Festivals in Europe: Carnival of Viareggio / Carnevale di Viareggio, Italy

Italy is home of many fantastic festivals and one of the most colorful and visited among them is the Viareggio Carnival, held at the seaside town of Viareggio, Tuscani. 

Every year the participants in the festival create papier-mâché parade floats, masks and dolls and bring life to magical creatures and many recreations of historical and present-time famous people. The celebrations take place at the different quarters and there are many festival-related events at the town's squares, bars and restaurants.

The Viareggio Carnival is a 140 years old tradition, which has become one of the most famous carnivals in Europe and gathers annualy about 1 000 000 visitors from all over the world. The town is very close to the cities of Pisa and Florence and together with the festival this makes it a perfect location for a cultural and colorful start-of-the-year vacation.

There is, of course, a papier-mâché museum, where you can see many of the best and awarded works of the participants from the previous editions of the festival.

The 2014 Viareggio Carnival will take place at the end of February and the beginning of March.

For detailed information and current festival dates you can visit the official Viareggio Carnival web-site:

http://viareggio.ilcarnevale.com/

source: Vinima @ wikipedia.org, under the Creative Commons

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Festivals in Europe: La Tomatina / Tomatoes fight / Festival, Bunol, Valencia, Spain

La Tomatina is one of those festivals, which are crated by people having fun with the only purpose of upcoming generations to have even more fun. It is a festival with unclear origin and the most important thing is that the people of the town of Bunol, Spain, have created an event so fascinating, that 60 years after its first edition it is now visited by about 50 000 visitors each year.

La Tomationa was most probably created by young people, who wanted to participate in the event called Gigantes y cabezudos / Giants and Big-Heads / and started a tomato fight at the town'n square where the event took place. This quickly became a tradition and the people continued to repeat the fight each year at the last Wensday of August. Although  the authorities have stopped the event from happening in some of the years to come, the town eventually was officially allowed to have the Tomatina from 1975 to nowadays.  

It is organized by the town hall and it has several very simple rules, ensuring the safety of the participants. It is very important that the tomatoes are squashed before being thrown, it is essential that the participants make way to the passing trucks, ripping off other people's T-shirts is forbidden and so is of course throwing anything else than a tomato. 

The fight lasts for one hour, which is pretty enough to cause a really colorful devastation of the town, cleaned afterwards with the kind assistance of the Bunol fire department.

Bunol is very close to the city of Valencia, which makes the transport to the festival very easy for every international traveller, who wants to take part of this trully fascination event.

More about the festival, the history and the town can be found on the official web-site of the event:

http://www.tomatina.es/

source: Graham McLellan @ flickr.com under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 

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Festivals in Europe: International Kite Festival, Cervia, Italy

Once a year the beautiful and calm Italian town of Cervia becomes the host of an extremely colorful and fascinating international kite festival. 

The beauty of the Italian Adriatic shore, the warm and windy weather and the thousands of kite fans make the Cervia kite festival a very positive and unusual travel destination, which you will leave going home with hundreds of photos, a big smile and the wish to come back next year for more.

Kite enthusiasts from many countries come to Cervia each year to present their one-of-a-kind complex creations, to meet their friends from other kite-construction studios and to make the festival visitors life-time fans of their beautiful and unique aerial creatures.

The festival dates, photos, videos and contact details of the festival organizors can be found on the official web-site of the event:

http://www.festivalinternazionaleaquilone.com

source: http://www.festivalinternazionaleaquilone.com

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Festivals in Europe: Sonar Music Festival Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is the proud home to one of the most intriguing and interesting music festivals in Europe in the past 20 years - the Sonar International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art.

The festival stands for it's name and hosts multiple artistical events - musical venues, design projects, music related computer programming, presentations of new musical technology etc.

The 2013 20th edition of the festival will take place between the 13th and 15th of June. A brief list of the names to be seen and heard during the festival includes: Pet Shop Boys, Kraftwerk with their 3D show, Skrillex, Paul Karkenbrenner, Laurent Garnier and many more. 

This is one of the most interactive and innovative festivals and gives the audience a more complete and interesting experience, making the night events just the great finish of a day full of events and music.

Detailed information about the festival, the booking of the different types of festival passes and the accommodation and transport essentials can be foud on the official Sonar Festival web-site:

http://www.sonar.es

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Festivals in Europe: Horizon Music Festival - Bansko, Bulgaria

The town of Bansko, Bulgaria is already becoming one of the fastest-growing winter holiday destinations in Europe and quite naturally it evelved into a host of one of the newest end of the winter season festivals in Europe.

The first ever edition of the Horizon Festival ( 23.03.2013 - 29.03.2013 ) will give you the opportunity to listen to a great list of various artists on different stages, to enjoy the great ski pistes of the resort and to enjoy Bulgaria at its' best - the great nature, the nice people and the wonderful food.

One of the greatest things of the Bansko Horizon Festival is the fact that the festival entry packeges include the entrance to the events, the accommodation and access to the ski pistes. This makes the festival a perfect destination for all good music and ski fans. The amazing beauty of the Pirin mountain will certainly make you come back for more, as the resort is also a very nice summer destination.

The Horizon Festival line-up includes many well-known names from the electronical music calender, such as: Crazy P, Jackmaster, Mark E, KiNK, Alex Arnout and many many more.

You can tell that Bansko is becoming a witner sensation by the fact that there are events such as the 31.03.3013 free Bob Sinclair DJ Party.

The fact that Bansko is very close to the capital Sofia and its' international airport ( quite conveniently part of the destinations list of most of the low-cost airlines ) will allow you to easily and effertlessly plan your trip.

Detailed information about the festival can be found on its' official web-site:

http://www.horizonfestival.net/

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Festivals is Europe: Cioccolatò festival in Turino, Italy

Festivals are meant to bring a pleasure for every visitor and we would like to present you one, which will most definitely be appreciated by everyone - Cioccolatò festival in Turino, Italy. 

As you have already guessed correctly - it is a festival for chocolate and it is dedicated to bringing exquisit pleasure to all visitors. Both the number of the participant chocolate factories and the number of the visitors are significant and one thing is quite certain - there are smiling people everywhere in Turino during the few days of the Cioccolatò.

The festival gathered about 500 000 visitors in 2012 and it is becoming one of the major and certainly most delicious food events and the European festival calendar. 

The festival is switching the events dates, as it was held in March, but in 2013 it will take place between the 22nd November and the 01st of December.

More information about the festival can be found on its' official website:

http://www.cioccola-to.it

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Festivals in Europe: July Morning - Bulgaria

July Morning is one of those local and interesting celebrations, which give Europe its variety, culture and excitement. It is a festival for freedom, summer and music and it is loved by free minded people from all ages.

The July Morning event is a Bulgarian annual festival celebrated in the early morning of 1st of July each year and it is basically the waiting of the sunrise over the sea waters of the Black Sea.

The start of the festival was given by a group of friends from the city of Varna in by then communist Bulgaria. As they greeted the rising July sun, they decided that this should become an annual tradition and since then the number of people following their wonderful idea is rising each year.


Nowadays there are many events in all Bulgarian Black Sea cost cities and towns and people gather to spend a beautiful night together and to say hello to the magical summer sun, rising over the sea waters. One of those festivals is for example the "Sozopol July Morning Festival", located near the beautiful town of Sozopol.


The name of the even was strongly influenced by the song "July Morning" by the legendary rock band Uriah Heep and these days two of the bands members ( Ken Hensley and John Lawton ) come each year to Bulgaria to sing their wonderful song along with hundreds of people at the moment the first July sun rays greet the smiling faces of the participants.

Festivals in Europe: Cap Roig Festival, Calella de Palafrugell, Spain, 14 July - 18 August 2012

The Cap Roig Festival is one of the exclusive musical events in Europe, in which you can enjoy a list of unbelievably good musical performances and also have a splendid vacation in one of Europe`s most beautiful places.

Calella de Palafrugell is proud to have one of the greatest botanical gardens in Europe - Cap Roig, and the surrounding nature is as beautiful as it gets due to the presence of plants from each of the continents, flourishing in Spain`s splendid climate.

The line-up of the festival includes performances by:
Bob Dylan ( 14 July 2012 )
George Benson ( 18 July 2012 )
Tonny Bennet ( 20 July 2012 )
Manolo Garcia ( 21 July 2012 )
Ben Harper ( 31 July 2012 )
Paul Anka ( 02 August 2012 )
James Morrison ( 05 August 2012 )
Chambao ( 15 August 2012 )
Alejandro Sanz ( 18 August 2012 )

and many talented artists, who will make the festival a classical and memorable event.

Additional information and ticket availability can be found on the official Cap Roig Festival web-site:

http://www.caproigfestival.com

Festivals in Europe: Festival Internacional de Benicassim, Spain, 12 - 15 July 2012

This years Festival Internacional de Benicassim will again present a list of great performers, who will make sure that the tens of thousands of festival guests will have a special musical experience.

The seaside town of Benicassim is a splendid destination to enjoy some great moments at the beach as well, so your visit of the festival can really be amazing, of course mostly focusing on the music.

The line-up includes names such as:

Bob Dylan
Florence + The Machine
The Stone Roses
Noel Gallagher`s High Flying Birds
New Order
David Guetta
De la Soul

and many others ...

Festival Internacional de Benicassim is a great opportunity to enjoy Spain at it`s best and to know that you will come back next year as well.

Detailed information about the festival, ticket prices, transport and accommodation options can be found on the official web-site of the event:

http://fiberfib.com/

Enjoy it ! 

Festivals in Europe: San Fermin Festival - The Running with the Bulls, 6-th July - 14-th July

The San Fermin Festival is held each year in the city of Pamplona - Navarre, Spain between the 6-th and the 14-th July as a celebration to the Saint Fermin, one of the two patrons of the town.

The festival is related to street processions with the image of the saint, which leaves the Church of San Lorenzo for only a couple of hours on the 7-th of July. The participants in the procession are dressed in white and this is a moment of great tradition for the locals, who await this moment all year long. The procession starts at 10.30 am, it includes people from different social role and has a strict route through the city.

The festival is world famous for one very spectacular reason - The running of the bulls. This is a spectacle of speed and suspense, which is viewed by millions of visitors since its beginning. Starting as a traditional way to lead the bulls to the arena, The running of the bulls is now an event, which attracts adrenaline fans from all over the world. There is a special 850 meters course for the run and along it there is a great number of safety barriers.

Prior to the start, the runners sing three times a song for protection by San Fermin. The runs start each day at 8.00 am between the 6-th and the 14-th July and the start is given by four rockets, signaling the runners about the opening of the bull barriers. The run usually takes about 4 minutes, remembered for life by the participants. Between 2000 and 3000 people participate in the runs in the different days. Although serious injuries are a small percent of the couple of hundred injured participants each year, this tradition has caused the loss of life for14 people since it is documented.

Each day at 6.30 pm there are bullfights in the Bullring. What makes the bullfights special for Pamplona are the Peñas - the local musicians, who bring a great entertainment to the atmosphere.

Just as at the end of each day, the San Fermin Festival ends officially at 11.00 pm on the 14-th July with a fireworks display, which is a fantastic way to end each day of the calender of the festival and to finish up with the festive activities.

Detailed information about the city of Pamplona and the events of the San Fermin Festival can be found on the official Pamplona web-site:

San Fermin Festival - Pamplona - Navarre, Spain

 source: http://sanfermin.pamplona.es

Other European Attractions:

Festivals in Europe: International Fireworks Festival Cannes

Europe Travel Destinations: Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria - A spectacular Sound and Light historical show

Europe Attractions: The Prater in Vienna 

Europe Travel Destinations: Brussels Gourmet Tram 

Festivals in Europe: Las Fallas Festival - Saint Joseph, Valencia, Spain

Festivals in Europe: Corpus Domini, Orvieto, Italy 

Festivals in Europe: Corpus Domini, Orvieto, Italy

Corpus Domini is one of the traditional European festivals, which preserves the history of our continent and brings back events, which have been kept for hundreds of years. It is one of the beautiful local events, which are rarely seen in traditional traveling of the main touristic locations and is an unique experience for everyone, who wants to witness a traditional Italian festival and to be a part of the history of the place for a day.

Corpus Domini is a religious and historical festival, set after the Pope declared a religious miracle after a local monk found blood on an alter cloth during a communion. The main event of the festival is the Corteo Storico, a parade of people of the town dressed in traditional costumes.

The festival combines history, tradition and religious celebrations and is one of the little marvels, which every traveler should witness.

Information about the festival and the town of Orvieto can be found here:

Information, Events & Festivals in Orvieto

Other European Attractions:

Festivals in Europe: International Fireworks Festival Cannes

Europe Travel Destinations: Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria - A spectacular Sound and Light historical show

Europe Attractions: The Prater in Vienna 

Festivals in Europe: San Fermin Festival - The Running with the Bulls, 6-th July - 14-th July  

Festivals in Europe: Las Fallas Festival - Saint Joseph, Valencia, Spain

Europe Travel Destinations: Brussels Gourmet Tram

Festivals in Europe: Rock Werchter 2012, 28.06.12 - 01.07.12

Rock Werchter is one of the main events in the festival calender in 2012 and the proof for this is that the tickets for the 2012 festival are unfortunately already sold-out. We however would like to turn your attention to the line-up of the festival, so you can get a sense of the phenomenal talent, which will be brought in one place, and definitely plan ahead the next year addition of the festival, so you can get an early ticket.

Some of the bands playing at the Rock Werchter will be:

The Cure
Cypress Hill
Blink 182
Pearl Jam
Deadmau5
Lana Del Rey
Paul Kalkbrenner
Incubus
Red Hot Chili Peppers

and many others ...

The festival takes place in the village of Werchter, 30 km from Brussels and the access to the village is very easy. There is a free shuttle bus to the festival and about 20 camping sites situated in different zones according to the entrance road to the festival.

Detailed information about the festival can be found on the official Rock Werchter web-site:

http://www.rockwerchter.be

Concerts in Europe: Sting on Tour 2012

Sting is an artist like no other and his music has been innovative, sensual and original in the past 25 years, which has made him one of the legends, still entertaining people all over the world.

His 2012 Tour has already started in the USA and he is just about to enter Europe for a number of concerts on multiple venues. Bellow is the list of dates for the European part of the Sitg 2012 tour, and if you are in or near some of these cities, do not miss the show.

16 Jun 2012    Helsinki     Helsinki Classic Festival
17 Jun 2012    Oslo          Norwegian Wood Festival
19 Jun 2012    Bergen      Bergen Calling Festival
21 Jun 2012    Odense     Engen Fruens Bøge
23 Jun 2012    Werchter   TW Classic Festival
25 Jun 2012    Prague      O2 Arena
26 Jun 2012    Budapest   Budapest Arena
27 Jun 2012    Zagreb       Zagreb Arena
29 Jun 2012    Oeiras        EDP CoolJazz Festival
30 Jun 2012    Marbella    Hotel Puente Romano Tennis Club
01 Jul 2012    Ibiza            Ibiza 123 Festival
03 Jul 2012    Amsterdam  Ziggo Dome
04 Jul 2012    Henley         Henley Festival
06 Jul 2012    Cognac       Cognac Blues Festival
07 Jul 2012    Albi             Albi Pause Guitare
08 Jul 2012    Argelès-sur-Mer    Les Deferlantes Festival
10 Jul 2012    Piazzola       Anfiteatro Camerini
12 Jul 2012    Molfetta       Molo del Porto
13 Jul 2012    Taormina      Teatro Antico
15 Jul 2012    Perugia        Umbria Jazz Festival
18 Jul 2012    Toulon         Voix du Gaou Festival
19 Jul 2012    Paleo           Paleo Festival
21 Jul 2012    Carhaix        Vieilles Charrues Festival
22 Jul 2012    Arcachon     Stade Velodrome d'Arcachon
25 Jul 2012    Moscow      Olimpiski
27 Jul 2012    St. Petersburg   New Arena
29 Jul 2012    Riga             Riga Arena
31 Jul 2012    Kaunas        Zalgirio Arena

The talent and positivity of Sting makes his music a wonderful and memorable experience for all music fans and witnessing a concert of such a great artist is definitely a great start of an amazing musical summer.

Detailed information about the concerts and tickets purchase options can be found on the official Sting web-site:

http://www.sting.com

Festivals in Europe: Creamfields 2012 Electronic Music Festival, Daresbury, Cheshire, 24.08.2012 - 26.08.2012

Creamfields 2012 will be one of the main festivals of 2012 electronic music events calendar. The festival grew significantly in the past years and this year the line-up is simply fantastic. Just few of the names to attend the festival are:

David Guetta
Tiesto
Paul van Dyk
Richie Hawtin
Avicii
Deadmau5
Eric Prydz
John Digweed
Sebastian Ingrosso
Afrojack

... and the list goes on and on ...

Creamfields is located in the lovely countryside between Manchester and Liverpool and is very easily accessible by car, bus and train from the international airports. The camping option of the Luxury Camping of the festival is perfect for the ones who like camping, but want to do it the Creamfileds style, including some nice extra services. Tickets are available with the camping option, as you can of course use other accommodation options.

The festival will indeed be one of the best events of the year and we strongly advise you not to miss it if you like the line-up and fancy the experience.

Tickets and camping prices, list of the available services and extras and info about the guests is available on the official Creamfields 2012 web-site:

http://www.creamfields.com/

Festivals in Europe: Gods of Metal Festival - Rho, Milano

One of the significant events in the Metal/Hard Rock musical calender this year in Europe is the Gods of Metal Festival in the town of Rho near Milano, Italy.

It will take place between the 21st June and the 24th June and will host some of the most awaited names by the public:

Ozzy & Friends
Guns N' Roses
Motley Crue
Manowar
Slash feat. M.Kennedy and the Conspirators
Children of Bodom
The Darkness
Opeth
Black Label Society

The venue is very easy to get to from all directions, as it is located between several highways. The festival will of course present opportunity for camping, as well as assistance for accommodation in hotels nearby.

Information about tickets prices, availability and the festival itself can be found on the official Gods of Metal Festival website:

http://www.godsofmetal.it

Festivals in Europe: EXIT 2012 - Novi Sad, Serbia

EXIT is one of the biggest festivals in Europe lately and this year will not be an exception -the guest performances will be by artists such as:

Guns n` Roses
Duran Duran
Ericah Badu
New Order
Richie Hawtin
Laurent Garnier
Gossip
Suicidal Tendencies
Miss Kittin

and many many others  ...

The festival will take place between the 12th July and the 15th July in the town of Novi Sad, Serbia. The stages will be located on the riverbank of the Danube and there will be several venues - Main Stage, Dance Arena, Fusion Stage, Suba Stage, Explosive, Elektrana and HNS Stage.

A significant part of the EXIT Festival experience is the EXIT village, where visitors from all over the world will listen to music and enjoy being part of the great EXIT feeling.

Detailed information about tickets, line-up, travel information for the town of Novi Sad and camping options are available on the official EXIT Festival web-page:

http://exitfest.org

Concerts in Europe: Elevation Music Festival 2012 - Sofia, Bulgaria

Summer is the best time for visiting great musical events and this summer of of the best musical festivals will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria - the Elevation 2012 Music Festival.

The festival will present performances by:

Fatboy Slim
Erikah Badu
Groove Armada
Kosheen
Roni Size
Run D.M.C.
Parov Stelar
and more

The available variety of musical styles and the opportunity to spend fantastic three days in the Elevation 2012 open air venue makes the festival one of the most expected musical events of the summer.

Combining the festival with few days for visiting the nearby interesting places around Bulgaria` capital - Sofia, can give your holiday an additional experience and fun, while enjoying some interesting traditional and modern amusement possibilities.

Detailed information for the festival can be found here:

ELEVATION 2012 - Sofia, Bulgaria

Europe Festivals: Luminaria di San Ranieri - Pisa, Italy

Every year, on the 16-th of June, the city of Pisa, Italy, becomes a place of magic and unbelievable beauty.

The Luminaria di San Ranieri is an annual festival dedicated to the patron of Pisa - San Ranieri. At sunset on the 16-th of June thousands of candles are lighted on the facades of the city to celebrate San Ranieri, who is said to be the protector of all travelers. The festival also includes  spectacular fireworks later at night - 11 pm.

The atmosphere of the city is indescribably beautiful and peaceful. If you are on some of the bridges at the Arno river you will be in the middle of a real Tuscany fairy-tale.

More information about Luminaria di San Ranieri and Tuscany can be found here:


Luminaria di San Ranieri - Pisa, Italy

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Festivals in Europe: International Fireworks Festival Cannes

There are some significantly spectacular festivals, which a person should see at least once in a lifetime and one of them is the International Fireworks Festival Cannes.

The festival is a competition between world renown firework manufacturers and  pyrotechnic show specialists, who battle in the colorful battle of the skies several days each year.

The International Fireworks Festival Cannes 2012 will take place at the Bay of Cannes and will host competitors from Italy, China, Spain, France and Germany, who will present their firework shows along a wonderful musical program, making the event a spectactacle for the sences a person remembers for a really really long time.

This years festival dates will be as follows:

14 July 2012
21 July 2012
29 July 2012
07 Aug 2012
15 Aug 2012

A beautiful vacation in Cannes is a memorable experience itself, but combining the holiday with an event from the International Fireworks Festival Cannes program is definitely one of Europe's finest experiences.

Additional information about the program and the competitors can be found on the official web-site of the International Fireworks Festival Cannes:

http://www.festival-pyrotechnique-cannes.com

Europe Travel Destinations: Brussels Gourmet Tram

Europe Travel Destinations: Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria - A spectacular Sound and Light historical show

Europe Attractions: The Prater in Vienna 

Festivals in Europe: San Fermin Festival - The Running with the Bulls, 6-th July - 14-th July  

Festivals in Europe: Las Fallas Festival - Saint Joseph, Valencia, Spain

Festivals in Europe: Corpus Domini, Orvieto, Italy 

Concerts in Europe: Sziget Festival – Budapest

Summer is the best time for visiting major music festivals with a whole load of world class bands and one of the best summer festivals in the recent years is the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary.

The list of participants and visitors in the last few years is very impressive and the line-up for this years festival between the 6-th and 13-th August will again be very tempting for every music fan. Some of the major bands to have confirmed performances are:

Hurts - 08.08.12
Placebo - 08.08.12
Axwell - 09.08.12
Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra - 09.08.12
Korn - 09.08.12
Bebel Gilberto - 10.08.12
Saint Etienne - 10.08.12
Tiga - 10.08.12
Goran Bregovic Wedding And Funeral Band - 12.08.12
The Killers - 12.08.12

The list of bands is being continuously updated.

In order to allow the festival fans to enjoy a great and effortless experience, the festival organizers provide useful accommodation and transport information.

A useful option to use is to acquire the Sziget Festival Budapest pass, which will allow you to use the public transport in Budapest for free, to use shuttle bus from and to the airport and to enjoy a number of discounts in different sites in the city.

For detailed information about the bands line-up, the location of the festival and ticket prices visit the official Sziget Festival web-site:

Sziget Festival – Budapest