You may already be a festival and cultural event junkie or maybe you are considering becoming one! We would not blame you. These events have a magical way about them. The sheer amount of large community events that celebrate or create culture is massive throughout the world, and continues to grow every year. A sense of community, ritual, celebration, and milestone is critical, both historically and currently, to remind us what is truly important. We are connected and need to stay connected.
If you want Black Label Travel to create a cultural or festival centered adventure for you, then we recommend you first think of the region of the world you would like to experience. Will it be India, Japan, Africa or the United States?
Then, is there a type of festival or event that gets your joy meter rising? Arts, beer, fire, folk, comedy, literary, music, religious, rock, storytelling, theater, winter… heck, there are video gaming and comic book events that pack in thousands every year.
How do you want to spend a few days? Loud or quiet? Watching or participating? You name it, there’s an event for it.
As always, we want you to envision your trip, and then we will make sure it delivers.
Most of us are familiar with famous U.S. events like the Sundance Film Festival, Burning Man, Mardi Gras or Woodstock, where so many memories and cultural markers have emerged and been celebrated and experienced. Many of us are also familiar with the Chinese New Year celebrations, Oktoberfest, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, or the Rio Carnival in Brazil.
Let’s mention a couple of events you may not be familiar with that are coming up.
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, (Oct. 31-Nov. 2) is one of those centuries old traditional events celebrated throughout Mexico, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. If you are a culture junkie, you must attend at least once in your life. There is an official Day of the Dead Parade in Mexico City that is relatively new, but is working toward being as big as Mardi Gras or Carnival in Rio! This is also a time of cleaning graves and remembering past loved ones, believing these rituals will assist the dead on their spiritual journey.
Snowbombing is a festival about snow sports held in Mayrhofen, Austria in April. It also happens to be a gigantic music festival in the snow. There is a snowboard competition, music every night and people on the slopes in colorful gear… like you are witnessing a Mardi Gras on the Alps!
Songkran is Thailand’s New Year celebration. The date depends on the lunar cycle but is usually in April. Tradition dictates that you pay respect to your elders with a light spraying of water on their hands, but the event has become a city wide water fight. Talk about unique!
White Nights in Russia is a variety of events that take place when the days are long from May to July. It has everything… ballet, film, fireworks, music and a fleet of tall ships. A colorful and constant flow of jugglers, fire eaters, and mimes roam the River Neva entertaining the city in only the way circus performers can. It’s funny, it’s poignant, it’s not to be missed.
We hope these choices give you an idea of the variety, multitude, and diversity that you can incorporate into your travel plans. If you have a trip planned already… the least you could do is let us help you weave in some cultural events to deepen your experience of a new place or explore a familiar destination in an entirely new way.
Shannon Calder, travel writer [Follow her on Twitter & Instagram]
Rio Carnival
Songkran Water Fight!
