Following is a list of european festivals according to time of the year SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR !! pack your bags and explore beautiful europe this festival season.
PS - I have tried to give exact date of the festivals but festival dates can be different from these dates as they tend to change now and then so please enquire before your bookings.
January Events in Europe for 2009
-> 29 Dec - 1 January
SCOTLAND Edinburgh Hogmanay - a truly wild and wooly underwear occasion, with a torchlight procession, a Fire Festival, fireworks, concerts and much insobriety, in a city dark yet strangely light...
-> 1 January
FRANCE Paris Grand Parade - massive and colourful. Paris Travel | Paris Photos
-> 21 Jan- 1 Feb
SWEDEN Kiruna Snow Festival - It's all white in the snowy north as reindeers race, dog sleds drift and artists sculpt ice into fantasy forms.
February Europe Festivals - 2009
8, 15, 22, 24 Feb and 1 March
-> ITALY Viareggio Carnival - Italy's maddest event with parades sporting huge puppets among the kaleidoscope folk, revelry of all sorts and fireworks...BUT mainly on successive Sundays.
13 Feb - 1 March '09
-> FRANCE Nice Carnival, the Cote d'Azur - a brilliant event on the lovely promenade of a terrific city, but not every day and parades are basically the same so one is probably enough.
14 - 24 February
-> ITALY Venice Carnival - colourful, fascinating, funny and a superbly costumed environment. For the full flavour, rent a costume and go to a ball.
15- 25 February
-> SPAIN Sitges Carnival near Barcelona - the wildest, gayest party of the year in Spain.
19-25 February
-> GERMANY Cologne Carnival - Germany's answer to Mardi Gras, a huge event marking the beginning of Lent, local festivities and a monster Rose Monday.
21- 25 February
-> GERMANY Dusseldorf Carnival - another massive and outrageously kaleidoscopic occasion, Sunday is probably the best wacky dress parade.
21-24 February
-> ITALY Ivrea Carnival, Piedmont district of Turin - another colourful carnival, but with a different ending as the whole town partakes in a monstrous orange fight. Wear a tall, red hat if you don't wish to participate.
22-24 Feb
-> BELGIUM Binche Carnival - one of the country's wildest parties, a UNESCO Heritage event, half an hour south of Brussels. Sunday and Tuesday are best.
4 April
-> ITALY, Florence Scoppio del Carro - festively exploding a cart in Piazza del Duomo on Easter Sunday, set off by a mechanical dove driven from the Altar during High Mass.
5 - 12 April
-> SPAIN, Seville and Granada, Holy Week - hundreds of parades, torchlit processions and singing over the Easter weekend.
18 April
-> GREECE, Chios Island, Vrontados, Church Rocket Fight - two churches will fire around 60,000 rockets at each other between 8pm on the 18th to midday 19th.
28 April - 3 May
-> SPAIN La Feria de Abril [April Fair] in Seville - Seville's best party with traditional dress, parades, dancing and wild parties in a gorgeous environment.
30 April
-> NETHERLANDS, Amsterdam Orange Festival [Queens Day], for lovers of the colour orange, beer and dope, this is a massive street and canal-boat dance party, starting the night before.
30 April - 1 May
-> FINLAND, Helsinki Vappu - a lively May Day celebration, particularly for students of alcoholic excess.
Europe Festivals - May 2009
Europe Festivals in June 2009
6 -26 June
-> FRANCE, Festival de Musique de Strasbourg, an international contemporary music festival.
10 May - 27 July
-> RUSSIA, St Petersburg, Stars of the White Nights arts festival's best month in gorgeous, romantic and endlessly light St Pete. Primarily opera and ballet.
June - July (date to be enquired)
-> GREECE Athens Festival - drama, dance and music in the 2,000 year old outdoor Odeion theatre at the base of Acropolis Hill.
16 - 20 June
-> ENGLAND, Ascot, Berkshire Royal Ascot Horse Racing - The poshest of posh UK events, with mad hats de rigeur for ladies and tails for gents.
19 June - 12 July
-> SWITZERLAND, Zurich Festival - international artists perform drama, music, opera.
21 June
-> ENGLAND, Wiltshire Stonehenge Summer Solstice - midsummer night ritual with all sorts of druids, hippies and new age wackos. Fascinating, especially if the weather is OK
21 June
-> FRANCE, Paris Fete de la Musique - free! A monster musical celebration all over this lovely city. Professionals mix with amateurs playing different sounds in different locations.
21- 22, 27 June
-> GERMANY Lesbian and Gay Street Festival and Christopher Street Day in Berlin - the monster Gay Pride parade and street party.
22 June - 5 July
-> ENGLAND, London Wimbledon Tennis Championships - the most prestigious tennis event in the world.
24 June
-> ITALY, Florence Festival of Saint John - parades, dances and more.
24 - 28 June
-> ENGLAND Glastonbury Festival, Somerset - a massive, multiple music event, with different stages featuring different music, but heavy on soft/hard rock variations. The closest to Woodstock most of us will ever get.
26 June - 12 July
-> SPAIN, Granada International Festival of Dance and Music - a superb event in varied, amazing locations such as the Alhambra.
24 - 27 June
-> ITALY, Florence Calcio Storico - crazed and brutal but traditional 15thC costumed football matches with 4 teams, 27 players each side and no effective referee.
June - August
-> SPAIN, Barcelona The Grec Summer Festival- theatre, dance and music.
European Festivals - July 2009 List
30 June - 7 July (date to be enquired)
-> TURKEY Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival in Edirne - 1,000 oily fat boys get a good slapping.
3 July - 1 August
-> FINLAND Savonlinna Opera Festival - a grand classical celebration in the Finnish lake district, set in magnificent 15thC St Olaf's Castle.
4 - 26 July
-> FRANCE, Avignon, Festival d'Avignon, a dynamic and diverse Arts festival, boasting over 50 official productions and many more fringes in a stunning historic city.
3 July -1 August
-> FRANCE, Aix-en-Provence, International Festival of Lyric Art [Le Festival d’Aix-en-Provence], a popular summer arts festival, especially for classical music.
mid July(Date to be enquired)
-> GERMANY, Love Parade - no longer in Berlin, but in the city of Bochum for 2009, Duisberg for 2010 and Gelsenkirchen for 2011. The wackiest of local festivals, a weekend of ecstatic body-baring by 1.5 million techno- ravers. Google translation from German: The Love parade lives. Diagonally, schrill and color-gladly...Sounds about right to me.
All July - early August
-> SPAIN, Barcelona Summer Festival - theatre, dance and music.
July 2
-> ITALY, Siena Il Palio - a costumed pageant begins a brief but totally insane bareback horse race around the city's main square. Also August 16.
Saturdays July, Aug, Sept; in different Rhine locations. (Date to be enquired)
-> GERMANY Rhine in Flames down the Rhine river from Linz to Bonn on summer nights - a massive and amazing co-ordinated fireworks display from boats, stately buildings and the surrounding countryside.
6 - 14 July
-> SPAIN, Pamplona, Los Sanfermines [Bull Running] - don't be bored, be gored! Six bulls are released into the streets every morning of this seven day Basque rite-of-manhood party. You too can battle the big horns.
3 - 18 July
-> SWITZERLAND Montreux International Jazz Festival - all sorts of non-classical music featured, in spite of the name, in an appealing location on the shore of Lake Geneva.
4 - 12 July
-> DENMARK, Copenhagen Copenhagen Jazz Festival
9 July - 9 August
-> AUSTRIA, Vienna ImPulsTanz - a dynamic and diverse dance festival across the whole of lovely Vienna.
10 - 12 July (date may change)
-> NETHERLANDS [HOLLAND], Rotterdam North Sea Jazz Festival - perhaps the biggest jazz gathering in the world with over 20,000 visitors a day. Lots of big name acts.
13 - 26 July
-> IRELAND, Galway Galway Arts Festival - Ireland's biggest arts jamboree, with all kinds of entertainment, street, theatre, music, kid's, exhibitions, concerts.
4 - 26 July
-> FRANCE, Tour de France - a three-week cycling race for 3,500km [2000 miles] over the country [the route changes annually]. The world's most famous French sporting event.
13 - 14 July
-> FRANCE, Paris Bastille Day - parties, parades, fireworks, picnics.
17 - 19 July
-> ITALY, Venice Festa del Redentore - the Festival of the Redeemer celebrating the end of the plague involves hundreds of beautifully decorated and illuminated boats full of beautifully decorated Venetians that gather around sunset, have dinner on board or beside the Giudecca canal, then watch one of Europe's best fireworks displays at 11.30pm on Saturday night.
25 July - 28 August
-> GERMANY Wagner Festival at Bayreuth - very expensive and elitist, held in the unusual theatre that Wagner built.
24 - 26 July
-> ENGLAND, Charlton Park, Wiltshire WOMAD - [World of Music Arts and Dance] impressive world music festival, with 70 artists from 30 countries on 7 stages. Family friendly.
25 July - 30 August
-> AUSTRIA Salzburg Festival - opera and concerts. 'Europe's most prestigious summer musical event.' Very large, very expensive. Every year in Mozart's pretty home town.
last weekend of July
-> ROMANIA Sighisoara Medieval Festival - a large and colourful event full of drama in a beautiful ancient town in Transylvania.
29 July (Date may change)
-> SPAIN Fiesta of Near Death Experience in As Neves, Galicia - lucky survivors get carried in their coffins in a procession.
30 July - 2 Aug
-> ENGLAND, Cambridge Cambridge Folk Festival - the real deal for the folks who like the music. 'A festival with a prestigious reputation for quality music in intimate surroundings.'
Europe Festivals - August 2009
31 July - 2 August
-> IRELAND, Waterford Waterford Spraoi Street Festival - 3 days of free music, street theatre, parade and fireworks in the biggest street party.
7 - 16 August
-> IRELAND, Kilkenny Kilkenny Arts Festival - music, theatre, dance, exhibitions set in superb surroundings.
10 - 12 August
-> IRELAND Puck Fair in Killorglin, County Kerry. A large and loony street fair with plenty of singing, dancing and horse shows, and all overseen by King Puck - a goat.
14 August -6 Sept (International)
7 - 31 August (Domestic fringe)
-> SCOTLAND Edinburgh International Festival, and Fringe Festival - over a thousand shows of all kinds, ranging from opera to stand-up comedy, from near porn to mere corn. A monster art attack in a great city. Not to be missed.
August 16
-> ITALY, Siena Il Palio - a costumed pageant begins a brief but totally insane bareback horse race around the city's main square. Also July 2nd.
15-23 August (date to be enquired)
-> SPAIN, Malaga Feria de Malaga - the biggest party in town with fancy dress, exotic food and dance, and fireworks.
21 - 26 August
-> IRELAND, Tralee Rose of Tralee International Festival - a massive party celebrating romance!
14 - 30 August
-> FINLAND, Helsinki Helsinki Festival - an arts festival including concerts, performance arts, parties and children's events.
15 - 23 Aug
-> SPAIN, Bilbao Aste Nagusia [Big Week festival] - a big basque celebration including free concerts, fireworks nightly and strong man contests.
21 - 23 August
-> IRELAND Fleadh Ceoil - a huge celebration of Irish music, dance and arts, with over 10,000 musicians roaming and playing all over the place. Hosted by a different town every year; 2005 in Tullamore in County Offaly.
22 - 23 Aug
-> ENGLAND, Bognor Birdman in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, though 2008 and 2009 in town of Worthing - wildly costumed nutters jump-fly off Bognor pier attempting to win a big distance prize, or just 15 seconds of celebrity.
23 - 24 August
-> ENGLAND, London Notting Hill Carnival - fiesta with music, dance, and parade by London's Caribbean community; sponsored by London Pickpocket Support Group.
26 August
-> SPAIN La Tomatina at Buñol town in Valencia - a huge and incredibly messy public fight with 25 tons of tomatoes, one day. Big kids should get down to Bunol and let rip.
Europe September Festivals 2009
5 September
-> SCOTLAND, the Braemar Gathering - traditionally odd Scottish sporting events and massed pipers in a scenic setting.
19 Sept- 4 October
-> GERMANY, Munich Oktoberfest mainly about downing vast quantities of beer and bratwurst, then behaving badly with your neighbours.
24 - 27 September
-> IRELAND, Galway International Oyster Festival - with fun events of all sorts.
Europe Festivals in October 2009
mid October (date to be enquired)
-> HUNGARY Budapest Autumn Music Festival - all sorts of arts, music, drama, dance, exhibitions, poetry and kid's stuff.
15 October - 1 Nov
-> IRELAND, Wexford Wexford Opera Festival - a small but perfectly formed and positively regarded event in a brand new Opera House on a new date.
30 -31 October
-> FRANCE, Paris, Salon du Chocolat - every aspect of the brown wonder-drug is explored at this lengthy celebration in Paris' Port de Versailles.
European Festival in November 2009
Europe Festivals in December 2009
Whole December
-> DENMARK, Copenhagen Tivoli Gardens - special events for Christmas celebrations.
10-23 December (date may change)
-> FINLAND, Helsinki St Thomas Christmas Market - including the Lucia parade on the 13th, crafts, special foods etc...mainly at Esplanade Park.
29 Dec - 1 Jan
-> SCOTLAND Edinburgh Hogmanay - a truly wild and wooly underwear occasion, with a torchlight procession, a Fire Festival, fireworks, concerts and much insobriety, in a city dark yet strangely light.
31 December
-> AUSTRIA, Vienna Kaiserball - waltzing into Vienna's glamorous ball season is this, the ultimate in posh dances, set in the Hofburg Palace.
31 December
-> ENGLAND, London New Year's Eve Fireworks and general carousing.
posted under - Europe Festivals and events, festivals in europe, european festivals list, major europe festivals, festivals of europe, major world festivals, tour of europe
January Events in Europe for 2009
-> 29 Dec - 1 January
SCOTLAND Edinburgh Hogmanay - a truly wild and wooly underwear occasion, with a torchlight procession, a Fire Festival, fireworks, concerts and much insobriety, in a city dark yet strangely light...
-> 1 January
FRANCE Paris Grand Parade - massive and colourful. Paris Travel | Paris Photos
-> 21 Jan- 1 Feb
SWEDEN Kiruna Snow Festival - It's all white in the snowy north as reindeers race, dog sleds drift and artists sculpt ice into fantasy forms.
February Europe Festivals - 2009
8, 15, 22, 24 Feb and 1 March
-> ITALY Viareggio Carnival - Italy's maddest event with parades sporting huge puppets among the kaleidoscope folk, revelry of all sorts and fireworks...BUT mainly on successive Sundays.
13 Feb - 1 March '09
-> FRANCE Nice Carnival, the Cote d'Azur - a brilliant event on the lovely promenade of a terrific city, but not every day and parades are basically the same so one is probably enough.
14 - 24 February
-> ITALY Venice Carnival - colourful, fascinating, funny and a superbly costumed environment. For the full flavour, rent a costume and go to a ball.
15- 25 February
-> SPAIN Sitges Carnival near Barcelona - the wildest, gayest party of the year in Spain.
19-25 February
-> GERMANY Cologne Carnival - Germany's answer to Mardi Gras, a huge event marking the beginning of Lent, local festivities and a monster Rose Monday.
21- 25 February
-> GERMANY Dusseldorf Carnival - another massive and outrageously kaleidoscopic occasion, Sunday is probably the best wacky dress parade.
21-24 February
-> ITALY Ivrea Carnival, Piedmont district of Turin - another colourful carnival, but with a different ending as the whole town partakes in a monstrous orange fight. Wear a tall, red hat if you don't wish to participate.
22-24 Feb
-> BELGIUM Binche Carnival - one of the country's wildest parties, a UNESCO Heritage event, half an hour south of Brussels. Sunday and Tuesday are best.
Europe Festivals - April 2009
4 April
-> ITALY, Florence Scoppio del Carro - festively exploding a cart in Piazza del Duomo on Easter Sunday, set off by a mechanical dove driven from the Altar during High Mass.
5 - 12 April
-> SPAIN, Seville and Granada, Holy Week - hundreds of parades, torchlit processions and singing over the Easter weekend.
18 April
-> GREECE, Chios Island, Vrontados, Church Rocket Fight - two churches will fire around 60,000 rockets at each other between 8pm on the 18th to midday 19th.
28 April - 3 May
-> SPAIN La Feria de Abril [April Fair] in Seville - Seville's best party with traditional dress, parades, dancing and wild parties in a gorgeous environment.
30 April
-> NETHERLANDS, Amsterdam Orange Festival [Queens Day], for lovers of the colour orange, beer and dope, this is a massive street and canal-boat dance party, starting the night before.
30 April - 1 May
-> FINLAND, Helsinki Vappu - a lively May Day celebration, particularly for students of alcoholic excess.
Europe Festivals - May 2009
28 April - 4 May
-> ENGLAND, Gloucestershire, Cheltenham International Jazz Festival - the UK's top jazz fest in a lovely location.
1 May - 30 June
-> AUSTRIA Vienna Festival - this 5 week event offers a wide range of arts, especially music, naturally, but also dance and theatre, sometimes challenging pieces, all set in magnificent buildings.
May (date to be enquired)
-> BELGIUM, Mons, Battle of Lumecon and the Procession of the Golden Chariot - Saint George fights the dragon and everybody pushes a vast and holy chariot around town.
10 May - 27 July
-> RUSSIA, St Petersburg, the White Nights arts festival in gorgeous, romantic and endlessly light St Pete. Primarily opera and ballet.
12 May - 3 June
-> CZECH REPUBLIC Prague Spring International Music Festival - one of Europe's best musical events, a must-see.
13 - 24 May
-> FRANCE Cannes International Film Festival - the world's most glamorous film festival, every year.
15 May - 19 Oct
-> FRANCE Chaumont Garden Festival - 30 wonderful and sometimes wacky show gardens around a perfect chateau [castle], every year.
17 May
-> NORWAY, Oslo Constitution Day - celebrates independence from Denmark, with folk music, parades, entertainment and people in traditional costumes.
19 - 27 May
-> ENGLAND, London Chelsea Flower Show - 11 acres of the UK's [and arguably Europe's] best flowers and gardens event, with plenty of original, even wacky ideas.
21 May - 7 June
-> ENGLAND, Somerset Bath International Music Festival - classical and other musical styles in this, the most classical of all UK cities.
31 May
-> ENGLAND Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling in Brockworth, near Gloucester - dozens of borderline bonkers men fling themselves down a precipitous hill attempting to catch huge rounds of cheese. It's illegal and bones get broken, so a remarkable sight in this nanny state of England.
-> ENGLAND, Gloucestershire, Cheltenham International Jazz Festival - the UK's top jazz fest in a lovely location.
1 May - 30 June
-> AUSTRIA Vienna Festival - this 5 week event offers a wide range of arts, especially music, naturally, but also dance and theatre, sometimes challenging pieces, all set in magnificent buildings.
May (date to be enquired)
-> BELGIUM, Mons, Battle of Lumecon and the Procession of the Golden Chariot - Saint George fights the dragon and everybody pushes a vast and holy chariot around town.
10 May - 27 July
-> RUSSIA, St Petersburg, the White Nights arts festival in gorgeous, romantic and endlessly light St Pete. Primarily opera and ballet.
12 May - 3 June
-> CZECH REPUBLIC Prague Spring International Music Festival - one of Europe's best musical events, a must-see.
13 - 24 May
-> FRANCE Cannes International Film Festival - the world's most glamorous film festival, every year.
15 May - 19 Oct
-> FRANCE Chaumont Garden Festival - 30 wonderful and sometimes wacky show gardens around a perfect chateau [castle], every year.
17 May
-> NORWAY, Oslo Constitution Day - celebrates independence from Denmark, with folk music, parades, entertainment and people in traditional costumes.
19 - 27 May
-> ENGLAND, London Chelsea Flower Show - 11 acres of the UK's [and arguably Europe's] best flowers and gardens event, with plenty of original, even wacky ideas.
21 May - 7 June
-> ENGLAND, Somerset Bath International Music Festival - classical and other musical styles in this, the most classical of all UK cities.
31 May
-> ENGLAND Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling in Brockworth, near Gloucester - dozens of borderline bonkers men fling themselves down a precipitous hill attempting to catch huge rounds of cheese. It's illegal and bones get broken, so a remarkable sight in this nanny state of England.
Europe Festivals in June 2009
6 -26 June
-> FRANCE, Festival de Musique de Strasbourg, an international contemporary music festival.
10 May - 27 July
-> RUSSIA, St Petersburg, Stars of the White Nights arts festival's best month in gorgeous, romantic and endlessly light St Pete. Primarily opera and ballet.
June - July (date to be enquired)
-> GREECE Athens Festival - drama, dance and music in the 2,000 year old outdoor Odeion theatre at the base of Acropolis Hill.
16 - 20 June
-> ENGLAND, Ascot, Berkshire Royal Ascot Horse Racing - The poshest of posh UK events, with mad hats de rigeur for ladies and tails for gents.
19 June - 12 July
-> SWITZERLAND, Zurich Festival - international artists perform drama, music, opera.
21 June
-> ENGLAND, Wiltshire Stonehenge Summer Solstice - midsummer night ritual with all sorts of druids, hippies and new age wackos. Fascinating, especially if the weather is OK
21 June
-> FRANCE, Paris Fete de la Musique - free! A monster musical celebration all over this lovely city. Professionals mix with amateurs playing different sounds in different locations.
21- 22, 27 June
-> GERMANY Lesbian and Gay Street Festival and Christopher Street Day in Berlin - the monster Gay Pride parade and street party.
22 June - 5 July
-> ENGLAND, London Wimbledon Tennis Championships - the most prestigious tennis event in the world.
24 June
-> ITALY, Florence Festival of Saint John - parades, dances and more.
24 - 28 June
-> ENGLAND Glastonbury Festival, Somerset - a massive, multiple music event, with different stages featuring different music, but heavy on soft/hard rock variations. The closest to Woodstock most of us will ever get.
26 June - 12 July
-> SPAIN, Granada International Festival of Dance and Music - a superb event in varied, amazing locations such as the Alhambra.
24 - 27 June
-> ITALY, Florence Calcio Storico - crazed and brutal but traditional 15thC costumed football matches with 4 teams, 27 players each side and no effective referee.
June - August
-> SPAIN, Barcelona The Grec Summer Festival- theatre, dance and music.
European Festivals - July 2009 List
30 June - 7 July (date to be enquired)
-> TURKEY Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival in Edirne - 1,000 oily fat boys get a good slapping.
3 July - 1 August
-> FINLAND Savonlinna Opera Festival - a grand classical celebration in the Finnish lake district, set in magnificent 15thC St Olaf's Castle.
4 - 26 July
-> FRANCE, Avignon, Festival d'Avignon, a dynamic and diverse Arts festival, boasting over 50 official productions and many more fringes in a stunning historic city.
3 July -1 August
-> FRANCE, Aix-en-Provence, International Festival of Lyric Art [Le Festival d’Aix-en-Provence], a popular summer arts festival, especially for classical music.
mid July(Date to be enquired)
-> GERMANY, Love Parade - no longer in Berlin, but in the city of Bochum for 2009, Duisberg for 2010 and Gelsenkirchen for 2011. The wackiest of local festivals, a weekend of ecstatic body-baring by 1.5 million techno- ravers. Google translation from German: The Love parade lives. Diagonally, schrill and color-gladly...Sounds about right to me.
All July - early August
-> SPAIN, Barcelona Summer Festival - theatre, dance and music.
July 2
-> ITALY, Siena Il Palio - a costumed pageant begins a brief but totally insane bareback horse race around the city's main square. Also August 16.
Saturdays July, Aug, Sept; in different Rhine locations. (Date to be enquired)
-> GERMANY Rhine in Flames down the Rhine river from Linz to Bonn on summer nights - a massive and amazing co-ordinated fireworks display from boats, stately buildings and the surrounding countryside.
6 - 14 July
-> SPAIN, Pamplona, Los Sanfermines [Bull Running] - don't be bored, be gored! Six bulls are released into the streets every morning of this seven day Basque rite-of-manhood party. You too can battle the big horns.
3 - 18 July
-> SWITZERLAND Montreux International Jazz Festival - all sorts of non-classical music featured, in spite of the name, in an appealing location on the shore of Lake Geneva.
4 - 12 July
-> DENMARK, Copenhagen Copenhagen Jazz Festival
9 July - 9 August
-> AUSTRIA, Vienna ImPulsTanz - a dynamic and diverse dance festival across the whole of lovely Vienna.
10 - 12 July (date may change)
-> NETHERLANDS [HOLLAND], Rotterdam North Sea Jazz Festival - perhaps the biggest jazz gathering in the world with over 20,000 visitors a day. Lots of big name acts.
13 - 26 July
-> IRELAND, Galway Galway Arts Festival - Ireland's biggest arts jamboree, with all kinds of entertainment, street, theatre, music, kid's, exhibitions, concerts.
4 - 26 July
-> FRANCE, Tour de France - a three-week cycling race for 3,500km [2000 miles] over the country [the route changes annually]. The world's most famous French sporting event.
13 - 14 July
-> FRANCE, Paris Bastille Day - parties, parades, fireworks, picnics.
17 - 19 July
-> ITALY, Venice Festa del Redentore - the Festival of the Redeemer celebrating the end of the plague involves hundreds of beautifully decorated and illuminated boats full of beautifully decorated Venetians that gather around sunset, have dinner on board or beside the Giudecca canal, then watch one of Europe's best fireworks displays at 11.30pm on Saturday night.
25 July - 28 August
-> GERMANY Wagner Festival at Bayreuth - very expensive and elitist, held in the unusual theatre that Wagner built.
24 - 26 July
-> ENGLAND, Charlton Park, Wiltshire WOMAD - [World of Music Arts and Dance] impressive world music festival, with 70 artists from 30 countries on 7 stages. Family friendly.
25 July - 30 August
-> AUSTRIA Salzburg Festival - opera and concerts. 'Europe's most prestigious summer musical event.' Very large, very expensive. Every year in Mozart's pretty home town.
last weekend of July
-> ROMANIA Sighisoara Medieval Festival - a large and colourful event full of drama in a beautiful ancient town in Transylvania.
29 July (Date may change)
-> SPAIN Fiesta of Near Death Experience in As Neves, Galicia - lucky survivors get carried in their coffins in a procession.
30 July - 2 Aug
-> ENGLAND, Cambridge Cambridge Folk Festival - the real deal for the folks who like the music. 'A festival with a prestigious reputation for quality music in intimate surroundings.'
Europe Festivals - August 2009
31 July - 2 August
-> IRELAND, Waterford Waterford Spraoi Street Festival - 3 days of free music, street theatre, parade and fireworks in the biggest street party.
7 - 16 August
-> IRELAND, Kilkenny Kilkenny Arts Festival - music, theatre, dance, exhibitions set in superb surroundings.
10 - 12 August
-> IRELAND Puck Fair in Killorglin, County Kerry. A large and loony street fair with plenty of singing, dancing and horse shows, and all overseen by King Puck - a goat.
14 August -6 Sept (International)
7 - 31 August (Domestic fringe)
-> SCOTLAND Edinburgh International Festival, and Fringe Festival - over a thousand shows of all kinds, ranging from opera to stand-up comedy, from near porn to mere corn. A monster art attack in a great city. Not to be missed.
August 16
-> ITALY, Siena Il Palio - a costumed pageant begins a brief but totally insane bareback horse race around the city's main square. Also July 2nd.
15-23 August (date to be enquired)
-> SPAIN, Malaga Feria de Malaga - the biggest party in town with fancy dress, exotic food and dance, and fireworks.
21 - 26 August
-> IRELAND, Tralee Rose of Tralee International Festival - a massive party celebrating romance!
14 - 30 August
-> FINLAND, Helsinki Helsinki Festival - an arts festival including concerts, performance arts, parties and children's events.
15 - 23 Aug
-> SPAIN, Bilbao Aste Nagusia [Big Week festival] - a big basque celebration including free concerts, fireworks nightly and strong man contests.
21 - 23 August
-> IRELAND Fleadh Ceoil - a huge celebration of Irish music, dance and arts, with over 10,000 musicians roaming and playing all over the place. Hosted by a different town every year; 2005 in Tullamore in County Offaly.
22 - 23 Aug
-> ENGLAND, Bognor Birdman in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, though 2008 and 2009 in town of Worthing - wildly costumed nutters jump-fly off Bognor pier attempting to win a big distance prize, or just 15 seconds of celebrity.
23 - 24 August
-> ENGLAND, London Notting Hill Carnival - fiesta with music, dance, and parade by London's Caribbean community; sponsored by London Pickpocket Support Group.
26 August
-> SPAIN La Tomatina at Buñol town in Valencia - a huge and incredibly messy public fight with 25 tons of tomatoes, one day. Big kids should get down to Bunol and let rip.
Europe September Festivals 2009
5 September
-> SCOTLAND, the Braemar Gathering - traditionally odd Scottish sporting events and massed pipers in a scenic setting.
19 Sept- 4 October
-> GERMANY, Munich Oktoberfest mainly about downing vast quantities of beer and bratwurst, then behaving badly with your neighbours.
24 - 27 September
-> IRELAND, Galway International Oyster Festival - with fun events of all sorts.
Europe Festivals in October 2009
mid October (date to be enquired)
-> HUNGARY Budapest Autumn Music Festival - all sorts of arts, music, drama, dance, exhibitions, poetry and kid's stuff.
15 October - 1 Nov
-> IRELAND, Wexford Wexford Opera Festival - a small but perfectly formed and positively regarded event in a brand new Opera House on a new date.
30 -31 October
-> FRANCE, Paris, Salon du Chocolat - every aspect of the brown wonder-drug is explored at this lengthy celebration in Paris' Port de Versailles.
European Festival in November 2009
1 November
-> ENGLAND, Brighton Veteran Car Run - Ancient car lovers will need to find a comfortable viewing location for London to Brighton event for hundreds of pre-1905 vehicles, it starts at dawn and motors will begin to fart across the finish line from about 10 am.
5 November
-> ENGLAND, Devon Ottery St. Mary Tar Barrels - huge flaming barrels are carried around this little rural town.
21 November
-> ITALY, Venice La Salute - a religious festival at the beautiful Basilica Santa Maria della Salute.
Late Nov - 23 Dec
-> GERMANY Christmas Markets. This chilly winter country has a history of wonderfully warm, colourful and fattening Christmas markets set in spectacular locations. Some of the best are: Esslingen famous for medieval costumes and carols, Wurzburg, Berncastel-Kues, Hamelin famous for kids apparels and accessiories Heidelberg Lubeck famous World Heritage Site, Regensburg (filled with romance) Rothenburg (also known as medieval disneyland.
-> ENGLAND, Brighton Veteran Car Run - Ancient car lovers will need to find a comfortable viewing location for London to Brighton event for hundreds of pre-1905 vehicles, it starts at dawn and motors will begin to fart across the finish line from about 10 am.
5 November
-> ENGLAND, Devon Ottery St. Mary Tar Barrels - huge flaming barrels are carried around this little rural town.
21 November
-> ITALY, Venice La Salute - a religious festival at the beautiful Basilica Santa Maria della Salute.
Late Nov - 23 Dec
-> GERMANY Christmas Markets. This chilly winter country has a history of wonderfully warm, colourful and fattening Christmas markets set in spectacular locations. Some of the best are: Esslingen famous for medieval costumes and carols, Wurzburg, Berncastel-Kues, Hamelin famous for kids apparels and accessiories Heidelberg Lubeck famous World Heritage Site, Regensburg (filled with romance) Rothenburg (also known as medieval disneyland.
Europe Festivals in December 2009
Whole December
-> DENMARK, Copenhagen Tivoli Gardens - special events for Christmas celebrations.
10-23 December (date may change)
-> FINLAND, Helsinki St Thomas Christmas Market - including the Lucia parade on the 13th, crafts, special foods etc...mainly at Esplanade Park.
29 Dec - 1 Jan
-> SCOTLAND Edinburgh Hogmanay - a truly wild and wooly underwear occasion, with a torchlight procession, a Fire Festival, fireworks, concerts and much insobriety, in a city dark yet strangely light.
31 December
-> AUSTRIA, Vienna Kaiserball - waltzing into Vienna's glamorous ball season is this, the ultimate in posh dances, set in the Hofburg Palace.
31 December
-> ENGLAND, London New Year's Eve Fireworks and general carousing.
posted under - Europe Festivals and events, festivals in europe, european festivals list, major europe festivals, festivals of europe, major world festivals, tour of europe
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