Sunday mass at the famous St Augustine’s Church in New Orleans is everything you might expect it to be. A crowded building that only adds to the summer heat and humidity; a large choir that fills the remaining space; and preaching that elicits shouted comments from the congregation. I love the energy of the service […]
Read More...We interviewed Lelde Benke, Tourism Marketing Specialist for the Latvian Tourism Development Agency and asked her some of our favorite festival related questions. Lelde has worked for the Latvian tourist board for just over a year and a half, and takes care of international media inquiries, press and blogger trips among other things. Though based in […]
Read More...Belfast ‘s premier arts festival wants to mess with your head. Oh, don’t be fooled by how orderly and calm everything seems. It’s 134 events crammed into one month, including 18 UK & Ireland premieres. It’s a riot of ideas, and it’s here to storm your head and rearrange your brain. In my case, I […]
Read More...I’m in town for the Galway International Arts Festival – one of Ireland’s premier cultural events and, in fact, one of Europe’s top arts festivals these days. The focus for my stay is clearly the arts – it’s in the name of the event – but on the first night I meet some locals and the […]
Read More...Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a romantic fairytale town in the heart of German Bavaria. It’s known for many things – including its schneeball (traditional sugar-coated deep fried pastry balls), its Christmas museum, its Medieval Crime museum and some of the best preserved medieval architecture in Germany. The city is surrounded by a wall with […]
Read More...It’s warm in Gibraltar this time of the year and the sun disappears late in the evening like all the other summer revellers. All through the square are different stalls – about 50 of them – serving various types of food. There’s the Moroccan stand with its meat skewers; the Argentinian stand with a mix […]
Read More...You don’t hear much about it anymore, but there was a time not so long ago that musicians walked to their gigs. The Grateful Dead walked when they played at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Bob Dylan did it in Greenwich Village. And, I imagine, Louis Armstrong strutted to the smoky music clubs of […]
Read More...Have you ever wondered what the locals of Latvia get up to in the summertime? If so, heading to the tiny town of Cesis for its annual Town Fair might be just the festival for you. A two hour drive away from Latvia’s capital city of Riga, Cesis offers up the charm of laid back Latvia […]
Read More...The Hague has been the center of history in The Netherlands and has close ties to the Dutch Royal Family. While you are probably familiar with the massive King’s Day celebration that happens every year, there is another Royal event that attracts lots of visitors: Prinsjesdag. At Prinsjesdag (‘Prince’s Day’), the Dutch celebrate the opening […]
Read More...When you hear Pride, you don’t necessarily think of a festival. You probably think parade, a celebration of the LGBT community, fighting for equal rights and tolerance. But Brighton Pride is a more than that: Brighton Pride is a music festival that is on par with most other music festivals in the UK. Brighton, located […]
Read More...Here, on the Isle of Wight, in the south of England, there’s a good reason to be celebrating garlic. There’s quite an industry of garlic production because this is one of the best parts of Northern Europe to grow it. The soil is rich and as Colin Boswell, owner of the island’s Garlic Farm and […]
Read More...Food Trucks seem to have entered the culinary world by a storm lately, but it seems the craze is here to stay… and now they’re also a ‘thing’ in The Netherlands. Food trucks weren’t permitted on the streets in The Netherlands for a long time and could only be found at some bigger markets, sporting […]
Read More...Mercatino del Gusto. If ever a festival was an easy sell, this is it. It’s in southern Italy, which is famous for it’s food. And it’s a food festival. Need I go on? I will, just in case you need details to book your trip on the spot. The lovely town of Maglie in Puglia, […]
Read More...What happens when a city full of art and design has a festival night dedicated to the arts? Plenty, that’s what. If you don’t know much about Helsinki – it’s got a lot going for it. This is the Scandinavian design capital, and unofficially it’s also the best place for foodies in northern Europe too. […]
Read More...We need to talk about La Strada. It’s supposed to be a festival of street theatre and puppetry, but I didn’t see any puppets. Maybe they were just for the kids shows. What I did see, was incredible. A beautiful menagerie of music and acrobatics from Akoreacro, a swing-dance party that took over a whole […]
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