Incredible festivals around the world!
June 18, 2019 6:25 PM   Subscribe

I'm trying to plan a Summer 2020 trip. I am thinking of incorporating a couple amazing festivals in our travels. (Inspired by a Reddit post on Bloemencorso Zundert) Assume there's nowhere in the world we don't want to visit but that a 12 year old will be with us. What are some incredible annual events we could go see?

We love history. Not interested in music/drinking festivals.
posted by beccaj to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Tokyo Olympics
posted by rhizome at 6:47 PM on June 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


Many of the Fringe festivals around the world will have plenty of kid-friendly content. Edinburgh is tail end of summer, but other cities would have their own.

Even some Prides nowadays have kid-friendly events, which could be very useful if your kid is starting to explore their identity, and some are open to allies either (assuming you're not yourselves queer).
posted by divabat at 6:51 PM on June 18, 2019


Laura Dance Festival
posted by Thella at 7:10 PM on June 18, 2019


Gion Matsuri in Kyoto
posted by kokaku at 7:35 PM on June 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


Totally, 100%, recommend Olympics if you can swing it. My parents put together a trip to the 1996 games (I was 16 and didn’t like watching sports then and still don’t) and it was amazing. Going to the games is nowhere near as commercial as it looks on TV- there’s a lot of camaraderie and fun / interactions between attendees at low level games and all around the venues.
posted by holyrood at 7:43 PM on June 18, 2019


Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque USA is pretty remarkable if you've never been before. Ride in a balloon yourself or rent a canoe or a paddle board from an adventure outfitter and float down the Rio Grande under the balloons. Go see the balloons all lit up across 5 football fields at one of the nighttime Glowdeo events.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:22 PM on June 18, 2019 [4 favorites]


This is on my bucket list, Up Helly aa It is a Viking festival in the Shetlands.
posted by jadepearl at 9:48 PM on June 18, 2019


June 21 will see an annular solar eclipse across Asia from the Horn of Africa, to totality over Nepal (based on my general knowledge of the area-- better sources are available) out across China and the Philippine Sea to roughly Saipan. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is too far away to cover the sun, so the corona of the sun appears around the moon as a ring (annulus).

The partial eclipse will be visible from Tokyo 3 days before the Olympics start, if that's your thing.
posted by Sunburnt at 11:23 PM on June 18, 2019 [1 favorite]


I second the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico. We attended last October and it was truly spectacular. Over 600 balloons all over the field, you walk among them and talk with the pilots and crew. Mass ascensions, night flights, sunrise ascensions....it is truly magical.

You can follow it up with a trip to Santa Fe and hit Meow Wolf .....the 12 year and you will LOVE it. Tip: purchase tickets beforehand, you get in much quicker.
posted by SassyMcSassin at 3:10 PM on June 19, 2019


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