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Festivals in England primarily consist of either one of two things. It’s a complete mud pit and you basically may as well be the mud by the end of it or it’s scorching hot but us Brits don’t know to handle this and end up moaning about how hot it is, would we even be British if we didn’t moan about the weather several times a day though? I’ve booked some time off from work during the next few months and was curious to see what awesome festivals other countries have to offer. I was surprised at the huge range of choice and decided to share my top 3 with you! I’d love it in the comments if you could let me know your favourite festival, be it the UK or anywhere around the world!
La Tomatina – Spain:
I briefly touched on this festival in my ‘when in Spain’ post, but there is so much more to this festival than what I mentioned previously. The festival as you may have guessed from the title is something to do with tomatoes. It is, in fact, a tomato-throwing festival which takes part at the end of August in Valencia. This year it’s on August 29th, in previous years it could have to up to 50,000 take part. Since ticket sales came in, it is limited to 20,000. It reminds me a little bit of being in school when a food fight breaks out, except this is the point rather than something that will end in a punishment.
Around 11am on the day of the festival, trucks of Tomatoes arrive, then according to La Tomatina Tours the following happens “Technically the festival does not begin until one brave soul has climbed to the top of a two-story high, greased-up wooden pole and reached the coveted ham at the top. In practice, this process takes a long time and the festival starts despite no one reaching the meaty prize. The signal for the beginning of the fight is firing of water cannons, and the chaos begins. Once it begins, the battle is generally every man for himself.” The tomato fight lasts around 1 hour and then the big clean-up begins! If you’re heading on holiday to Spain or are looking to book a cheap holiday to Spain this year, La Tomatina is a festival you must go to!
Tomorrowland- Belgium:
A dance festival that started back in 2005 which hasn’t stopped growing since it began, with over 400,000 of festival-goers attending last year! The festival is full of fun, colour and is known as one of the biggest EDM festivals in the world, with DJs taking over this festival for two weeks in July. For people, the eye capturing the set is one of the many reasons people flock to Tomorrowland. Trip Advisor has a page full of reviews and helps you to find out what will be in store for you during your time! It is even referred to as the Disneyland of music and from the amazing pictures that flood the internet, I have to agree. Have you ever been to Tomorrowland?
Notting Hill Carnival- London:
It’s pretty shameful that I have something within a few hours of a train and I didn’t even know it existed until recently. According to Visit London, “The Notting Hill Carnival was first held in 1966 as an offshoot of the Trinidad Carnival, celebrating Caribbean culture and traditions in London. When the Notting Hill Carnival first started, around 500 people attended the Caribbean festival. The carnival has since become the largest street festival in Europe, attracting hundreds of thousands to London, and continues to grow in popularity. Expect to see some 50,000 performers in the parade and more than 30 sound systems, with more than one million people attending over the carnival weekend.”
Notting Hill Carnival takes part on August bank holiday and is a huge street festival, filling the streets with colour, Caribbean music and food. The festival is filled with performers and on the last day of the carnival there is a massive parade for the Grand Finale. The best part of this festival is that event is free! A great way to bring people together.
