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If you’ve ever questioned the existence of the man in the big red suit, then you’ve never heard of Santacon, the annual gathering and parade of Santa-lovers from around the world. This event caters to people of all religions, political views, genders, and ages. Where else can you see punk rock Santa, sexy Santa, cowboy Santa and old-school Santa all in the same place?
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The Masters of LXRY event, held each year in Amsterdam, tries to cater to both millionaires and wannabes. While millionaires are obviously the ones making the purchases, everyone has the chance to browse and dabble in the luxurious life. The expo features luxury and sports cars, art, antiques, private jets, yachts, haute couture, jewelry, and much, much more.
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From the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, Berlin is transformed into a land of Christmas bliss. Vendors from around the country sell their crafts and specialty snacks including lebkuchen gingerbread biscuits and seemingly anything you can incorporate marzipan into.
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We’re so used to having American music follow us wherever we travel. We ride taxis in almost every country that blast the likes of Lady Gaga and Beyonce. We go to clubs that play our top 40 from five years ago. Even if you’re in the place, it can be hard to get a glimpse into the music scene of a foreign country. The Eurock Marathon in Berlin is one way to do just that.
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Paris photo was created in 1996 and describes itself as the “most prestigious art fair dedicated to historical and contemporary photography.” This year, it will take place from November 15-18 at the Grand Palais. We can’t think of anything more quintessentially Parisian-chic than a photography festival in a palace in the center of the city.
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If you always thought seeing the ball drop in Times Square was the place to be on New Year’s, think again. Instead of waiting in a sea of people for a minute-long climax, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay lasts for five days and transforms the entire city center into a celebration of the new year with a welcoming committee of 100,000 people.
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We’re almost positive that you’ve heard of the rhyme “Remember remember the 5th of November. Gunpowder, treason and plot.” We’re also betting that you don’t have any clue what it refers to.
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From October 19 to November 4, Belfast Festival at Queen’s, now in its 50th year, continues the tradition started by undergraduate Michael Emmerson in 1962. What began as a humble quest for enterprising and artistic enrichment has since soared to become a place of cultural renaissance and a spectacle for the arts world.
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Amsterdam’s Cannabis Cup is a weed-lover’s paradise. It’s brought to you by High Times, the world’s largest marijuana-related magazine known for its tips on rolling the best joint and growing the best plants, as well as advocating for legalization. Cannabis connoisseurs and producers from around the world gather for the mag’s signature event every November to determine the best new hash.
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Get ready for some seasonal shenanigans at Copenhagen’s Halloween in Tivoli Gardens this October. Whether you’re on the lookout for a leisurely stroll surrounded by fall decor, game to try your hand at a Danish haunted house (surely the spookiest of them all… see: “Hamlet”), or just looking to find the best food in the area, this is THE place for you and your travel cohorts this autumn.
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The BBC Good Food Show is a traveling food festival that makes its way to Glasgow from October 19 to the 21st. Foodies flock here from all over the globe to taste some of Scotland and the U.K.’s most traditional, as well as nouveau, cuisine. After all, who better to trust for the best food festival in the U.K. than the television network that offers favorites like “Celebrity MasterChef” and “Great British Food Revival?”
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Once again Amsterdam is gearing up for the biggest electronic music club festival in the world, welcoming more than 800 artists for 300 events in 75 city venues – all in just five days. Started in 1996 by the Amsterdam Dance Event Foundation, the event attracts over 200,000 visitors every year.
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Leave it to Marco Mueller, the new artistic director of this year’s Rome International Film Festival, to promise 60, yes sixty, world film premieres. One of which is the final installment of a little movie known as “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.” Yes, that “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.”
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In celebration of the city’s annual Long Night of Museums, the majority of Munich’s cultural venues will host special events and, most importantly, remain open until 2:00 a.m. Just think of this after-hours affair as a way to learn about Teutonic culture and counteract whatever you don’t remember from Oktoberfest a few weeks back.
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Nuit Blanche, which translates to “sleepless night,” is an annual arts festival in Paris focusing on the concept of light, for which every rue in the city center transforms into an interactive light display, luminous show, dance floor, or live concert.
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Gourmesse
Posted October 02, 2012
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Starts on
OCT 05
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This October 5-8, Zurich hosts the 18th annual Gourmesse, an extravagant food show bringing together producers, retailers and food artisans of local, niche delicacies. In other words, come and try some tasty, homemade grub.
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Bierfest may seem similar to Oktoberfest, and indeed it was inspired by the authority in the field. Started in 2003 by Deutschland’s own Bitburger Beer Company, the London Bierfest brings you Germany’s finest beer and food served up by fräuleins in traditional Bavarian attire – all in the center of London.
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Most people go to Germany for the sausage and the beer, and that’s fine. But for anyone who has ever loved books – their bindings, the lignin in their pages that makes second-hand bookstores smell like dust and vanilla, the way they fold back into the curve of your hand as you hold them – the Frankfurt Book Fair is the trip of a lifetime.
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Wiener Wiesn is still a baby as far as festivals go. Last year was the premiere bash, but it was so successful that this time around, they’re going even bigger, with three beer marquees (big enough to accommodate up to 2500 beer enthusiasts), live musical entertainment in every tent (all told, a total of 99 concerts), and something called an “authentic Alpine hut,”
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Sure, access to the runway shows is largely restricted to buyers and members of the press, but Fashion Week – held this Sept. 25 to Oct. 3 in the Carrousel du Louvre – has never really been about the shows themselves. It’s about what happens after: the parties, the free drinks, the high concentration of celebrity and glamour.
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Cheese makes everything taste better. This is basic fact. Of course, matters get a bit milkier when it comes down to deciding which type of cheese you want. At the International Alpine Cheese Olympics in Galtür, Austria, you don't have to choose.
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Since 1985, the World DJ Championships have drawn the biggest names in the industry, the brightest stars, and the coolest venue. The history of the event reads like a history of spinning and mixing itself.
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Everyone knows that fashion begins and ends in Milan, whose fashion week this year runs Sept. 19-25. Designers spend all year slaving and stressing and clawing their way onto the catwalk if they have to.
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Far from the somber Catholic holiday the name might suggest, Festes de la Mercè – held throughout the city center – is a no-holds-barred, out-and-out celebration, featuring sporting events, musical performances, fireworks, and, of course, a lot of drinking.
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From September 22 until October 7, Munich is beer’s mecca. You’ll have free, unfettered access to all of Germany’s best brands, provided you get there early and manage to grab a spot.
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Forty-thousand runners will take a journey around Berlin, beginning at the Brandenburg Gate and looping around some of the city’s most famous sites.
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Far from just another conglomeration of alcohol lovers and the breweries that please them, Berlin’s Cöpenicker Whisky Festival is about more than just tossing back liquor and rocking out to music. But don’t worry – both of those things are guaranteed.
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If you think there are better ways to explore Swiss nightlife, wait until you hear what this annual celebration has in store.
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Vogue’s Fashion’s Night Out is the one time every year where –in multiple cities across the globe – celebrities and big-name designers come out to play. FNO has everything: free drinks, free music, and huge sales.
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If you’re in London during the Opening of Parliament, you’d be remiss not to grab the chance to roam the halls that the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, and Guy Fawkes have passed through.
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Hi-Top sneakers of the world, rejoice! Your presence is practically a requirement at Outlook Festival 2012 and will most certainly be adorning the dance-weary feet of all bass and soundsystem music fans within a 10-mile radius.
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If you’re looking for something a little higher octane, look no further than Venice’s Historical Regatta. Held on the first Sunday in September, those famous gondolas will transform from romantic water carriages to racing vessels that will lead two competitors to the ultimate bragging rights.
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Let us say first that World Fleadh isn’t exactly a musical festival, though there is definitely music. It’s also not exactly a beer festival, though there is plenty of beer. It might be more accurate to call World Fleadh 2011 the most epic pub crawl in the history of pub crawls.
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The Notting Hill Carnival started in 1964 when steel band musicians paraded through the streets, bringing out Afro-Caribbean residents to celebrate the cultures they had left behind at a time when immigration to the United Kingdom was surging. It is now one of Europe’s largest, best-attended and most vibrant carnivals.
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This is Andy Warhol’s factory on a larger scale. Expect the unexpected as the Finns strip off their winter coats and celebrate culture in Scandinavia’s fleeting summer season.
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This summer, a hearty portion of Earth’s population has been hungrily eating up anything and everything Olympics 2012. But chew on this: London has something even more delicious to feast on this summer … the London Foodies Festival.
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An old saying goes, “To ride a horse is to ride the sky.” After visiting the Dublin Horse Show you will understand what this means.
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A picnic of epic proportions set on 600 acres of forested land, this gathering brings together everyone from the neighborhood. Come this August 31 through September 2, you can find the festival usuals singing Irish drinking songs mingling with the intellectuals, with the wise-cracking blokes, and even with the kids – status quo be damned. From debates and lectures to comedy stages and a children’s festival, this weekend yields quite the spread.
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The world's largest food fight takes place in this little city outside of Valencia, Spain, on the last Wednesday of every August.
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Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire (about a one-hour train ride from London), will host Rewind, a three-day-long tribute to the very best of the 80’s, starting with some of the decade’s best music. The line-up includes the likes of the Bangles, Sinitta, Lightning Seeds, T’Pau, and, yes, Mr. Grandmaster Flash himself.
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At Flow Festival sweet notes from sound stages float into the warm air of a Scandinavian summer filled with the aroma of fresh food. Here, the atmosphere is capable of instantly relaxing yet invigorating you, permitting escape to a nirvana in the most unlikely of places.
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Cannes, France: home of white beaches, the world's most renowned film festival, and seafood that would make a vegetarian's mouth water. But there’s more to this city than wine and oysters. Every year since 1967, for example, the world's most elite firework firms come to compete in the Cannes Firework Festival, in which six companies light up the night sky over Carlton Beach in July and August.
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Paris may be home to Chanel, and Milan may be able to claim Versace and Armani. But if you’re looking for an education in fashion this August, look no further than Copenhagen.
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One glace at the line-up verifies that the 27-year-old Pukkelpop lives up to its reputation as a trendsetter in underground and progressive alternative music. This year, during its three-day run from August 16 through 18 on EIGHT stages, you’ll find acts like the Black Keys, Foo Fighters, the Shins, Feist, and The Tallest Man on Earth.
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Anyone looking for a truly unforgettable way to spend one of the summer’s final weekends should look no further than Lowlands, the annual Dutch music festival held in Biddinghuizen. The weekend will provide the best elements of summer – camping, great music, and nonstop adventure – all rolled into three electrifying days.
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More than just a VIP list of celebrity artists and dehydration, the so-called mouthpiece for solution-based ideas for change celebrates an entire culture of “evolutionary ideas that continue to infinitely spiral deeper into the dimensions of anthropology, spirituality, science, environment, activism, symbolism and ancient futurism.”
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Raise your hand if you like beer. Congratulations! Everyone with their hands raised just scored an invite to the party that makes Oktoberfest look like a church gathering.
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The Shoreditch Festival, in its 11th year, will take place July 14-22 in locations across Shoreditch and Regent’s Canal (just north of the city center). The event promises to provide the backdrop for some of the best summer memories you can make without a beach.
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Originating from the desperation of artists and their fans to revive the city’s festival scene after government funding ended with the fall of communism, Sziget Music Festival acts not only as a bridge between life before and after communism, but also between all types of music, art, and people.
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A tattoo is a series of military exercises, but only insofar as it’s history – there’s certainly nothing violent about it. In fact, it might be better to think of the Tattoo as a kind of cultural talent show. More than 40 countries have participated and been represented in the event’s sixty-year history through music, dance, and, of course, various military marches.
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Forty-five years ago, the Beatles told the world that “all you need is love.” For the thousands of people headed to Hyde Park for Hard Rock Calling, the annual music festival held July 13-15, a good bit of music won’t hurt either.
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Amsterdam Fashion Week (July 11-15) welcomes all the self-proclaimed fashionistas of the world to the action. Fashion Week DOWNTOWN, the ‘off-schedule’ of Amsterdam Fashion Week (July 6-15) is the world’s first fashion week program open to the public.
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For one day only, the world’s top runners, jumpers, and discus throwers congregate on the French Riviera to show off before the Olympics.
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LIFT, the London International Festival of Theatre, showcases the city’s long tradition of world-class theatre in ways thoroughly modern.
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Since 1948, Nice, France, has been opening the barroom doors and letting the music into the open air, showcasing historic giants such as Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and Louis Armstrong.
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Sponsored by Portugal’s most popular brew, Super Bock, this festival has been gaining its own popularity among concertgoers, becoming one of the biggest festivals in Portugal. And its momentum is only getting stronger. This year’s lineup is featuring some big names that are sure to make you a slave to the groove.
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A four-day music festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, Exit was established in 2000 by a few university students who used it as their soapbox to protest the Milosevic regime. Twelve years later, the festival remains a dynamic venue for individuals to “dial” into the social issues throughout the region that need to be “cleaned up.”
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The Garden Festival and Electric Elephant Festival are separate multi-day events located along the beautiful coast of Tisno, Croatia. Unlike the huge, blockbuster festivals you can catch everywhere else, these play off of their breathtaking location and work in a much more intimate environment.
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A three-day music festival taking place in the lush landscape of Balado, Scotland, T in the Park began in 1994 as the brainchild of concert promoters and the people that many Scots consider to be the best and brightest in Scotland – the brewers of Tennent’s Lager.
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Nowhere does Italy’s passion for equine honor run deeper than at Il Palio di Siena, the legendary horse race run only twice a year – July 2 and August 16 – in Tuscany’s most storied medieval metropolis, Siena.
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Although it’s still in its kindergarten years, Optimus Alive! is schooling the festival world in a few ways about how a festival should be run. In fact, Alive! has been considered by the UK magazine New Musical Express to be one of the top festivals in Europe despite its age.
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Every summer in Denmark, a new city of more than 100,000 people is constructed from the ground up, and this year it will only last for nine days. How is this possible? Read on to find out.
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The INmusic Festival is a three-day music festival in Croatia – held literally in the middle of the capital city’s Jarun Lake – that has always been kept fairly under wraps despite bringing in big-name artists.
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A four-day festival of Gnaoua music, the event is dedicated to sub-Saharan African, Berber, and Sufi religious songs.
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El Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (FIB): a paradise of music and soothing ocean waters found in the midst of the scorching Spanish summer.
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If you were to take a walk through Hyde Park in London during the Barclaycard Wireless Festival, you might think you’ve stumbled upon the musical equivalent of Narnia.
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Hove Festival: the Norwegian music festival that has found a way to create infinitely renewable energy and give fans from all over the globe a chance to rock / camp out in the name of the environment.
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Call a plastic surgeon and schedule an appointment. You’re going to need facial reconstruction after the face-melting metal of Austria's Nova Rock music festival.
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Ever wonder what it looks like inside those mysterious buildings that belong to multibillion-dollar corporations? What art treasures lay beyond those ornate entranceways and behind that reflective glass? Art and architecture lovers, you may rejoice. Kunst Privat is the realization of your wildest dreams.
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Whether it’s Shakespeare filling seats at the Globe for four centuries plus or the spectacle of last year’s Royal Wedding commanding a global audience in the hundred-million range, the Brits certainly know how to entertain a crowd. But they’ve saved the best for this summer. We’re talking about the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival.
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Imagine Barcelona, deadmau5, and 80,000 pulsating fans. Now add in a hundred more supercharged DJs spinning three days straight of house, dubstep and that-next-big-electronic-sound you haven’t even heard yet… and you’ll start to get an idea of what Sónar is all about.
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Derby Day at Epsom Downs is celebrated much like the ones held on the other side of the pond (big hats and all) and is seen by many as the greatest flat race in the world. The mile-and-a-half contest dates back to 1779, when the Earl of Derby organized the race for himself and a couple of other betting men to race their thoroughbreds.
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Batten down the hatches! There’s a musical storm brewing in the backwoods of Germany. It’s the Hurricane Music Festival - a three-day music festival began in 1973 but was shut down after a few Vancouver-esque riots broke out in ’77 and the fans did some damage - and it’s back with a vengeance.
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The Worldwide Festival: a weeklong festival of jazz, electronic and world music on the beaches and streets of Southern France. In short, the synthesis of everything perfect about summer.
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The Isle of Wight Festival: A three-day music festival with some not-so-humble beginnings that’s surging back onto the music festival scene after a much-begrudged involuntary hiatus.
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Ibiza Rocks is a summer-long music series held every Wednesday in the courtyard of the Ibiza Rocks Hotel, featuring the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs, Azealia Banks, Tinie Tempah, Bloc Party and many, many more.
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This music festival duo plays host to more than 70 bands and 150,000 screaming fans in southern and western Germany. Catering to the German love of metal, the lineups consist primarily of face-melting riffs and breakdowns that have the potential to send you into cardiac arrest.
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Average speeds of 100 miles per hour. Top speeds of 180 miles per hour. No seatbelts. This is the Monster Energy Grand Prix of France at the Le Mans Circuit.
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Pinkpop
Posted May 02, 2012
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Starts on
MAY 26
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Pinkpop is the candy land of rock music festivals. For three days, more than 60,000 people gather to enjoy solid acoustics and strumming bass. The Cure, Mumford & Sons, and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are just some of the scheduled headliners that will surely jam the festival into submission.
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Ever attend a contemporary music festival at a world heritage site? Now’s your chance. On Saturday, May 25, don’t miss the Grand Finale of the 5th Ibiza International Music Summit (IMS), held at one of the island’s greatest venues.
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Got a snazzy new bedazzled bra that you’re just dying to show off? Silly question -- we all have one of those. Well, good news: you can join thousands of other women AND men on May 12 for The MoonWalk in London.
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San Miguel Primavera Sound began in 2001 as a small festival of 19 relatively underground artists from the electronic and ambient music scene. This year, Primavera Sound looks to feature more than 170 artists, some widely known and some unheard of, thus guaranteeing that virtually every listener’s musical tastebuds will be tickled.
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With origins dating back to the Stone Age, the olive has persisted as a universal symbol of peace and victory. Athenian women wore olive wreaths to wed, while Olympic victors were awarded olives as their prize. As such, this quaint town in Spain honors the profound resource with the annual Olive Festival.
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An initial pilgrimage to San Isidro’s meadow is just one of many beautiful oddities that typifies this lively festival. Here, families gather for picnics, concerts and art exhibits -- usually free of charge -- and embrace the ever-embedded culture of Madrid.
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You’ve all probably heard that no one does beer like the Czechs, but here’s the BEST opportunity yet to see the proof. It’s called the “largest gastronomical event of the year” for a reason. From May 17 to June 2, you’re able to indulge in more than 70 selections of beer from breweries all over the Czech Republic.
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Get ready for the world’s most talked-about event to ever enter the world of movie magic. From May 16 to 27, the ritzy, seaside city of Cannes will host this prestigious, invitation-only event – for the 65th year.
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Readers, start your engines. Welcome to the Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmélo, Spain. If you’re not familiar with Formula 1 racing, buckle up. You’re in for a wild ride.
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Welcome to the Belfast Festival of Fools, which from May 3 to 7 seeks to “use humor and laughter to break down barriers.” The festival features performers that aim to amuse, shock, and educate attendees.
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The bonfire is roaring, songs are being sung, and spooky superstitions are chilling the night air. No, this isn’t seventh grade summer camp – this is Walpurgis Night (a.k.a. Walpurgisnacht), a festival in Northern Europe and Scandinavia celebrating the coming of spring.
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To be April 23, or not to be? That is the question. While the actual date of William Shakespeare’s birth is uncertain, one thing is for sure: You can celebrate the Bard’s 448th birthday all weekend long at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.
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If you have any sort of emotional attachment to Frosty the Snowman, you might want to stay away. If winter is your favorite season, get lost. If you stumble upon the Sechseläuten festival without fair warning, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise.
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At the ripe old age of 135 years, Wimbledon is indisputably the world’s most renowned and prestigious tennis tournament. And why wouldn’t it be? It hosts top players from around the world, more or less requires its spectators to indulge in dainty (and delicious) strawberries and cream, and it boasts royal patronage.
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Imagine a birthday party with one million guests. Now quit imagining, and head over to Europe’s favorite party town (a.k.a. Amsterdam) for the real thing. Queen’s Day is a national holiday and long-held tradition honoring the Queen of the Netherlands.
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Kicking off two weeks after Easter, Feria de Abril is a weeklong event starting on April 24. What began as a cattle trading fair in 1847 is now an event that brings together more than one million people a year to dance, eat, dress up, and of course, drink.
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From April 19-22, the 7th Annual Rokolectiv festival will be taking place in Bucharest’s Museum of Contemporary Art, with not only concerts, but live performances, installations and film screenings that delve into the world of the electric.
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The Chef’s Star Cup is a competition for chefs that is … not entirely culinary. On April 16, Europe’s finest food gods will hit the slopes and prove themselves in a different capacity – skiing.
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No matter your religious stripe, Holy Week in the Spanish cities of Seville and Granada in particular is a beautiful set of events that bring people together to celebrate not just the resurrection of Jesus Christ but also the coming of spring.
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Literally translated, the event is known as the Explosion of the Cart, and it does not let down. On Easter Sunday in Florence, two white oxen and 150 soldiers tow a 500-year-old cart the 2 km route from Porta al Prato to the Piazza del Duomo where the festivities occur.
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Pavillon des Arts et du Design (PAD) is one of the largest design fairs worldwide. For one weekend only, March 28 to April 1, Paris hosts some of the most talented French and international art dealers, bringing together skill and creativity from across the globe.
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ANZAC Day
Posted March 22, 2012
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Starts on
APR 25
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This annual, Turkish celebration commemorates the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought in the eight-month-long Gallipoli Campaign of World War I, their first major battle. The event features a dawn remembrance service at Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair – the site of two battles – as well as appearances from diplomats and prestigious army officials.
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Celebrating German culture through music, food and lots and lots of beer, the Hamburger Dom is a sort of bizarre European version of a down-home state fair. It happens three times a year, with the spring edition taking place March 23 to April 22 on the Heiligengeistfeld fairgrounds.
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Imagine spending five whole days nestled within the crisp, snowcapped Alps, embarking on daytime skiing and nocturnal raging. As Dizzee Rascal simply put it, “It’s like Ibiza in the snow.”
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Rolling into Prague on March 22, Febiofest is about as far as you can get from über cheese, sleaze, and unwarranted hype. The film and music festival is all about presenting high-quality alternative artists you might never have heard of yet are bound to deem modern, hip and immensely inspiring.
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Reverze
Posted March 15, 2012
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Starts on
MAR 17
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Belgians will be confronted with such insanity at the 7th Annual Reverze rave. In the bustling city of Antwerp, Reverze is the pinnacle of Hard House music. Like most raves, Reverze operates under the precise notion that a rave should take you to the edge of the unknown.
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Get ready to get served. The Hotel Palacavicchi hosts a three-day fete that shows off some of the world’s best popping, hip-hop and house dance talent all for only 10 euros. There’ll be hundreds of amateur dancers battling it out for the chance to win a delicious slice of the $10,000 cake.
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More than 2,000 comedians have taken the stage at the Glasgow festival over the past ten years, amassing quite the laughing legacy. This year marks the festival’s 10th anniversary, which is predicted to be the biggest AND best so far.
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Gaelic football is a sort of hybrid between rugby and American soccer. Or, for the less-athletically inclined of our readership, it's a bunch of manly men shoving each other and using hands, feet, teeth or whatever is needed to score a goal.
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Take a break from museum and chateau hopping for a weekend to come see what’s new in European music and culture. That’s right, the TILT Festival, held annually in Perpignan, France, brings you the latest AND greatest in électro-techno music.
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The PisArt Expo 2012 in Pisa, Italy, is one of the best new hidden gems in the art world. The show’s only been around for two years, but it’s already had rousing success in the eyes of critics of contemporary art.
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The most EXTREME skiing and snowboarding competition in Europe... need we say more?
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The city of Geneva is like a high-end car – clean, sleek, and unimaginably expensive. So what better city to host a prestigious motor exhibition? The 82nd International Motor Show in Geneva runs this year from March 8 to 18.
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If we’re speaking in strictly stereotypical terms, the general perception of March 17 in Ireland is a whole slew of small red-bearded men dancing around in green with “Riverdance” playing in the background. But in reality, the St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Dublin is a series of cultural events celebrating the people of Ireland in various ways.
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The Budapest Spring Festival, held this year from March 12 to 26, is home to more than 200 music and dance events. This annual festival holds the record for Hungary’s largest cultural event, attracting music and dance lovers from all over the world each spring.
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Dancing in the streets, singing in the pubs, and green as far as the eye can see. Yes, friends, it’s the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in London… that glorious time of year when more than 100,000 people from all over the globe unite under one nationality.
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Commonly regarded as La Festa Més Dolça, or the Sweetest Festival, Sant Medir is a family-friendly event with universal appeal. After all, what other time does that kid inside all of us get an entire festival devoted to their sweet tooth?
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Portugal's second-largest city will host the nation’s largest film festival: a weeklong multi-genre showcase of feature, amateur and experimental films from all over the world known as Fantasporto.
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Look up the artists featured in UKF Bass Culture’s Spring 2012 lineup, and it’s bound to happen: Soon, you too will be imagining yourself dressed in all black running down a dark alley in some horrific netherworld. Such is the culture of dubstep.
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ZagrebDox
Posted February 15, 2012
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Starts on
FEB 27
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Over 150 films, 30 countries and 20,000 viewers – this is the biggest event of its kind in Eastern Europe. This is ZagrebDox.
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Starvation. Panic. A severe shortage of parades. This was the kind of world Verona lived in before 1531. Lucky for us, ever since the city has held a rager every year on the last Friday before Lent.
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Year after year, Icelanders trek through arctic conditions to get to what really matters in life – friends, fun and nonstop boozing – all in the name of Bjórdagur, or National Beer Day.
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Known to locals as “the fifth season,” the Munich Strong Beer Festival might be the city’s best-kept secret from the rest of the world. Held in the same beer tents and halls as the infamous Oktoberfest, this spring festival has crowds half as large… and beer twice as strong as its fall rival.
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In an era when iPhones and Wi-Fi hotspots prevail, it’s easy to lose sight of age-old tradition. One particular event – Las Fallas de Valencia – is a festival that defies such modern tendency. Instead, Las Fallas pays tribute to St. Joseph, the patron saint of the carpenters’ guild, by orchestrating massive bonfires of satirical effigies (fallas) that speak of a medieval time.
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What if there was a day dedicated to eating as much greasy food as possible? A day when no one cared about counting calories or hitting up the gym – a day when the more fried doughnuts you eat, the better. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Well, good news, fried-food lovers: Not only is such a day possible, it’s actually a holiday throughout several European countries.
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Le Touquet-Paris-Plage is a seaside town that draws in France’s most decadent breed – you know, the one that turns their noses up at “Americains, les sauvages,” while petting their white poodles and being fanned by the palm branches of the gods.
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Dionysia Wine Festival in Athens, Greece... an exhibition of over one thousand red, white and dessert wines from more than 120 wineries.
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278 Beers. 67 Breweries. One weekend in Beer Lovers’ Paradise.
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The Six Nations Championship: a five-week-long showcase of Europe’s top-tier rugby talent. The teams represent the nations of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. We’re also fairly certain, though it’s never been officially stated, that it is a showcase of Europe’s most outrageously delusional.
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Germany has long had its brush with the finest ale, bratwurst and über crowded pubs. Combine the three elements in the name of Carnival, and one gets the famed Karneval celebration in the city of Cologne.
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Madrid, a city known for its tapas, paella, tortilla and – let’s not forget – wine, is showcasing its love of food and incredible ability to produce mouthwatering dishes this January 23 through February 5.
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In the cold winter months, the natural desire is to go into hibernation – staying in pajamas, stuffing your face with Oreos, and refusing to emerge from the pile of down comforters and feather pillows on your bed... but St. Moritz, Switzerland, has for a very long time combated these immobile tendencies, luring in tourists with many winter activities – specifically, its annual culinary festival.
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'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse... except for all good Catholics, that is. They’re headed to St. Peter’s Basilica for midnight Mass with Pope Benedict XVI.
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As if Amsterdam weren’t already enough of a good time, the first Saturday of every November marks A’dam’s official museum party… and we do mean party. More than 40 of the city’s top museums (all the big boys included) open their doors for an all-night rager among priceless works of art.
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Where else but the mecca of marijuana would you find a festival dedicated to weed? Sponsored by High Times (the expert on all things green), the Cannabis Cup lasts for five days over Thanksgiving week.
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Is the gloomy start of winter bringing you down? We’ve got just what the doctor ordered to brighten up your day... a weekend of white in Copenhagen. The world’s ultimate feel-good experience, Sensation White is making its way to the pearl of Denmark.
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The Alps may have snow-capped peaks right now, but everyone knows the party doesn’t really start until November at the earliest. So if you’re looking to hit the slopes early this season, then your best bet is to book a ticket to Heathrow.
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Got a sweet tooth? Check this out... Salon du Chocolat, the world’s largest chocolate convention, offers you a weekend oasis of everything cocoa in the City of Lights.
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Back on the eve of the new millennium, a couple Icelanders hosted an epic party featuring top new music from both local and international musicians... in an abandoned airplane hangar. They called it, "Iceland Airwaves."
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What’s better than a dozen of the finest oysters in the world? 12 ounces of Guinness to wash them down!
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Give a Catalan a holiday, and they’ll give you a raging five-day party full of human towers, man-made giants, and a fire-breathing dragon.
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Everyone knows about the best keg party on Earth... but what they don’t know is that while most attendees will pay two, three, even four hundred dollars or more per night to party down in Munich, you can stay there for ONLY €50 A NIGHT!!!
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Fast cars, fast women, and fast money: Welcome to the principality of Monaco. Known as the playground for the rich and super rich along the French Riviera, this city-state attracts only the finest things money can buy. While most days the only competition here is between bankrolls, the last weekend of May hosts the world’s fastest cars vying for top spot in the Formula One Grand Prix.
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Bullfights, a massive party in the streets, and light orbs coasting down the river… sound like your scene? If the answer is yes, head to Madrid for the Fiestas de San Isidro.
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Dying to make it on the silver screen? Take it upon yourself this Wednesday to make a big break onto the acting scene at the Cannes Film Festival. Rub elbows with stars and starlets on the most vaulted red carpet outside of the Academy Awards.
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Come the last day of April, every loyal Dutch citizen sports his or her favorite orange outfit (orange being the official color of the royal family, the House of Oranje-Nassau) and hits the streets to throw their queen one of the wildest birthday parties known to man.
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The 2nd of May might not hold much weight outside the Spanish border, but mention it within the Iberian peninsula to a native Spaniard and watch their eyes light up. According to the textbooks, the Spanish broke free of French rule on May 2, 1808, and while that date may have some political significance, what it really represents is a chance to get crazy.
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When a Spanish city known for partying hosts a week-long celebration at the onset of spring, it’s a sight worth considering. When ‘celebration’ boils down to parades, bullfights, and crowds dancing through the streets in a Sherry-induced stupor until 7 a.m. ... the need to check out this scene becomes a lot more apparent.
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Serious European art aficionados head to the home of Da Vinci's Last Supper for a new age taste of the continent's best modern and contemporary art.
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Celebrate the end of ski season at Snowbombing, a week-long music fest set in the Austrian Alps! Chock full of raging bands, world-class DJs, and an army of costumed-studded partiers, Snowbombing -- now in its 12th year -- has been dubbed, "The Greatest Show on Snow."
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Ready for a contemporary art explosion? During Art Paris, top galleries, private collectors, and artists citywide put their best pieces on display for mass consumption. You -- plus the other 40,000 visitors -- are bound to rub elbows with the most astute of European art collectors.
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Beer, bagpipes, leprechauns, four-leaf clovers, and more beer. As the saying goes, everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and while some cities may boast green rivers or parades that go on for miles, you can't beat the original. Head to the mecca of pubs and the home of Guinness to catch the luck of the Irish.
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