Events, Festivals and Exhibitions

Arts Festivals

Discover amazing world festivals, events and exhibitions
 

George Town Festival 2023, Penang

George Town Penang, Malaysia

Less than a week after celebrating its UNESCO World Heritage Day, once again culture, art and heritage will take over Penang’s capital during the George Town Festival from 15 to

Edinburgh Festival (Edinburgh International Festival)

Edinburgh Festival The Hub Castlehill, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The Edinburgh Festival, or Edinburgh International Festival, kicks off on 7 August, 2021. This year’s programme features some of the best...

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023

Edinburgh Fringe Box Office 180 High Street, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

One of the largest arts festivals in the world, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes place in the Scottish capital from 4 to 28 August, 2023. The world’s oldest fringe festival

Cheltenham Literature Festival, 2023

cheltenham 109-111 Bath Road, Cheltenham, United Kingdom

Could there be a more appropriate setting for The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival than the historic Regency spa town of Cheltenham...

Amsterdam Light Festival 2023

Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands

The streets and canals of Amsterdam will once more host the ninth Amsterdam Light Festival this winter, from 30 November, 2022 to 21 January, 2024. 20 artworks will be on

Harbin Ice Festival China Extravaganza

Harbin Harbin, China

Once mostly a regional affair, the Harbin Ice Festival, China - or the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival as it is officially known - has grown into...

Vibrant Hong Kong Arts Festival 2024

Different venues in Hong Kong , Hong Kong

International top artists giving world class performances ranging from the classical to the avant-garde, and the familiar to the surprising – the Hong Kong Arts Festival is this vibrant city’s

Interested in Arts Festivals?

The arts are as vast and varied as humanity itself. Our cultures and religions, and hopes, fears and desires are all expressed through the myriad forms of art that, just like us, keep evolving and expanding. No wonder then that arts festivals are major events in a country’s calendar.Whether it’s just to keep yourself entertained, or to enrich your understanding of a destination and its people, festivals of art will often leave you with richer and more memorable travel experiences.

Arts and Art Festivals

Sometimes arts festivals are understood as encompassing the arts at large, whereas events which tend to focus on the visual arts are often called art (in the singular) festivals or art exhibitions – or lowbrow art versus highbrow art. At Travel Begins at 40, we are no brow at all and love everything. From the fine, visual and plastic arts to the performing and decorative arts and architecture, and from ethnic and religious arts to avant-garde and experimental arts, let yourself be surprised, amused or challenged wherever you travel.

Fringe festivals

Fringe festivals are events where the style or subject matter of the arts presented are experimental, and it’s the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of the world’s largest arts festivals, where the term comes from. Fringe festivals can now be found all over the world such as the Rainforest Fringe Festival in Borneo.
Art Biennale and Triennale
Occurring only once every two and three years, an art biennale and triennale sometimes make for the largest and most important art gatherings in the world, such as the famous Venice Biennale. But also some of these lesser known rare events are much worth attending, of which the Setouchi Triennale in Japan is a case in point. Make sure you plan them into your travels well ahead of time because if you miss one, it’ll be a long wait.