MUST LOVE FESTIVALS

The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba. It features a variety of folk artists from around the world, as well as a number of local artists, contemporary singer-songwriters, and children’s performers. There’s also a Food Village with an emphasis on local, organic, and fair trade ingredients and the Hand-Made Village which celebrates the long-standing history that folk art and crafts share with folk music festivals and features artisans from all over Canada and the United States.Camping is a popular at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the festival operates two unserviced campgrounds with late night animation and jams.

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The Isle of Wight Garlic Festival is a fundraising event that is held annually on the Isle of Wight, and raises money for the booming Garlic industry on the island, as well as fundraising for other agricultural farms on the island. With over 250 stallholders selling such delights as garlic beer, garlic seafood and garlic ice cream as well as a wealth of other locally produced delicacies. The centre of attention is the Garlic Marquee featuring the Isle of Wight’s Golden Clove, which is found in abundance, including the popular oak-smoked variety. The popular theatre kitchen features presentations. Further entertainment includes live music from artists and many local bands and displays from mountain bike daredevils. There is also a huge variety of family attractions on offer...

Satchmo SummerFest (also known as Satchmofest) is an annual music festival held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in celebration of the jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. It is held in early August in order to coincide with August 4, Armstrong’s birthday. It has multiple stages, including stages for traditional and contemporary jazz, big-band jazz, and a children’s stage for up-and-coming jazz musician.

Calentita is the “national” dish of Gibraltar, means “warm” and, according to some sources, appeared in the sixteenth century. It is of a pot pie mixed chickpea flour with water, salt and black pepper, roasted in the oven, within a greased bowl with olive oil, and served hot. In the twenty-first century, is also the name of a food festival that takes place every year. This is a street party and food festival, a colourful celebration of Gibraltar’s multicultural society reflected in the food, where you are invited to sample tastes from the melting pot of all their communities.

The Hanse Sail in Rostock is the largest maritime festival in Mecklenburg (Germany) and one of the largest in Europe.

About 250 traditional sailing ships of all types and sizes from a vast variety of countries visit the coast off the city of Rostock every year during the second weekend of August. Today, the Hanse Sail forms part of the joint Baltic Sail, which takes place in several countries bordering the Baltic Sea during July and August. Every year about 1 million visitors visit the Hanse Sail. Even though it is accompanied by other cultural events, the ships remain the center of the festival. Besides watching ships, it is also possible to sail on them or enter them while they are anchored. There are also sea planes and a helicopter parallel to the festival....

Hundreds of Rothenburg’s townsfolk are members of historical reenactment groups, reviving a bygone age or re-establishing a traditional profession. Thousands of yards of fabric are worked to reproduce the original fashions of the day, old equipment is brought out of retirement or reproduced in loving details. Preserving and revitalizing the past – this is the motto of the Imperial City Festival. On Friday evening there is a grand torch-light procession by the various historical groups to the Market Square. With thundering cannons and a glittering display from the brand firework spectacular in the Tauber Valley, the town sinks into darkness on Saturday night, only to continue the light-hearted festivities next morning, celebrating history as never before…

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This festival offers a music, cinematic, theatrical, and visual art events programme that promotes an understanding of the processes behind contemporary culture across the world. The festival is unique and offers to a wide range of viewers creative expressions by excellent and highly-recognised artists. It is a celebration of art in the city throughout the whole month, which reaches its culmination in the open-air opera performances that take place at Pils Parks (Castle Park). It is visited not only by Latvians but also by art lovers from all around the world.

Experience the New Year’s Festival in Dublin as the city comes alive over 3 day’s for fun filled New Year’s festivities. Bringing together some of the country’s best talents, NYF Dublin offers you  a host of free and family friendly activities and events guaranteed to entertain. Enjoy live gigs across the city at the NYF Music Trail. Watch how they bring the city streetscapes to life with cutting-edge 3D animations, discover the city at the Spoken Word Festival or follow the NYF Arts Trail or Dublin Discover Trail. Get active on Resolution Day by joining the New Year’s Day Fun Run from Dublin Castle, or take part in free exercise classes in Dublin city parks and fitness clubs.

Welcome to the world famous celebration of Halloween , the largest in Europe. Experience creepy GhostBus tours, night-time markets, thrills and spills galore, with a week-long hive of devilish activities that everyone will adore. Ghoulish fun, ghastly frolics and thrilling events, all leading up to the main extravagant suspense. Key highlights of this festival include the world famous spooktacular carnival parade and the spine-chilling fireworks cascade.

For more updates about this year’s festival visit http://campaign.derrycity.gov.uk

As part of the growing worldwide fascination with Bram Stoker and his most iconic creation, Count Dracula, the descendants of Bram Stoker have taken an active role to provide historically accurate information about Bram Stoker and his life, to collaborate with individuals and entities of like purpose, to raise international awareness of Bram Stoker as an Irishman, from Dublin, the city of his birth and where he spent the first half of his life.

The festival takes the legacy of Dublin horror novelist Bram Stoker and his gothic novel Dracula as inspiration. The festival incorporates a range of events from large-scale spectacles including a gothic ball, to intimate performances in unusual spaces and a whole range of film and literary events to whet the appetites of all....

Féile an Phobail (The Community’s Festival), also known as the West Belfast Festival is a community arts organisation known for its August Féile (Festival).

The festival was established in 1988 as a direct response to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

It aims to celebrate the positive side of the community with an eclectic mix of arts, culture, language and sports events included in the celebrations.

The festival takes place on and around Falls Road in Belfast. This ten day festival presents a wide range of arts and cultural activities over the first two weeks in August, including music concerts, comedy, exhibitions, discussions and debates, youth events, literary events, dramas, family, out door...

Every August, Gràcia holds an 8-day festival “Festa Major”, known as Festes de Gràcia  and is one of the largest festivals in Barcelona.

Lonely Planet describes Gracia Festival as

‘…veritable explosion of creativity. One second you’re being jostled by a gang of ravers, the next you’re gawping at a two-storey-high papier-mâché model of Alice in Wonderland. Think Glastonbury played by your brother’s band, and you won’t be far off.’

This event taking place in Birgu (also known as Vittoriosa), which is one of Malta’s oldest and most historic cities, has now become an annual national event.

From inception the aim was to highlight Birgu’s historic and architectural beauty and the Birgu by Candlelight, now incorporated in Birgufest, was set up to highlight this in a romantic manner. The streets are lit up with a gentle glow by thousands of candles of all kinds.

However, Birgufest has developed into a larger event with a wider scope, offering numerous activities throughout the festival. The historic re-enactments, extended and cheaper museum entrances, and the opening up to the public of...

Galway City, along the Wild Atlantic Way in the West of Ireland plays host to the world’s longest running Oyster Festival from 25 – 28 September  .Throughout the Irish food festival, expect  lots of tantalising events for all to enjoy; seafood trails, oyster hot spots, oyster opening (shucking) championships including the Oyster ‘Olympics’ or World Oyster Opening Championship, foodie talks & tasting events in some of Galway’s best restaurants, food producer tours, an intimate Food village at The Festival Marquee, a Mardi Gras style Gala Event...