Europe's Most Popular Festivals to Visit This Summer

A guide to Europe's most exotic festivals that you must visit this summer

Europe, by many, is regarded as the cultural hub of the world. Thousands of tourists flock to European destinations every year to revel in its rich cultural heritage. Various festivals hosted all across the continent attract people from every corner of the world. If you are planning a trip to Europe this summer, be sure to check out the following festivals happening during summertime.

Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in the month of June near Somerset, England. Regarded as the pinnacle of the British culture, the festival is inspired by the ethos of counter culture and hippie movements. Over the years, various dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other leading pop and rock artists have featured in the festival. The event co-ordinators also take utmost environmental precautions while organising and operating the festival.

San Fermin

San Fermin is a weeklong, historically rooted celebration held annually in the city of Navarre, Spain. The celebrations commence on 6th July, marked by setting of the pyrotechnic Chupinazo (rocket) and conclude with the singing of Pobre de Mi. The festival involves many traditional and folkloric activities with the most famous of them being The Encierro or the running of the bulls. Over 1,000,000 people from all over the world participate in the festivities every year.

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland is an electronic music festival held in the month of July in Boom, Belgium. It is one of the most popular music festivals attracting crowds from every continent in the world. Tomorrowland has hosted some of the most well known and critically acclaimed international DJs and electronic music artists. Tickets usually sell-out within minutes so if you are planning to check out this event you need to book yours as soon as ticket sales are announced.

Berlin Beer Festival

This one is for the beer aficionados. The Berlin Beer festival, held in the month of August, includes 340 breweries from 87 countries offering 2,400 unique beer specialties, and 22 beer regions presenting their culinary specialties. 20 stages are set up all around the venue for playing live music by national and international bands. Each year a different country or a theme is at the centre of attention. The best part about this festival is the free admission it grants to its visitors.

Øyafestival

Øyafestival is an annual music festival held every August in Oslo, Norway. From its modest inception in 1999, it has since grown to become one of Norway’s biggest festivals. The event consists of four main stages, hosting artists across all genres of music. Just like Glastonbury, Øyafestival goes to extreme lengths to not disrupt the ecological balance maintained by the government of Norway. The organisers take every precaution to conduct an eco-friendly event.

Zurich Street Parade

The Zurich Street Parade, held in the month of August, is the most attended techno parade in Europe. According to its official website, it was first organised by Marek Krynski in Zurich as ‘a demonstration that calls on everyone to live together in peace and tolerance’. Through the parade, the organisers and the revellers preach about the ideas of love, liberty, freedom, and generosity. Comparable to Berlin's Love Parade, the Zurich Street Parade is one of the largest techno parties in the world.

La Tomatina

La Tomatina is an annual festival that is held every August in the Valencian town of Buñol, Spain. This event as depicted and popularised in the 2011 Bollywood film ‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’ includes participants throwing tomatoes at each other purely for entertainment purpose. If you are planning to visit Spain in the month of August, you definitely owe it to yourself to experience this crazy festival at least once.

On your next trip to Europe, make these festivals a part of your itinerary. Be sure to talk to your insurance advisor about the best travel insurance plans on offer and make your travel trouble free.

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