Festivals and Events

Jul 30, 2018 • 4 min read

Lonely Planet Local Esme Fox first fell in love with Barcelona over 10 years ago on a rail trip around Spain, and nowadays she's lucky enough to call the…

Jul 25, 2018 • 6 min read

The world’s first modern flight wasn’t pretty. On a windy December morning in 1903, Orville Wright released the wire that tethered his wood-and-fabric…

Jul 23, 2018 • 6 min read

The annual Trumpet Festival (held this year from 9 to 12 August) in Guča, Serbia, combines old European heritage with world-class competition – contagious…

Jul 20, 2018 • 5 min read

The FME music festival in Quebec, Canada, just might be the most eclectic music festival in North America, with up to 70 live performers in a variety of…

Jul 11, 2018 • 5 min read

Food means festivity in every culture. Not only is eating usually essential to celebration, but many of the world’s great festivals owe their very…

Jul 5, 2018 • 6 min read

Blame it on the dreary weather, the self-deprecating humour of the Brits, or their outlandish love of wacky races, but when it comes to bizarre events,…

Jul 3, 2018 • 5 min read

The few brief weeks of the White Nights – those incredible, luminous northern midsummer eves when the high latitudes are bathed in a pearlescent all-night…

Jul 1, 2018 • 4 min read

Long gone are the days when Manhattanites would scoff at the idea of a trip to Brooklyn – these days they know that it’s where much of the city’s fun lies…

Jun 29, 2018 • 5 min read

With its gender-fluid fashion scene and colourful LGBT culture – not to mention rumoured gay royals of yesteryear – Stockholm is a vibrant, open and…

Jun 17, 2018 • 5 min read

New Orleans’ bars can stay open around the clock, which makes it possible to completely rearrange your schedule to whatever suits your night-owl soul…

Jun 15, 2018 • 4 min read

Wherever you travel in Morocco, you’ll hear its rich musical culture, with everything from Berber, Andalusian, Arabic and sub-Saharan influences. The…

Jun 14, 2018 • 4 min read

How did a quaint town in the Peruvian Amazon, some 280 miles from Lima, come to play host to the nation’s top annual music festival? Based on its history,…

Jun 5, 2018 • 6 min read

Tropical southern Taiwan is a land of turquoise waters and rocky coasts, night markets and beach bars, succulent seafood and fresh produce. One of…

May 31, 2018 • 5 min read

The greatest numbers of visitors to Georgia arrive in July and August, the ideal months for hiking in the spectacular mountains along its northern fringe…

May 29, 2018 • 5 min read

Considering its glorious natural setting, it should come as no surprise that Sun Valley has a thriving arts and culture scene. Who could fail to be…

May 26, 2018 • 4 min read

Believe it or not, in summer Moscow usually gets rather hot. It’s also the season when the city is fully awake, with more events happening than at any…

May 16, 2018 • 5 min read

English has only been spoken widely in Ireland for about 250 years but it was mastered quickly, with the country building an immense literary reputation…

May 4, 2018 • 6 min read

A fiddle scratches out a sweet wail in a sweatbox dance hall. The wheeze of a button accordion adds a waltzing rhythm. These are the beginning bars of…

Apr 30, 2018 • 5 min read

The ‘Peg is a fabulous destination in its own right

Apr 30, 2018 • 4 min read

For food, fun and festivals, Port of Spain, the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, is your ideal Caribbean location. The country's complicated history…

Apr 25, 2018 • 6 min read

At the heart of Japan lies Wakayama-ken, a prefecture rich in spirit, history and natural beauty. Here, lesser-tread paths lead to rugged hiking trails,…

Apr 13, 2018 • 9 min read

After a century of taking the world by storm, we modern women have earned some downtime. When bubbles baths won't cut it, it's time to visit California's…