Spend Summer 2011 Touring Europe’s Best Festivals!

It’s not like there aren’t already a million things to see in Europe between the museums, monuments, battlegrounds, parks, canals, cafes, castles and tasty locals.

But hey, since you’re already going that far, you may as well throw in a once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience as well. Europe hosts some of the largest, most exciting festivals in the world. Time your trip right and you can take in one of these events:

La Tomatina
Bunol, Spain
August 31, 2011
It might be the world’s largest food fight. Certainly it’s the most well-known and best organized. Feel like a kid again when you spend an hour throwing tomatoes at friends and strangers and rolling around in the pulpy goo.

Notting Hill Carnival
London, England
August 28-29, 2011
Billed as “Europe’s largest street faire”, the Caribbean-flavored carnival includes a parade, DJs, and lots of glitter and sequins. Take a minute to get a photo of the shop with the blue door that was Hugh Grant’s book store in “Notting Hill”.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Edinburgh, Scotland
August 5 – 29, 2011
Anyone can perform at this open arts festival, including comedians, street performers, and other artists. In 2010, 21,148 performers put on 2,453 different shows for a total of 40,254 performances in 259 venues. So there’s got to be something there you’re going to love, right?

Oktoberfest
Munich, Germany
September 17 – October 3, 2011
Pretzels. Shnitzel. Beer. Music. Yum.

Find more festival ideas and, as always, chat with a TravelCUTS student travel expert before you go. They can help you find student airfares, hostels and rail passes, and they’re just fun to talk to.

See you there!
Lisa

You Can See Oktoberfest From Your House!

Head to the Hippodrom!

Can’t make it to Munich? No worries, just hop over to oktoberfest-tv.de and watch their live feeds of various beer tents. They also have maps and schedules if you are actually headed to Germany for the festivities, or if you want to plan for next year.

Be sure to have a look at the Hippodrom, which looks like P.T. Barnum’s idea of a good time. It’s the tent where the young travellers, celebrities and international types go for a bite and a brew, and it supposedly has the highest “flirt factor”.

Prost!

Celebrate Oktoberfest 2010 Wherever You Are

Officially, Oktoberfest starts in Munich on Sep. 18th and the beer steins will be kept full until Oct. 4th. You still have plenty of time to book a long weekend there, just don’t expect to find a place to stay close to the action.

So how can you Fest closer to home? Try one of these celebrations:

Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest – Head just west of Toronto Oct. 8-16 for a traditional Bavarian Festival. More than a million people a year come for the food, the music and the beer.

Oktoberfest USA – Just south of the border in La Crosse, Wisconsin, they’re celebrating their 50th Oktoberfest Sep. 24-Oct. 2. The good news: There’s a Lederhosen Luncheon and a Craft Beer Night. The bad news: The Bret Michaels show is sold out already. Nooo!

Oktoberfest ZinZinnati – That’s what Cincinnati, Ohio, is calling itself from Sep. 17-19 and the menu alone is a reason to travel from far and wide to check this one out. There’s also a Chicken Dance with the Stars, which… yeah. I’m just going to leave it at that.

If you can’t make it to a huge public display of  sauerkraut and suds, put together your own cultural event. Gather friends, barbeque various wursts, download some classic polkas and make your own fun.

Travel isn’t always about going somewhere (especially on a budget, and especially during midterms). Sometimes it’s about bringing the culture and adventure to you.

Prost!

Have an Adventure Weekend at These Festivals

It’s not like there aren’t already a million things to see in Europe between the museums, monuments, historical sites, parks, canals, cafes, castles, and tasty locals. But, hey, since you’re already going that far, you may as well throw in a once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience as well. Europe hosts some of the largest, most exciting festivals in the world. Time your trip right and you can take in one of these events:

La Tomatina
Bunol, Spain
August 27, 2008
It might be the world’s largest food fight. Certainly it’s the most well-known and best organized. Feel like a kid again when you spend an hour throwing tomatos at friends and strangers and rolling around in the pulpy goo.

Notting Hill Carnival
London, England
August 24-25, 2008
Billed as “Europe’s largset streetfaire”, the Caribbean-flavored carnival includes a parade, DJs, and lots of glitter and sequins. Take a minute to get a photo of the shop with the blue door that was Hugh Grant’s book store in “Notting Hill”.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Edinburgh, Scotland
August 8 – 31, 2008
This is the world’s largest arts festival, featuring music, theater, opera, and dance.

Not to be confused with:

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Edinburgh, Scotland
August 2 – 25, 2008
Held at the same time, but as an open arts festival, anyone can perform, including comedians, street performers, and edgier acts than the other festival offers. In 2007, participants put on 2,050 different shows for a total of 31,000 performances in 250 venues.

Oktoberfest
Munich, Germany
September 20 – October 5
Pretzels. Shnitzel. Beer. Music. Yum.

Find more festival ideas and, as always, chat with a TravelCUTS student travel expert before you go. They can help you find student airfares, hostels and rail passes. And they’re just fun to talk to. Cute too.