A combination of Pilsner beer mixed with lemonade or lemon-lime soda.
Tip #2) Know what you're eating
The following are the types of food you'll find at Oktoberfest:
- Bratwurst:What you’ll find at the festival is usually a short and fat variety, or the long skinny version called the Thüringer. Whichever you get, it is traditionally served on a roll called a Brötchen with mustard.
- Rindswurst: Not as common as bratwurst, this sausage is made primarily from beef and most often served with ketchup rather than mustard.
- Hänchen / Hühner: Rotisserie chicken sold by the quarter, half, or whole.
- Shweinehaxen: Pig’s knuckle roasted and/or grilled, and often served with some form of potato and sauerkraut.
- Knödelei: Traditional Bavarian dumplings.
- Schnitzel: The classic Vienna style (Wiener) is made from a fried veal cutlet.
- Sauerkraut: Fermented cabbage that comes in many varieties and colors.
- Spätzle/ Knöpfle: Egg noodle pasta that usually accompanies entrées and is often topped with gravy.
Tip #3) Tip your waitress!
You get great service at Oktoberfest the same way you do anywhere – by tipping well. 10% is a pretty standard and even healthy tip in Europe. With beers costing just under 9 EUR each, giving the waitress 10 EUR and telling her Stimmt so (shtimpt-so) is just fine.
Tip #4) Leave the bags and wallet at home
A beer-soaked Oktoberfest table is no place to set a $500 designer bag. Sure they’re cute and really match your outfit, but ladies, leave the nice bags and purses at home. There’s just too likely a chance they’ll be ruined or stolen amongst the drunken masses. Take a purse small enough that you can keep it in your lap or over your shoulder without getting in the way.
Guys, invest in a money clip or small wallet that can fit into your front pocket. Bring only what you need - cash, emergency credit card, and directions back to your hotel. This deters pickpockets, and also minimizes the damage if your drunk ass loses it.
Tip #5) Visit the ATM/Money Machine before you get to the festival
They only take cash inside of the tents! While there are ATMs at the festival, they charge exorbitant fees and often have a huge line of people waiting to use them. Be smart and get your cash before you arrive at the festival, and carry an emergency credit card just in case.
Following these 5 inside tips will help you make the most of your Oktoberfest trip.
Prost!
Munich, Germany. Logistical information for Oktoberfest can be found at www.twizgo.com/oktoberfest
For more Oktoberfest tips and advice, visit www.twizgo.com
Annual festival held in April to celebrate the harvest of local Codpa grapes, with a wonderful display of local produce plus wine, music and traditional dance. Relaxed and remote.
Small oasis village of Codpa in the Atacama desert south of Arica, north Chile. Limited public transport.
The heart of one of the greatest and most famous wine regions in Europe, Haro has plenty to offer.
You've heard of the Tomatina festival in Valencia where people throw tomatoes at one another all day? On 29th June each year, Haro stages the Batalla de Vino (wine war) where - you've guessed it - the ammunition is the rather more palatable and amusing-side-effect-laden local red wine. Arrive wearing white. Leave wearing purple.
Great fun!
One of the top-ten tourist sites in Japan offers a once-yearly evening festival where you can drink unlimited, locally produced sake for around a fiver.
Himeji castle itself was built in 1346 and was the first UNESCO site in Japan. What better way to spend a Saturday night than picknicking in its grounds?
Grab yourself a sake cup and some free senbe (Japanese crackers) and enjoy the Castle, the Moon and the company. Last year, I was told by a seasoned quaffer that the feeling of drinking sake can only be described as... "One, two, ten"... I wasn't sure what this meant, but I think it augured moderation, so take it easy.
Do however make sure that you try all of the sake on offer. It's all locally produced, is delicious and is ladelled out of wooden containers, rather than poured from the bottle.
The party starts when the sun goes down on October 3rd this year.
Travelling from Tokyo is a two-hour, direct Bullet Train ride (Himeji is also a good stop-off on the way to Hiroshima)
After that, it's ten Minutes on foot from Himeji JR Railway Station (central exit)
www.japan-guide.com/e/e3501.html
The running of the bulls in Pamplona always makes the news as the craziest and most dangerous festival in the world. However, the Yenshui Firework Festival in Taiwan has to run it close. In short, fireworks are packed into lorries and then fired into the crowd who have to stand and face them until finished. The crowd simply protects themselves with hats and thick coats while being hit at point blank range for several minutes by a non-stop barrage of fireworks.
I am still a little deaf.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C9n2rbRXLE
edu.ocac.gov.tw/local/web/Eng/Content.aspx?Class=1&Para=8
Dan chapman blogs about living in Taiwan at
www.betelnut-equation.blogspot.com
A summer fete for kids throughout the summer. They provide everything from African dance workshops to face painting and book libraries. All in Italian, but all very accessible, friendly, a great play park and free!
www.lacittaintasca.it nr Circo Massimo
Four-day musical and cultural extravaganza held at Easter each year, on the outskirts of Canberra. If you love Womad, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival or anything similar, you'll love the atmosphere at 'the National'; by the end of the weekend you won't want to go home. Except to sleep. And think about coming back again next year. Not only is it a multicoloured musical and dance fest (and inspired craft fair) the whole site becomes a large village for interstate festival goers to live in for the weekend (drive-up b.y.o. accommodation on site). Motels are close by for those who love their creature comforts, and shops if you need milk for your 'billy tea'. If you need some time out from festivalling, a walk round the nearby leafy inner suburbs on a sunny autumn afternoon is peaceful and provides stunning views of lovingly kept neighborhood gardens. Oh yes, as with any music festival, if you are staying on site - don't forget to take good ear plugs with you! The music keeps going as long as people are awake enough to play it ...
www.folkfestival.asn.au/
Google map: tinyurl.com/lb4b26
Spent a romantic weekend in Edinburgh in this hostel. Would be ideal for a couple trying to do the Edinburgh festival on a budget - private rooms are spacious and there were no stag or hen parties, or drunk backpackers.
Housed in a charming 19th century building, the comfortable private rooms mean this is a great alternative to a souless hotel - the rooms have antique furnishings and bags of character, as well as amazing views of the castle. Loved all the art on the walls as well.
The location is unbeatable (a minute from the Castle, Royal Mile, Grassmarket), and there's a huge lounge and movie screening room.
It can be difficult to find cheap food at the Fringe - especially as most places seem to be packed or overpriced in August.
Here are some tips for eating on a budget:
- Carry a bottle of water, a few snacks and a packed lunch with you during the day - you can munch during during long queues for tickets, and avoid the premium prices at cafes and sandwich shops in the city center.
- Head to the Edinburgh Farmer's Market on Saturdays for some budget-friendly food. Held between 9am and 2pm at Castle Terrace, it's stalls sell filling hot takeaway food, such as venison burgers and a hog roast!
- Some of the venues have great cafes, but they can get crowded in between shows. Instead, try the street stalls around the main venues such as Johnston Terrace and Bristo Square. The Traverse Theatre Bar and Café has a decent selection of reasonably priced food, and the courtyards inside the Pleasance Dome Theatre are home to stalls selling huge hot dogs and burgers.
- With some shows, food actually comes as part of your ticket. Early risers can catch Shakespeare for breakfast at C Venue at 10am, and watch the Bard’s best plays with a croissant and a cup of tea or coffee.
- For a cheap meal out, check out the Mosque Kitchen (officially called The Lunch Box) where you can pick up huge portions of halal curries for just a few pounds.
This multi-cultural festival is a great budget alternative to the pricier and overcrowded Fringe and main festival.
Set up by a group of ethnic minorities in Edinburgh, Mela means ‘gathering’ in Sanskrit and is a celebration of cultural diversity in Scotland.
The festival has a laid-back vibe, with food stalls and a craft market alongside the main line-up of theatre, music, film, and visual art from around the world, from Zimbabwean Theatre to Bollywood Dance.
It's only £2 for an all day pass, but some single events are free.
7-9th August, Pilrig Park
Most people have heard of the Free Fringe festival, and the line-up of comedy is superb. But there are loads of other lesser known free festivals and events going on in August.
Here are just a couple...
The International Book Festival has loads of free events - from the daily free poetry reading at 10am to the free live music in the Spiegelbar. There's also loads of free stuff for children, a daily storytime, nursery rhyme time for babies and free workshops.
The Festival Calvacade is a free parade of 3,000 performers from all the Edinburgh festivals - this year it kicks off in Holyrood Park on 9th August.
The Edinburgh Interactive Festival is a free video game festival, where budding gamers can road test and watch screenings of new games.
Great Guide to free events:
blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/edinburgh-festivals-for-free/
Silent Noise parties are held at Neptune's Point in South Goa – a stunning peninsula where hundreds of happy clubbers can look out across the water to Palolem beach as they dance the night away.
Everyone is connected to the music with wireless headphones so the party doesn’t disturb the neighbours (or the local police) and three DJs play simultaneously, competing to get the crowd to tune into their set.
Add in lasers, visuals, circus performers and tepees, and you’ve got a mini festival every week – helping to revive the outdoor rave vibe that originally put Goa on the beach party map.
Neptune's Point, Palolem, Goa
www.silentnoise.in
A music festival in a beautiful setting by the shores of Lake Malawi. It's probably the only place in Africa you'll be able to hear dubstep and kwasa kwasa at the same time...
There's not a drop of mud in sight and it's all for charity so you feel good doing it. The rumour that Madonna will be there this year is probably not true though.
Great selection of over 80 Gay and Lesbian Spanish and International films that are shown in cinemas across the city. The films celebrate diversity in all its many forms and the public can vote for their favourite - well worth a visit!
29th Oct - 8th Nov
www.lesgaicinemad.com/
Free, yes completely free, WOMAD festival Thurs-Sunday usually 2nd weekend in May.
Set in the beautiful old town of Caceres (it was built with gold plundered from the Incas).
Just about the most civilised festival I've been to - young and old enjoying great music among the cobbled streets and plazas. No queues - you can wander into bars and restaurants - just a lovely few days very different to UK fests. No security, blokes riding around on quadbikes etc etc
Caceres is in Extemadura
See acts such as Placebo, Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party for a fraction of the price of UK festivals, and get exposed to European acts outside the usual UK circuit.
Rock for People is the Czech Republic and probably central Europe’s best festival both in terms of organisation, vibe and the acts it attracts.
This year the line up also includes The Kooks, Underworld, Therapy? and Freestylers. Apart from internationally renowned headliners, there’s the chance impress friends back home with your knowledge of Euro-cool bands they’ll wish they learned of first.
Take a cheap as chips train from Prague and you are there in just over an hour. Or Ryan Air fly to the Czech Republic’s second city, Brno, from where you can also pick up public transport (or a car) and head north-west to the airfield venue.
Beer and food on site, even at inflated festival prices, are still cheaper than in the UK and you get the chance to try local tipples like hrusovice; a potent spirit it is hard to believe comes from the humble pear.
You could also combine the festival with a visit to the nearest town, pretty Hradec Kralove.
A ticket to this year’s festival from the 4th to the 6th of July costs just over £40.
At the end of certain festivals, its sad to see,
a sea of tents, well meaningly left for charity.
The organisers don't have the time or resources to take them down properly so they'll end up in landfill, not helping the more needy.
I have a tent circa 1983, which each year I recondition lovingly.
So my top tip for festivals is take your tent home with you.
That's all you need for a great festival.
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