This came up in another thread. I thought it might be fun to pusue.
Do you look for special events or festivals or local holidays when you travel or do you think that they detract from why you are going.
And if you have been to any great ones, or moving ones, I was lucky to .... ones; please share.
I love attending special events or festivals & will set the date of travel to be able to attend them. I have two that I will be attending on this trip.
France:
The 2019 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Nice.
Italy:
Arezzo Jousting Festival
Asti Palio
Bari San Nicola Festival - 2X
Pisa Festival of 10,000 wax candles on buildings lining the river
Rome Republic Day
Spello Infiorate - 2X
Stresa Music Festival - 2X
Torino - MITO Music Festival
Venice Historical Regatta
Verona Opera Season at the Roman Arena
Austria, Germany, France:
Christmas Markets
Spain:
Cadiz Carnaval
Malaga Carnaval
Nerja Feria
Switzerland:
The Jungfrau Marathon
The Ironman & Marathon coincided with dates of trips; those weren’t planned ahead of time. The Marathon was fun to see in Wengen. The Ironman kept me from seeing one of the nearby villages because it was on their bike route.
I am the culprit for the topic!
I usually avoid major holidays or festivals due to crowds and cost (my trips are usually just 8-10 days). Especially if I am going to a city for the first time. But I have enjoyed some small local festivals which I appreciate more if staying longer at a place.
For example, I went to Japan in 2023 right after Golden Week. But I still stumbled upon a small festival in Asakusa (Sanja Matsuri), but it was much lower scale than Golden Week.
Christmas Markets in Europe is on my bucket list! But in that case I would be traveling for the Christmas Markets and not necessarily to visit a city.
I’ve often traveled to London in November as I do enjoy the set up for the Lord Mayor’s parade. Ironically never watch the parade. Merely like watching the set up: horses being saddled and brushed, band members tuning instruments, people boarding floats, individuals adjusting costumes….
Otherwise no interest is traveling simply to see some kind of celebration.
Will admit ages ago did fly from LA to Boston for a 4th of July. And when I say ages ago…Arthur Fielder was the conductor of the Boston Pops.
Edit 1: Will say being surprised by a Santa Run in Victoria Park on a London trip was joyful.
I’ll never forget the Pamplona bull running in 1983, three days of amazing partying and sleeping in the street. But I was 21 then, now I’m 64, so no more of that. The same year, Bastille Day (or fete nationale as it’s properly called) in Paris, a fun send off for me as I flew home the next day from my college semester abroad.
Mostly, we just run into events in Italy without meaning to, but here's two that we planned the trips around.
Sicily, Easter 2025 --- Easter Arches in San Biagio Platani to see the clever and beautiful yearly decoration of the town with “crop art” made from seeds, sunflower seed shells, bread dough, pasta, citrus, bay leaves, corn, canes, grass, etc.. The main street is densely packed with the art and overhung with big rainbow-like arches.
https://www.archidipasqua.eu/archi-di-pasqua-ed-precedenti/
Venice, before Christmas 2023 --- Regata dei Babbi Natale, the Santa boat race and parade along the Grand Canal. We saw it accidentally in 2019, but returned on purpose to see it again. It's what my grandmother would have called "a hoot."
Unplanned on our end but arrived in The Netherlands on King’s Day with our RS tour (our guide knew of course!) which turned into such a fun day,
and once found ourselves in the middle of some huge parade in Vienna where everyone seemed to be having a great time.
Non denominational Easter service over the Grand Canyon still leaves me in awe 25 years later. Didn’t know about the service until we got to the Grand Canyon. But obviously knew it was Easter Sunday when we planned the trip.
Not that I planned on it but back in 2019 when I was in Reykjavík I experienced Reykjavík Culture Night with an 11pm fireworks show just after it got dark. In 2023 I was in London for Bonfire Night.
Things we've attended unplanned. St David's Day parade in York. Protests in London and Paris that we joined. Most meaningful was the commemoration of the start of WWII (Sept 1) in Warsaw, with a large number of Polish underground army veterans present followed by a Mass.
I wouldn't avoid anything, and probably should do a better job of researching in planning. I don't like crowds either, but accept it as part of the experience.
We prefer to travel in late April and May, a time where local festivals abound offering a wonderful variety of experiences. Within England May pole festivals offer dancing children, local bands and a variety of locally created food offerings. The celebration of spring’s arrival can be found with within large cities to tiny villages offering a wide breadth of experiences. Serendipity used to play a large role in stumbling upon local festivals and holidays, but web searches turn up a plethora of opportunities. These days most local jurisdictions have a web based tourism board making it easier to search for local events. We also use our hobbies to make contact with local clubs to learn of interesting events. For example my wife speaks “quilting”, an expensive language to grasp, and she reaches out to local quilt guilds to meet fellow quilters. I am a photographer and do the same for seeking local knowledge.
Part of gaining enjoyment from these experiences is grasping the mentality of “seizing the moment” when coming across the opportunity.
Keukenhof, Netherlands first week May.
Umbria Jazz Fest Italy July
North Sea Jazz Fest Netherlands July
Jazz Marciac France July
Jazzaldia Donostia/San Sebastian Basque Region Spain July
Jazz Ahead Bremen April
Verbier Festival Switzerland July/August
Chicago Blues Festival June
Northern Lights, Iceland October
Summer in Chicago June July August
New Years Eve Paris
New Years Eve Seville
I try and plan around events. To be able to see or participate in unique cultural, religious or sports events or ... well ... whatever is part of the fun for me. But I am rarely sucessful as I would like to be. But I do get lucky often and just wander into things I wasnt expecting. Like the RedBull high diving competion in Mostar. I mean the town is famous for the bridge so what works better than to see the best diving off the bridge. It was fun. But I had no idea until I got there.
Christmas service in a few countries. A couple were intentional and meaningful.
South Africa for the World Cup
A few wine festivals in Europe
NYE in Sydney Harbor. That was incrediable. Joined a private party in the Botanical Gardens with a view of the Opera and the bridge. Amazing evening.
Then my fishing trips are event trips in a way. Bosnia, Montenegro, Scotland, England, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia
In May, we accidentally ran into such an event. From my Valencia trip report:
One evening church bells started ringing and kept on ringing and
ringing, so I asked Gemini why that was happening, and the answer was
that the bells were ringing for the Feast of Our Lady of the Forsaken,
which is the Patron Saint of Valencia. The church bells rang for about
a half hour. It was pretty pleasant. So the next day, we went to the
Traslado, where they carry the statue of the Virgin from the Basilica
to the Cathedral. There was a huge crowd, and people strained to touch
the hem of the statue, including right in front of us a baby, maybe
one year old, was passed over the crowd until it touched the hem of
the statue, and back over the crowd to the (I assume) parents. The
baby did not enjoy that. Then that night, there was a very long parade
featuring an endless procession of locals dressed in traditional
clothing, and musicians, followed by politicians and notables,
followed by priests, followed by the statue of the Virgin, carried
along by about 20 guys. People threw rose petals (real ones) from the
balconies as the Virgin passed.
We ran into this event totally by accident. We had no idea it was going to happen, what it was, or that it even existed. I do a lot of research about a destination before we go overseas but apparently one blind spot is not seeking out whether there are going to be any major events happening.
The Other Marty, there is so much of this good stuff its a shame to leave it to chance, but so much that is local is hard to find so most of mine have been by chance.
I learned Orthodox Christmas in many countries is in January, by being there in January. I also learned the service is never ending .... by attending.
It doesnt have to be fancy. The gourmet festival here this weekend is off most radars and I think its an excellent afternoon away from the tourists in a beautiful part of town few see on a 5 day visit.
ON one of our best trips to Naples we stumbled into two special events. One was a music festival that presented various performances in historical venues. We were able to attend a choral performance of a mass in the Cimiterio Fontanelle and a solo bassist performance in a renovated palace that serves as a government building.
On the same trip the Amerigo Vespucci was docked in the harbor and open for visitors.
Of course we also have usually been in the city during the finals of the soccer play-offs. That is always a crazy time.
That reminded me that we happened to be in Cairo on the Coptic Christian Christmas. And we were touring their neighborhood on that day. Amazing to see the crowds of Christians happily celebrating in a way familiar but different.
Only a few times
England - Cheltenham steeplechase festival
Germany - Rhine in Flames, Hohenzollern Castle event where there was a falconry show and the castle was able to be visited w/o taking a tour
I wish I was that organized or focused, but occasionally that happens. More likely, we stumble on special events, rather than plan around them. I should get more proactive.
An example we planned for relatively recently were a trip to the Netherlands for a big Vermeer exhibition and its coincidence with the Keukenhof tulip festival. Planning for the exhibition led to "what else to do" so we got that twofer (and more) or "special" events on that trip. I've also planned around special events to participate in them - in my case cycling special events - and traveled for that, but those things are usually a tiny blip in a city or region, so not really more than a core group of enthusiasts doing their thing.
I do find stumbling onto special events maybe more fun than actually planning for them. Maybe because of the "no expectations" and even the "bonus" aspect of it leads us to just enjoy as much or as little as possible. Being in the French countryside as a pro bike races halts everything for a bit to allow the lead caravan of vehicles, the peloton, and the following caravan is wild when unexpected. Being in a city for the Pride Festival of parades and concerts is a blast of supercharged energy. Seeing folks wander into a large church in the evening, exploring, and finding a free choral competition going on is also a big reason we travel - to see something quite unexpected and lovely.
Kind of. We've never headed somewhere for a festival or particular event, but we specifically went to London last November to see the Christmas lights and we're targeting London again next Spring to visit the Bayeaux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum and the Queen's Life in Fashion exhibit at Buckingham Palace.
At home, we typically get out of Dodge in early July when the Calgary Stampede begins and the tourist swarms begin.
VAP— we too stumbled upon culture night in Reykjavík last summer. We were coming from the domestic airport and just staying one night in town, but boy that taxi ride was interesting because all of the roads were closed into the heart of downtown.
My daughter and I happen to be in Paris over Bastille day one year. Our apartment looked right over a few restaurants. A number of those took all of their seating outside onto the sidewalk and the street and it became one great big party. It was fun to watch, but then the restaurant owners encouraged us to come down and join them.
Absolutely. I almost always time my trips to coincide with specific events, exhibitions or festivals.
Always worth a check. In our experience …
Planned
Vienna 2018 - last day of “Stairway to Klimt” at the Kunthistoriches Museum and free tickets to the Opera’s Open House to commemorate the opening of Opera season.
Paris 2023 - Sarah Bernhardt exhibit at the Petit Palais and “Monet’s Brother” at the Luxembourg Museum.
Paris 2025 - Georges de la Tour at the Musee Jacquemart Andre thanks to a tip from someone on this forum and John Singer Sargent at the Musee d’Orsay.
Unplanned
Orvieto 2015 - Gelato Festival
Milan 2015 - Piano City. Lotsa fun and worth planning around any year you’ll be in northern Italy in mid to late May.
Monopoli (Puglia) 2024 (late addition) - Surrealist art exhibit (Miro, Dali, Magritte, and Ernst) at the Castello Carlos V.
France 2025 - Journees du Patrimoine - guitar recital (represented as jazz, but more traditional-folk-French country with an electronic twist) in Colmar onei day and a classical string quartet in Dijon, the next
And…
Spain 2005 the cherry blossoms in the Valle de Jerte (in Extremedura) were later than we expected (around which we had timed our trip), so we missed those, but we hadn’t bothered to check Holy Week, so we stumbled into Palm Sunday parades (Semana Santa) in Priego (between Granada and Cordoba) and, that evening, in Cordoba … plus a bit more of Semana Santa a few days later on Ash Wednesday in Jerte.
Next year I hope we go to England for a month in May/June and I see there is a fringe festival in late May and early June in Bath.
One year while planning a trip to Italy, I discovered Venice would be staging its annual Regata Storica - a historic boat festival on the Grand Canal, including boat races and a parade that dates to the 1400s.
It was scheduled for my final weekend in Italy, which was not convenient for my travel plans.
I rearranged those plans to have that on my "middle weekend" of a 2 week trip so I could attend and photograph it.
I tend to embrace the opportunity rather than avoid it (even though I'm not big on huge crowds of people)
Now, if I can figure out a place to sleep and how to get a great vantage point to photograph the fireworks, I'd LOVE to be in Venice one July for the Redentore Festival.
Feesten in Ghent (unplanned) was number one on fun events for us. Final stage of the Tour de France (semi-planned) close behind.
I was caught in some sort of Communist rally/protest in London this March. Huge. Really disrupted traffic (less disruption of my own pedestrian ramblings). Somehow it managed to be both hilarious and annoying.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2017, I impulsively bought $300 round-trip tickets to London on Norwegian Airlines (remember them?) for the third week in May 2018. The trip was timed to coincide with my daughter's return home from college and before she started her summer job. In January 2018 the royal family announced Harry and Meghan's engagement, and by early spring the wedding date in May had been announced. It was right in the middle of our trip. So we changed the itinerary to include a day in Windsor, took a 6 am train to get there, and were part of the best outdoor party I have ever been to. We camped on the Long Walk and watched the ceremony live on big screens. Besides seeing the royal couple go by us in their carriage, highlights for me included running into Don Lemon of CNN while getting breakfast from a food truck, and making eye contact with Anderson Cooper in the aftermath while the news crews were beginning to dismantle their huge broadcast structures. It felt like complete serendipity to be at an event the whole world was watching, without really planning, and it was basically free.
I just remembered a further example of our "stumbling into" rather than planning on special events in Europe.
For three consecutive World Cups - 1998, 2002, and 2006 - we were in Europe for a chunk of the matches. Coming from the US where the 1994 WC was held, it was at least now on our "radar", but being in Europe during the various matches, It became a regular "thing" for us to run across bars or outdoor events showing the games. A great deal of energy, for sure.
In 1998 when we were in Vienna, I remember wondering what the huge outdoor screen was for, and then realizing it was for the Austrians to watch the WC matches and cheer on their team.
I remember being in Paris in 2002 when an Africa team won their match and being near the Eiffel Tower as car after car drove by with their horns honking, their national flags waving, and folks cheering. Not the final game and likely the only advanced them so far, but man were they excited and the energy was great.
Another time, in 2006, we were there for the finals, and had come from Italy in an Italian plated rental car. That was a big game - Italy v France and played in Germany - so tons of fun around it - leading up to and the eventual down to the wire penalty kicks. We drove back to Italy the following day, and there was even some horn blowing from other cars seeing the Italian plates - pro and anti depending on the other driver. Again, not planned but super fun to see the games especially when the locals were in the hunt for the title.
We're doing less summer travel to Europe nowadays, so not had a repeat of being in Europe for one of their biggest events, but it was definitely fun to be there when you could really see how exciting it was for the locals watching the matches.
Planned:
A weekend at the "Dia de la Tradición" in San Antonio de Areco, Argentina.
https://arecotradicion.com/en/noticias/the-festival-of-tradition-a-gaucho-festival-for-gauchos/
A week at the "La Mercè" in Barcelona.
https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/events/la-merce/barcelona-la-merce.html
A weekend at the "Festa di San Nicola" in Bari, Italy.
https://www.italyscapes.com/events/apulia/bari/religious-events/festa-di-san-nicola-2026/
A day at the "Madres de Plaza de Mayo" in Buenos Aires.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothers_of_Plaza_de_Mayo
A day at the "Dos de Mayo" in Madrid.
https://freewalkingtour.com/blog/madrid-may-2-1808-uprising/
Planned disaster:
Foliage season in Kyoto. Many places were so packed that there were signs to prohibit taking photos. But the Japanese tourists paid little attention. So much for the myth of polite and law abiding Japanese.
Sometimes the special events find me! To wit:
First trip abroad, summers then so no classical music, right? No - discovered summer concert with Verdi Requiem at the Concertgebouw, would be while we were in Amsterdam.
First Budapest trip, and found we would be there on closing night for the Opera season
First London trip, as soon as booked found the Pompeii/Herculaneum touring exhibit would be at the Brit starting that week. (also the Stones at Hyde Park adding a second concert while we were there but we chose to not fight the crowds).
Next London trip discovering that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern with Daniel Radcliffe would be at the Old Vic while we were there (what a pity we could only get 5th row seats)
And booking London again finding that the Chihuly Exhibit was being opened again at Kew while we were there.
Another London trip (there's a theme here?) that put me there during the Queen's funeral. Followed by a London-Reykjavik trip so as to take my new partner, and then see my son and daughter and law in Iceland. Two days after I could finalize the trip and airfare as this had to be worked around my kids' grad school timings, and Charles's coronation is announced for the day after we landed in London. You, 4 hours standing in a drizzle with the crowd in Hyde Park that morning!
And needless to say two trips through the Netherlands with dating chosen to be in A-dam on King's Day.
My first trip to Europe in 2014 was purposefully built around being able to see some performances at the Salzburg Festival. My next trip to Europe is built around Janáček Brno 2026, a festival to celebrate Czech/Bohemian composer Leoš Janáček.
I don't necessarily look for them, although after reading all the wonderful events that people have gone to here, it makes me think that maybe I should start.
I do find them in places that I'm going to, though, once I'm there (or have scheduled a trip) as I always look to see if there's festivals or events during my stay. I loved the day I spent at one of the Highland Games in Scotland when I was there in 2023. And I make a point of going to local markets when I can.
In Sweden keep an eye out for Surströmmingspremiären. I experienced this, along with the obligatory surströmming. It’s smells worse than it tastes, which is pretty bad on both counts.
I went out to Barcelona about nine or ten years on the trot for Sónar Festival.
Before I moved to London I was coming down from Scotland regularly for music events that friends were promoting or performing at.
I'd like to go to Ireland with the visit timed to catch a round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship as the primary reason for going.
When we were younger, we went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans every spring. We live “right down the road” less than 2 hours away and had friends and family in NOLA so accommodations were frequently free. A couple of years after Katrina and with the generosity of corporate sponsors, Jazz Fest has grown to a point where we no longer go. It may be our age is a factor, but the main events for Jazz Fest are in a horse track so while it is outdoors, it is a confined space within which there are way too many people for our taste.
I tend to avoid “events” due to the “too many people” factor and the additional expense. However, the universe has listened and exerted her sense of humor. We have a fall trip planned to Italy and France. Refundable flights and changeable hotel reservations are all booked. Last week, friends in the Netherlands reached out and said “Hey, you need to meet us in Paris in October for the Fetes des Vendange Montmartre.” So, it looks like we may be altering some plans and jointing a throng of people in Paris - yes, planning around an event.
And continuing the amusement, as I type this my husband just said, “Barbara (one of our Dutch friends) just messaged and said she would FaceTime tomorrow to schedule things.” A votre sante!
Vienna Film Festival was one of the most fun evenings we've ever had in our travels. That's tucked away in it's own area though.
We are going to Gdansk and wondering if we should avoid St. Dominic's Fair. Seems like that will be crows in Old Town and will make relaxing at cafes and restaurants more difficult. Will probably avoid.
Sometimes there are events that are worth changing you plans to attend. I think St Stephen's Day in Budapest is one of those. https://youtube.com/shorts/VExHz5a9Huc?si=QtwC_ufsq9GTGRG2 And there is a really nice market that week as well. Yes, the fireworks are a bit crowded but plent of good vantage points and unlike some recent celebrations in the US nothing ever gets out of hand here. A very good event to mix with Hungarians (probably two thrids or more of the crowd).
I don't plan around events, but I have been 'caught' in some unintentionally:
Madrid Pride three years ago. I had no idea until I arrived. I met a friend for dinner, and he warned me that many streets would be blocked around the Retiro Park. I had no way of crossing the parade route, but thankfully the Metro came to the rescue. Got back to my Airbnb 2 hours later than I intended.
Siena also three years ago. Arrived a few days before the Palio. Had no idea. Was staying no more than 2 minutes from the Campo, so could watch the festivities easily, including one of the trial races and a morning presentation of the horses. However, since I am not into this kind of thing, I was happy to get out (planned) before the main race.
This year, again in Madrid, glad I got out before the Pope arrived. Was not interested in the crowds, street closures, extra security, etc.
On the other hand, I look forward to special/temporary exhibits at museums. Last year saw the amazing David Hockney exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
Many eons ago I was on a job in NYC, and it just happened that a major exhibit of Vermeer was taking place at the National Gallery. I asked the production company to book my flight back to LA from DC so that I could visit the show before returning. First time I saw the 'Girl with the Pearl Earrings' and still a highlight on my 'art trail'.
