Top 5 city break festivals

Festivals make a fantastic alternative short break holiday, and cities hold some of the best. Around the world this summer there will be huge festive parties thrown from places as diverse as the USA to Thailand, Germany to India. Anyone interested in music, culture and food will love a festival city break. We’ve put together a list of our top 5 festivals held in cities below.

 

A ten-day carnival on the French Riviera, Mardi Gras in Nice is a spectacular, colourful, vibrant event featuring parades, concerts, street theatre and more. The festival dates back to the Middle Ages, and begins when the King of Carnival arrives at Nice’s Place Masséna, surrounded by revellers, and starts the festival off. Mardi Gras in Nice does not have the manic, alcohol-fuelled atmosphere of the Rio de Janeiro Carnival or Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and as such makes a great family city break festival for those with children.

For a great UK city break festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a good bet. The Fringe is one of a number of festivals which are held throughout August in Scotland’s capital, and which are usually lumped together under the umbrella term ‘the Edinburgh Festival’. The largest arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is great for anyone after a cultural city break. It is renowned for performing arts, theatre and comedy, as well as dance and music. The festival does not have a ‘jury’ to approve the selection of events; anybody or any form of art can be performed here, meaning it is a breeding ground for creativity and experimental work. With over 2000 shows put on at over 265 venues, you’re bound to find something to entertain you on an Edinburgh Fringe Festival city break.

The Munich Oktoberfest is probably the world’s best-known beer-drinking festival. A Munich Oktoberfest city break makes a great way to experience traditional southern German culture, with traditional German drinking songs, delicious authentic German cuisine, old-fashioned Bavarian fairground rides and games and superb friendly atmosphere. The festival is held from late September to mid-October, attracting around 6 million people who drink over 5 million litres of beer. Despite all the alcohol consumption, the festival has a jovial, family-friendly vibe and even has set days specifically for families (generally Sundays).

A riot of colour, Brazilian music, beautiful people, extravagant masks and much, much more, the Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has an almost legendary status. A festival city break to Rio de Janeiro for Brits will probably have to be a little longer than your average short break holiday, to take into account the travel time getting there. The festival is held just before lent every year, and has a history dating back to 1723. Ostensibly the biggest street party in the world, once you’re at the Rio Carnival this can be a fairly cheap city break, as you can just wander the streets, soak up the amazing atmosphere and watch the samba parades go by.

One of the largest music and cultural festivals in Europe, Sziget is has become increasingly popular with Brits over the last few years. A Sziget festival city break will see you camped up on the Obuda Island in Budapest, Hungary. Over 1000 music acts play over the course of the week-long festival, spanning a huge range of genres including blues, jazz, folk, world music, rock and dance. The festival is held in August each year when Budapest is particularly hot and sunny, making it ideal for a summer city break with a difference.