Travel Topics
The Carnival Calabar is Africa’s biggest street party, bursting with colour, culture and creativity. This annual five-day spectacle in Calabar, Nigeria, features grand parades, dazzling costumes, energetic music and unforgettable…
The Michigan Irish Music Festival is a three-day ceilidh, held by the waterfront in the sleepy little town of Muskegon, which borders Lake Michigan, is a real hoot of an…
The buzz of live music in the capital shifts up a few gears in mid-November with the advent of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Now in its 33rd year, the…
As the festive season approaches, Christmas markets across the UK begin to sparkle with twinkling lights, enticing scents and the joyful buzz of holiday shoppers. UK Christmas markets are not…
The Timkat Festival in Ethiopia is a stunning celebration of Epiphany, filled with spiritual significance, music, dancing and colourful processions. Starting on January 19, this Orthodox Christian festival marks the…
From the Day of the Dead to Christmas markets and Thanksgiving, November is a month that celebrates the emergence of winter. Here is our selection of the best festivals in…
Each October, the Catalan town of Sitges transforms into an epicentre of the macabre, the magical and the marvellous. Welcome to the Sitges Film Festival — or, to give it…
Thailand is famous for its festivals, but few are as mysterious, magical, and bewitching as the Bang Fai Phaya Nak, where myth and nature collide on the Mekong Every year…
Every December, Saint Lucia shines brighter than ever as locals prepare for the National Day Festival of Lights, celebrated on December 13, the feast day of Saint Luce, the island’s…
Every October, the island of Saint Lucia bursts into a sea of purple as locals gather to celebrate the La Marguerite Flower Festival, one of the country’s most cherished cultural…
Tampere Festival of Light (Valoviikot): Illuminating the Nordic Winter As the days shorten and winter sets in, Tampere in southern Finland bursts into colour with the Tampere Festival of Light…
Every autumn, the seaside town of Sitges comes alive with one of Catalonia’s most cherished celebrations: the Grape Harvest Festival (Festa de la Verema). Now in its sixty-fourth edition, the…
Each September, the skies above Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley burst into colour as the Snowmass Balloon Festival takes flight. Now in its 50th year, this beloved tradition has become one…
If you’re looking for a festival that combines high-octane fun, centuries-old tradition and a hearty dose of northern German hospitality, the Freimarkt Bremen should be on your travel calendar. Often…
This autumn, the historic pottery heartland of Stoke-on-Trent will once again become a stage for clay in all its forms, as the British Ceramics Biennial 2025 returns from 6 September to…
In September, Strawberry Hill House, 18th century villa and former home of Horace Walpole (1717-1797), welcomes visitors to its fabulously fragrant annual Flower Festival. Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival 2025…
Magaluf, better known for its sun-soaked beaches and nightlife, is preparing for a different kind of gathering this autumn. The Festival of Expanded Literature in Magaluf (FLEM) returns for its…
Mike East revisits the Medellin Flower Festival in Colombia to discover a bigger, more ambitious event. As the festival approaches you can feel a change in the energy level around…
Whitby is set to welcome a wave of literary talent this autumn as it launches its first Whitby Lit Fest, running from Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 November 2025 across…
As summer draws to a sultry close, the Florida Keys are preparing to raise a margarita—or perhaps two—in honour of the man who helped put them on the map. Just…
Travel Begins at 40 has produced its own brief round-up of the best festivals in August around the world from Colombia to Nevada and Utah to Notting Hill. Cultural Festivals…
Fearne Cotton Happy Place Festival takes place in two beautiful locations — Gunnersbury Park in London and Tatton Park in Cheshire. This vibrant celebration of wellness and self-care features inspirational…
As summer begins its triumphant arrival and daylight stretches into the late evening, something truly special unfolds in the heart of Ottawa. The Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival, taking place June…
As spring awakens the sea-swept shores of the Channel Islands, there’s one celebration that pulses through the heart of Guernsey like no other — Guernsey Liberation Day. From 6 to…
We love a good festival or two at Travel Begins at 40, which is why we have devoted a whole section to it – along with events.
In addition to giving a round-up of the most esoteric worldwide festivals for 2019, we have unique pages on many of the best – and most quirky – festivals from around he world. From spiritual and nature festivals such as India’s colourful Hindu festivals Diwali and Holi, and the Cherry Blossom Season Japan, to the messy but fun Boryeong Mud Festival in Korea and the outrageous Songkran new year celebrations in Thailand, we’ll have it covered. It’s a good idea to check up on what festivals there are in the place you are going on your holidays before setting off, although the delight of wandering unwittingly into a major cultural event can not be overstated.
We also have details of some of the biggest events – or our favourites – in the UK. So whether you are going to the Edinburgh Festival or the Notting Hill Carnival in August, or fancy a Watercress Festival in Hampshire, we have just the place for you.
Edinburgh is, of course, one of the highlights of the festival season in the UK, and we have pages devoted to both it and the Edinburgh Fringe.
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