May events around the world
Africa
Mampoer Festival, South Africa
Moonshine festival held at Cullinan near Pretoria, with the favoured brew being a mix of peach and apricot
Rose Festival, Morocco
Celebrating the rose harvest in the Vallée des Roses up in the High Atlas, drawing in 20,000 people, with events including song and dance, feasting, a procession through a shower of petals and a beauty pageant
Australasia & Pacific
Naghol, Vanuatu
The islanders of Vanuatu spend this time building tall wooden towers that they dive from as if bungee jumping (indeed this was its inspiration), but using vines attached to each leg – when the divers’ hair touches the ground it is meant to bring a bountiful yam harvest
Europe
Anastenaria, Greece
Villagers near Serres and Thessaloniki celebrate Saint Constantine and Saint Eleni with bonfires in the day and fire walking at night – running across hot coals clutching images of the saints to their chests
Brighton Festival, United Kingdom
England’s biggest arts festival features music, dance, theatre and talks, with the fringe bringing a unique flavour to the event, such as street performances and exhibitions in artists’ homes
Cannes Film Festival, France
The cinematic world focuses its attention on Cannes for 12 days in May, when more than 30,000 producers, distributors, directors, publicists and actors descend on the town, for the premier film event of the year
Chelsea Flower Show, United Kingdom
The 11 acres behind the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, are converted each year for competitions in designing the best garden in various categories – the great and the good all come down to see them and the champagne and lobster ain’t bad either
Corsa dei Ceri, Italy
The ’Race of Candles’ sees three teams dressed in bright costumes race massive wooden candles around the narrow lanes of Gubbio – overtaking is forbidden so the winning team is judged by the spectators on flair and style
Feria de Abril, Spain
Andalucia lets its hair down after the solemn Semana Santa events for a much more wild celebration to see in spring – Seville’s party is the one that stands out for its vibrancy and energy
Feria del Caballo, Spain
The ’Horse Fair’ is one of Andalucia’s biggest festivals, which attracts more than a million people who come to celebrate the horse, drink sherry and dance flamenco – other events include bullfights, parades and competitions
Fiesta de San Isidro, Spain
Madrid celebrates its patron saint with jazz concerts, flamenco and other activities over a ten-day period, which also falls at the start of the bullfighting season
Glyndebourne Festival Opera, United Kingdom
A beautiful, 700-year-old stately home in Glyndebourne hosts this festival of six operas throughout the English summer, with the very best international singers, conductors and orchestras performing and some exquisite picnics
Hay Festival, United Kingdom
Authors, politicians, celebs, publishers and thousands of keen readers hear to the small town of Hay-on-Wye, just inside the Welsh border, for a festival of words and ideas, which Bill Clinton called ‘the Woodstock of the mind’
Kattenfestival, Belgium
This cat festival has roots dating back to a twelfth century tradition in which a city jester threw live cats from a belfry in Ypres to rid the town of evil – today toy cats are thrown instead and the festival occurs every three years
La Ducasse, Belgium
The town of Mons spends a day staging mock battles with dragons, with the highlight being St George on horseback against a nine metre long wicker dragon – the remains of the patron saint are also paraded through town
Monaco Grand Prix, Monaco
The streets of the second smallest, most densely populated, principality play host to the highly glamorous, high speed world of Formula One – huge yachts fill the harbour while the rich and famous attend the casino, making for four days of paradise for playboys
Pageant of the Juni, Romania
A horseback parade celebrates the one day a year Romanians could traditionally enter the Transylvanian town of Braşnov – after the parade round dances are performed on the surrounding hills
Pélerinage des Gitans, France
Gypsies from across Europe head to the Camargue, the delta of the River Rhône, for a fabulous street party of music and dancing – various religious effigies are also paraded through Les Stes-Maries de la Mer
Pink Pop Festival, The Netherlands
One of Europe’s big pop festivals, Pinkpop draws in 60,000 revellers who come to see international acts at its site in Landgraaf
Prague Spring Music Festival, Czech Republic
Over three weeks in May and June Prague hosts a delightful classical music festival in which the best stars perform to devoted audiences – meanwhile the capital itself provides the perfect romantic backdrop to proceedings
Processione dei Serpari, Italy
The small Abruzzan hamlet of Cocullo’s ’Festival of the Snakes’ sees a statue of St Domenic – the protector against snake bites – be paraded through the streets, adorned by jewels, banknotes and writhing snakes
Queima das Fitas, Portugal
Students from the University of Coimbra take over the town for seven days of raucous partying, with concerts, surf competitions and fado performances – with a formal parade that ends with the final year students burning graduation ribbons in one of the university’s forecourts
Regatta of the Four Maritime Republics, Italy
A pageant and boat race, held to commemorate past success, takes place between the four maritime republics of Italy – Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice – with the crowd dressing in period costume
Romeria del Rocio, Spain
The most spectacular Andalucian holy pilgrimage sees a million people come to pay respect to the statue of the Virgin of the Dew, which is paraded after mass – the event has a fairground and family atmosphere
Far East
Bun Bang Fai Festival, Laos
This festival which supposes to bring good rain and ensure healthy crops and general fertility has much singing and dancing with a focus on rocket building – monks use bamboo shoots, stuffed with gunpowder, decorated in ribbons and capped with a paper dragon’s head
Cheung Chau Bun Festival, Hong Kong, China
Dedicated to the Taoist god of the sea, Hong Kong islanders build 20m tall, rocket-shaped towers and scramble up them to grab a bun from the top for good luck – other features include floats, stilt walkers and costumed characters from Chinese legends
Dragon Boat Races, Hong Kong, China
Commemorating the aquatic suicide of a regional governor, Hong Kong’s dragon boat races take place in Stanley Harbour and close competition – with lots of sticky rice, firecrackers and dragon dances on the side
Obando Fertility Festival, The Philippines
Childless locals gather in Bulacan to dance through the streets towards the main church for mass, carrying images of the patron saints
Sisters’ Meal, China
Teenagers from the Miao ethnic group celebrate spring by choosing their partners at this huge festival that attracts 30,000 revellers – events include a dance spectacular at Taijiang, dragon-lantern dances and buffalo fights
Usaba Sambah, Indonesia
Unmarried girls sit on a wooden ferris wheel overseeing action below in which young men lock shoulder-to-shoulder in ritual fights, whipping each other in pandanus leaves to impress them
Waisak, Indonesia
Thousands come to Borobudur to mark the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and attainment of nirvana – with a large procession of saffron-robed monks and, as the moon rises, flowers thrown about, candles lit, and prayers made
Indian Subcontinent & Indian Ocean
Puram, India
Kerala’s largest festival at Thrissur sees stylishly decorated elephants parade through the streets accompanied by marching bands of drummers and folk dancers in this vibrant event
Latin America
Los Diablos Danzantes, Venezuela
Fuelled by rum, dancers dress as devils and revel madly to mark Pentecost in mix of African heritage and Christianity – church services and parades are further efforts to ward off evil and cleanse the community, with Caracas putting on a good show
North America
Bay to the Breakers Festival, United States of America
One of the world’s largest road races, 75,000 people enter this 12km route that runs from the Embarcadero to the ocean – in the afternoon a music festival, Footstock, starts playing in Golden Gate Park
New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, United States of America
New Orleans’ second largest festival – after Mardi Gras – has a similar level of fun, but is less raucous, though it’s still attended by nigh on half a million people
