Canada Day celebrates the anniversary of Confederation, when Canada became a country separate from the British Empire. Parliament Hill is the focal point for Canada Day celebrations, with a giant stage featuring Canadian performers throughout the day, the noontime playing of Oh Canada and a flyby by Canada’s Snowbirds aerobatics team and other military aircraft. The celebrations spill over from Parliament Hill to venues on both sides of the Ottawa River, including Major’s Hill Park and Jacques Cartier Park in downtown Gatineau, with fun and activities for people of all ages. The day is capped-off with a massive fireworks finale visible from any vantage point downtown.
For more information about this year’s celebrations, please visit
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 Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”, attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world’s largest rodeos, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing and First Nations exhibitions. Organized by thousands of volunteers and supported by civic leaders, the Calgary Stampede has grown into one of the world’s richest rodeos, one of Canada’s largest festivals and a...
Cowboys and cowgirls from around the region gather for the annual Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo, which is held at the city’s Cariboo Memorial Arena. This three-day event is the BC Rodeo Association’s second largest rodeo, and it delivers heart stopping competitions and top cash prizes.
In addition to time-honored rodeo events such as calf roping and bareback riding, the entertainment includes clowns and a drill team – a group of horseback riders showcasing high-speed patterns and maneuvers in rhythm to music. Pancake breakfasts, live music and dances keep visitors entertained from day until night.
For more information, checkout http://www.williamslakestampede.com
Brighton Pride, the UK’s biggest Pride festival celebrates 25 years in existence.
Loved locally and acclaimed nationally Brighton & Hove Pride is a celebration of all that is great about the city and its vibrant LGBT community.
To mark this important milestone & recognise the wonderful diversity of Brighton & Hove’s community, the theme for 2015’s Brighton Pride is ‘Carnival of Diversity’.
“The annual Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival has established itself as the most prestigious open tournament in the world”
The Sunday Times
The Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival is a chess tournament held annually at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar since 2003. Its eleven days of competition usually run from late January to early February. The main event, the Masters, is open to all, and was voted “Best Open Event in the World” by the Association of Chess Professionals. The Gibraltar Chess Festival is well known for giving particular prominence to women’s chess.
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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The Rüdesheimer wine festival has a unique atmosphere in the Rüdesheim, Germany. Cheerful winemakers get together with guests to show the gastronomic highlights of the region accompanied with live music, from noon until late, giving the right rhythm for young and old. Events include the Coronation of the Rüdesheimer wine queen.
For more information, visit http://www.ruedesheimer-weinfest.de
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
The Temple Bar TradFest has gained a reputation as the one of the biggest and best traditional Irish music and culture festivals in Ireland. The festival takes place over 5 days and 5 nights with over 200 events. The festival has been recognised for its contribution to Irish traditional music and culture with several awards including Best Traditional Music Festival in the 2008 and 2009 Festival Awards. Numerous iconic venues are used to host concerts featuring talented and beloved musicians from Ireland.
Our festival started out in 2006 as a small niche traditional music festival, a first for Dublin. We wanted to create something special – a festival showcasing the cream of both Irish and international trad and folk artists while also providing a...
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...
Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce during which the events of his novel Ulysses (which is set on 16 June 1904) are relived. The day involves a range of cultural activities including Ulysses readings and dramatisations, pub crawls and other events, much of it hosted by the James Joyce Centre in North Great George’s Street. Enthusiasts often dress in Edwardian costume to celebrate Bloomsday, and retrace Bloom’s route around Dublin via landmarks such as Davy Byrne’s pub. Hard-core devotees have even been known to hold marathon readings of the entire novel, some lasting up to 36hours.
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.’