Turkish Grand Prix

04/12/2011 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

One of the more exotic locations of the Formula 1 series set in the only country in the world that lies on two continents, the Turkish Grand Prix is held in the Istanbul Park Circuit, also one of the newest, most technologically advanced racing circuits in the Formula 1 championship series. Making its debut in 2005, it has proven to be a quite interesting part of the Formula 1 series, and becoming a challenging circuit at that.

The Istanbul Park Circuit is a state-of-the-art circuit designed by Hermann Tilke, who himself set the standard with the Bahrain, Sepang and Shanghai International Circuits. Unlike his previous designs, Tilke says he contoured the track according to the hills and dips of Istanbul Park and designed the circuit according to the lay of the land, making the circuit unique with its four different ground levels. Tilke also famously declared that he wished to challenge the drivers on this racetrack, and was successful in that many drivers find themselves spinning off at certain expansive corners at crucial moments in the race.

Found in Pendik, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait, the Istanbul Park Circuit is also unique and challenging in that it is one of only two circuits in the Formula 1 championship that is raced counter-clockwise. The track is 5.34 kilometers long and is raced for a total of 58 laps. Of its sixteen corners, Turn 8 is popular for having the most drivers spinning out of the sweeping corner, compared to the Nürburgring.

Other parts of the Istanbul Park Circuit, despite the uniqueness of the track as a whole, have also been observed by drivers nonetheless to be similar to famous features in old race tracks. For example, one turn is nicknamed the “Turkish Corkscrew,” after comparisons with Laguna Seca’s own famous Corkscrew, while another part of the course recalls Eau Rouge and has been hilariously dubbed the “Faux Rouge.”

Kimi Räikkönen was the Turkish Grand Prix’s inaugural winner for McLaren-Mercedes, with rival Fernando Alonso coming in second. The fastest lap ever on this circuit was performed in that 2005 race, by third-placer Juan Pablo Montoya, clocking in at 1’24.77, and has yet to be beaten.

Brazilian Felipe Massa won his first ever Formula 1 grand prix in Istanbul in 2006. Also winning in his homeland, at the Brazilian Grand Prix, in the same year, it is noted that Massa seems to have an affinity for counter-clockwise race courses, since the Interlagos circuit is the only other circuit in the Formula 1 series to run in the opposite direction. Because he won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Istanbul, Massa has declared that Turkey holds a special place in his heart, even cheering on both the Brazilian and Turkish football teams, São Paulo FC and the Fenerbahçe.

Drivers, crew and spectators arrive at the Ataturk International Airport, which is 30 minutes away from downtown Istanbul and an hour from Istanbul Park. There are few hotels on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait, which still carries the mystic and oriental ambience of Constantinople and a great place to soak up the culture of the city.

Getting to the circuit has improved drastically from the Turkish Grand Prix’s inaugural race. The traffic going to the racing circuit was so bad right before the scheduled games began that the local government actually restructured their motorway to allow shortcuts.

It is also possible to stay at the European side of the Bosphorus, where there are many hotels. Several public buses that were consigned to go specially to Istanbul Park for the Turkish Grand Prix come from both sides of the Bosphorus Strait, just leave earlier if you’re to come from the European side of the city, where the more modern buildings and malls are.

The main grandstand at Istanbul Park seats 25,000 individuals, but makeshift stands can be constructed and appended to natural ground stands to accommodate more than 155,500 spectators. Turkish grand prix tickets in the grandstands are priced as gold, silver and bronze sections, according to the audience view. There are no special favourite areas yet, but since the circuit is as bumpy as the ocean, the grounds of the track are at different levels and there are many seats with breathtaking views.

Stars of the White Nights Festival

02/12/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

Perhaps one of Europe’s most intriguing festivals, at first sight at least, is the exotically named Stars of the White Nights Festival in the stunning Russian city of St. Petersburg. Originally lasting just ten days, the Stars of the White Nights is now a three month season for classical music, ballet and opera lovers, taking its name from that short time of the year in this part of the world when the sun never sets. From May through to the end of July, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Philharmonic Hall and the magnificent Mariinsky Concert Hall – only opened in 2007 – host concerts on a par with any that can be found throughout the world.

The Stars of the White Nights was the brainchild of the very first mayor of St. Petersburg and brought to fruition by the Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev – a position he still holds. From its beginnings in 1993, the festival has been regarded as a ‘musical gift’ to the people of St. Petersburg and has attempted to attract the world’s leading performers, producing some of the world’s musical masterpieces. Artists from Russia and other countries now feature in more than one hundred separate concerts during the festival – which continues to attract names such as Placido Domingo, Bryn Terfel, Alfred Brendel, Thomas Hampson and Maria Guleghina to perform here.

The festival has always been ambitious in its programming as well as with the quality of its artists. New premiers and contemporary pieces are commonly included as well as the most celebrated symphonic compositions. There have also been stagings of, for example, Wagner’s Ring Cycle and the complete symphonies of both Mahler and Shostakovich.

As comprehensive as the musical programme of the Stars of the White Nights is, however, it still does not tell all of the story. A number of spectacular carnivals also takes place during the festival – the best-known of which are held in the suburbs of Peterhof, Pavlovsk and at the Catherine Palace, the former summer residence of the tsars of Russia. These are costumed extravaganzas in which you’ll see sumptuous period horse-drawn carriages and dramatic re-enactments of the city’s history.

The Stars of the White Nights festival celebrations finish with what the Russians know as Alye Parusa, or Scarlet Sails. More than a million people will be on the streets and the banks of the St Petersburg river, the Neva, to witness what was once simply an end of the the school year celebration party. Based on a favourite novel by the Russian novelist Alexander Grin, the centrepiece of the event is a tall ship with the famous scarlet sails coming in towards the Winter Palace. Additionally, though, there will be motorboat and rowing races on the river and spectacular pirate battles.

St. Petersburg – or ‘the Venice of the North’ or ‘the City of 101 Islands’, take your pick – is the world’s most northern city of more than one million people. With well over 200 museums and some imposing architecture, it has become a popular tourist destination – with increasing numbers of cruise liners choosing the port as a destination. However, it is also a very modern city in its outlook – it is only 300 years old so is, in fact, literally very young for a European city. With a lively student population and good nightlife, it attracts visitors of all ages and outlooks from across the world.

With this in mind, accommodation is now plentiful in the city – ranging from some incredible luxury hotels such as the Astoria, the Grand Hotel Europe and the Radisson Royal Hotel as well as many budget hotels and self-catering accommodation.

The Stars of the White Nights Festival represents a wonderful opportunity of visiting a city that is almost a stage set in its own right. Of then attending some world class musical concerts and leaving the concert hall at midnight and walking home in the daylight! There is an extremely high demand for tickets for nearly all of the performances, so those wishing to attend need to keep a careful eye on the Marinsky Theatre website which will give details of all the programme and how to obtain tickets.

Sighisoara Medieval Festival

02/12/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

In the heart of Transylvania, it would be anticipated that the Sighisoara Medieval Festival might turn out to be simply a ‘DraculaFest’ but this is, in fact, a long way from the truth. Sighisoara might have been the birthplace of the legendary Vlad the Impaler – whose name inspired Bram Stoker – but it is also one of the most beautifully preserved, inhabited walled medieval towns in Eastern Europe and its annual Medieval Festival is a celebration of the customs, beliefs and lifestyles of those times.

It was in 1992 that the Sighisoara Medieval Festival was initiated and now this town of just over 30,000 inhabitants is augmented by as many as 20,000 visitors for the last weekend in July each year.

For three days, the narrow streets in the shadows of the old town citadel are packed with troubador music, parades in medieval costumes, street entertainers and craft displays. Add to that open-air concerts and medieval themed events and you begin to get some idea of the atmosphere created. The whole place comes alive with gladitorial contests such as jousting, as well as conferences, dancing and street carnivals. Many Romanians come to experience the medieval atmosphere but, in recent years, more and more people from overseas have started to join them.

Sighisoara is a popular tourist location within Romania and is a town of two different parts. The famous Citadel sits magnificently on top of a hill – a World Heritage Site and the focal point of the Medieval Festival. With stages around the various plazas and artists and face painters on almost every corner, this part of town is what draws so many people to Sighisoara. The impressive walls of the town still have nine perfectly preserved towers – dediacted to trades such as the Shoemakers, Tinsmiths and Tailors. The lower part of the town is in the attractive valley of the Târnava Mare river.

Of course, Vlad the Impaler is an important element in the life of this part of Romania. Born here as Vlad Tepes in 1431, there is a bust of the notorious Wallachian prince just around the corner from his birthplace, quite close to the 1360 constructed Clock Tower at the Citadel. There will often be Vlad and Dracula related events – including screenings of films at night in the Citadel itself. Next to Vlad’s birthplace is an intriguing museum of medieval weapons and it’s also worth taking time to visit the Gothic looking Church on the Hill, where the graveyard has a particular atmosphere.

Although tucked away in the Mures County region, Sighisoara is only 30 miles from the airport at Targu Mures and 54 miles from Sibiu. It is 170 miles by road from Bucharest and the train station has daily services to Budapest (ten hours journey time), Vienna (twelve hours) and Prague (nineteen hours). There is a wide variety of accommodation available in and around the town itself.

Undoubtedly, the Sighisoara Medieval Festival is a unique opportunity to travel to one of Europe’s most enigmatically picturesque locations and fully explore the lore and legends of what was once Transylvania.

Open’er Festival

02/12/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

The Open’er festival, held annually in the northern city of Gdynia on the Baltic Sea, is the largest open-air music and performing arts festival in Poland and is developing its reputation year by year. Open’er caters for up to 55,000 festival goers on each of its four days. In excess of 120 acts perform across the seven stages during the course of Open’er and many famous artists have appeared here since the festival’s inception. Headline artists have included the Chemical Brothers, Cypress Hill, Massive Attack, Snoop Dog, Fatboy Slim, The White Stripes, Placebo, Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, Björk, Beastie Boys and the Sex Pistols.

It was in 2006 that Open’er moved to what is now its permanent home at Kosakowo Airport, formerly known as Babie Doly Military Airport, in Gdynia. This 75 hectare site has proved to be an ideal location for the festival, enabling not only the stages to be set up there but also with more than enough room for all the accompanying elements of a typical festival ‘village’. There is a 10 hectare space dedicated to campers and plenty of room for the film and theatrical performances as well as the merchandising areas and food and drink zones. There is a chillout zone – disconcertingly, perhaps, it’s in a former military hanger – as well as stages dedicated to World Music, Young Talent, Drum and Bass, amongst others. For the 2009 festival, a new area, Fashion’er, was introduced to cater for creative fashion innovations. There is a free internet café – if you don´t mind queues – and concerts take place from four in the afternoon right through until five o’clock in the morning. One of the great attractions of the village is the fabulous beach next to the Baltic Sea.

Additionally, the town of Gdynia is only a short ride away; with plenty of reasonably priced restaurants and cheap pints of Tiske. It’s little wonder that Open’er is becoming more and more popular with festival goers from outside of Poland.

It’s possible to purchase three types of ticket for Open’er; for one, three or four days. Space on the campsite is not included in the basic ticket price. The major airport nearest the festival is at Gdansk but Gdynia is accessible by train from most Polish cities. Free buses are provided to ferry festival goers from the main station in Gdynia out to the festival site – a 15 minute bus journey. These buses run every few minutes all through the four days. Those people with camping tickets can also use the city bus number 109 to the site on the days before and after the event. Although the camp site itself is fairly small, many visitors have commented on its cleanliness and friendly atmosphere. It’s also worth remembering that many previous visitors to Open’er have mentioned that it’s advisable to ‘negotiate’ with taxi drivers about fares as they tend to assume that British people are all wealthy and so raise their charges accordingly!

Open’er is a friendly, lively festival in a lovely seaside location that not many people might ordinarily visit. Details of the next event can be found on the Open’er website.

Kirkpinar Oiled Wrestling Festival

23/11/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

The Kirkpinar Oiled Wrestling Festival is in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest running sporting competition – and it’s little wonder considering it has been around since 1357! Oiled wrestling is one of Turkey’s most popular sports in which the participants, with their tight leather trousers, smother themselves in olive oil and then grapple for sometimes as long as forty minutes. The Kirkpinar Festival – the most famous and important tournament in the country – takes place annually for seven days at the end of June and beginning of July in the historic city of Edirne, 150 miles west of Istanbul, near the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Kirkpinar is the name of an island between the Meric and Tumar river.

The event, held in a large stadium at the field known as Sarayiçi Er Meydani, commemorates a bout in which two Ottoman warriors fought to the death. During their ‘breaks’ between raids on neighbouring Rumelia, the men wrestled to keep themselves active. Apparently, two of them were so determined not to give ground that they, literally, fought until they dropped. The graves of these two wrestlers, Adali Halil and Kara Emin, are visited for a memorial service before each year’s festival begins.

Over 1,000 participants come to Kirkpinar each year to wrestle in the various categories and the prizes for winning are quite substantial – as much as $100,000 US for the overall Champion of Turkey.

Previously only of real interest to the Turkish, oiled wrestling has developed somewhat during the last twenty years. There are now similar events in Holland and Japan each year. The festival has always attracted the interest of gypsies from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, resulting in a colorful fair springing up outsdie the arena. This has now become more organised with much traditional music, belly dancing and entertainment taking place into the early hours of the morning. This is also a winderful opportunity of tasting authentic Turkish cooking – especially the succulent roast lamb.

Although still very much a national event – and with a uniquely Turkish atmosphere – locals are now more accustomed to seeing foreign visitors joining the thousands attending. The standard of hotel accommodation in the city has also improved considerably in the last few years – details can be found at www.edirne.turkeyhotelstours.com .

Although formerly the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the population of the city is only about 130,000 but is is one of Turkey’s most beautiful places. The Selimiye Mosque, with the highest minarets in the country, is truly spectacular and it is a spectacular location. Additionally, there are very impressive palaces, houses and bridges across the River Meric.

Trains from Europe to Istanbul often stop at the station here and there are daily trains from Istanbul’s Sirkeci Station, with a journey time of up to four hours. Frequent buses, which are generally quicker, arrive at the bus station just outside of the town, from where there are free shuttles into Edirne.

Turkey is a fascinating country and Edirne one of its lesser known delights. It would certainly be interesting to pay a visit at the end of June to coincide with the incredible spectacle of the Kirkpinar Oiled Wrestling Festival

Kiruna Snow Festival

23/11/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

The stunning Kiruna Snow Festival is just about as diametrically opposite to conventional concepts of ‘festival’ as it is possible to get. But it is one tremendous party, just the same. Kiruna is 140 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, in the north of Sweden. Astonishingly, it was once the world’s largest city (when measured by area). A little sensible re-organising by the authorities have made that claim archaic now but it is still an important centre – for mining and tourism.

The Snow Festival itself was first held in 1985, to coincide with the launching of the rocket Viking from the nearby space centre of Esrange. Since then it has developed into a totally unique celebration of traditional – and extremely untraditional – winter activities.

For example, you might well expect there to be skiing, snowboarding and ice skating competitions here – and so there are. Together with reindeer and dog sledge racing and sleigh rides. Rather less predictable, however, are the scooter jump displays, the Mr Snowman Strong Man competitions and, the centrepiece of the Snow Festival, the incredible ice-sculpting contest. In this final event, teams compete against each other to create the most original sculptures from a single 3 by 3 metre cube of snow. The results of this artistic challenge are simply awe-inspiring pieces of work, often quite majestic.

In addition to the contests and displays, though, Kiruna is noted for its parties. Some of these are held in huge igloos, which can hold around 200 people, and many are in the ‘Winterland’ area of Kiruna itself, where you can also find your obligatory reindeer kebab and bear steaks. There are also numerous art, handicraft and fashion exhibitions as well as concerts and many informal ‘singalongs’ – all contributing to making the Kiruna Snow Festival one of the genuinely friendliest of festivals around.

All of this takes place at the end of January and beginning of February each year in a place where the average daily high temperature at this time is around -8° and there’s barely any real daylight. It is, though, the perfect place for seeing the Northern Lights or going cross-country skiing. The world famous Ice Hotel, recently voted Sweden’s Best Tourist Experience, is also quite close in the village of Jukkasjärvi.

The official website of the Kiruna Snow Festival will tell you that ‘it is easy travelling by car’ to Kiruna. Well, it would certainly be a wonderfully scenic journey – when it was daylight. The two main routes are either by following the coastline or by driving through the inland forests – but routes are about 800 miles. There is, however, an airport at Kiruna, which has regular scheduled flights and is an easier way to arrive – so you can save your adventures for the Snow Festival itself.

Once you arrive in the city, there are a number of very reasonable hotels that are used to catering for tourists and three very well-reviewed hostels – the Yellow House, HI STF Kiruna and HI STF Lappland – the latter two being affiliated with Hostelling International and offering special rates for members of the organisation.

For snow sport enthusiasts, who always seem to love a good party, then the annual Kiruna Snow Festival represents the opportunity of visiting one of the world’s remotest cities – and having one sensational time whilst you’re there.

Viva Musica Festival

23/11/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

Since its inception in 2005 the Viva Musica Festival has developed into the biggest international summer music festival in Bratislava offering the very best in classical, jazz and world music. Held every July, Viva Musica aims to present a full programme which showcases unusual and original pieces, often classical pieces with a modern touch, performed in the open air in the superb surroundings of this historic city centre.

Bratislava - Slovakia — Photo Credit: Jorge Lascar

Most of the concerts of Viva Musica – originally known as ‘The Musical gardens of Bratislava’ – take place in and around the city’s main square, Hlavné Námestie, or in the courtyard of St John of Nepomuk, the old Town Hall. In recent years, performers have included Russian cellist Tatjana Vassiljeva, the Greek soprano Elly Paspala, world renowned jazz artist Kyle Eastwood, the fabulous French saxophonists Sax Machine, Argentinian songstress Sandra Rumolino, and the very best Slovakian musicians and singers. The eighty strong Festival Orchestra has developed its own formidable reputation in just five short years.

Another of the enticing aspects of this particular summer festival is that many of the events are completely free of charge and even those that do require payment are very reasonably priced. Viva Musica is also keen that the evening performances are as relaxed and informal as possible, thus doing away with the necessity of packing dinner jackets and ball gowns! From gypsy violinists to formal bell-canto arias and jazz arrangements of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, this a festival full of diversity.

Bratislava, on the banks of the Danube, is, despite being Slovakia’s capital city, home to less than half a million people. It has an old town full of historical charm but also boasts some highly impressive more modern constructions. Foremost amongst these is the fabulous bridge across the Danube, Nový Most (the New Bridge), which has a uniquely designed restaurant at its highest point. People tend to be divided into two very distinct camps about the Kamzík Television Tower, which also has its own revolving restaurant and viewing platform. This is one of those constructions you will either love or loathe. The most notable of its older buildings is probably the castle perched 300 feet above the river.

Famous for being half of the answer to a popular quiz question – it and Vienna are, at 37 miles, Europe’s closest capital cities – Bratislava is an easy city to reach. There is a brand new motorway to Vienna and rail connections are excellent. The airport, just 5-6 miles outside the city, has regular summer connections with British airports.

Bratislava is a lovely place to visit in the summer months, having an almost Mediterranean atmosphere with people enjoying an outdoor culture. Viva Musica fits perfectly into this relaxed ambience, with its broad, eclectic and top class programme of quality musical presentations. Once actual dates of the festival are confirmed they appear on the official website together with the full programme of concerts.

EXIT Festival

23/11/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

The annual EXIT Festival takes place in Novi Sad (the second city of Serbia) for four days every July. This summer music festival has come an awfully long way since three University students had the idea of a festival in the summer of 2000. It now attracts around 200,000 visitors – more than half of them foreigners.

Where is the EXIT Festival?

The unique site for the EXIT Festival is the huge Austro-Hungarian Petrovardin Fortress, which, from its daunting promontory, majestically overlooks the Danube as it winds its way through the city. Such an impressive location, though, is only one of the reasons that in 2007, EXIT was recognised as ‘The Best European Festival’ in the UK Festival Awards, in only its seventh year of existence.

The original intention of the student founders, who were aided in their work by not only their Student Unions but also by several NGOs and commercial organisations in order to develop the full potential of the event, was to not only provide high quality music for Serbian young people but also to help raise relevant social issues amongst them. These aims are still adhered to, resulting in top quality line-ups of artists from around Europe, combined with political debates and documentary films. Currently, the Festival site can boast 11 separate performance areas – which includes a Main Stage and a Dance Stage – plus an extreme sports’ area, a Technology Zone, an open-air cinema and an NGO area.

There are many exciting aspects of EXIT. Firstly, the impressive size of the site means that, even with so many festival-goers, there is always plenty of space to move around and even the main stages never seem to be too overcrowded. Additionally, even though some of the smaller performance areas can be quite close to each other, because of the thick castle walls, the sounds are easily absorbed and you do not get that annoying ‘interference’ from other stages disrupting your concentration.

The music is obviously right at the heart of EXIT and this Festival gives people from Western and Eastern sides of Europe the perfect opportunity of hearing the latest sounds from all over the continent; this is often a very exciting aspect for many visitors. Balkan folk music and modern hip hop, dance and electronics can exist happily side by side.

Differently to most modern festivals, EXIT doesn’t really get into full swing until the evenings, with the main acts generally performing from about 8 pm. The Main Stage will finish at about 2 am but that’s when the Dance Stage comes into its own. By early morning, the majority of the outside stages finish but the Dance Stages may continue for a few hours more.

Where to Stay in Novi Sad

Many visitors to EXIT will want to camp and the main camp-site is in the University Park, directly opposite the site. This is the only officially approved site, guaranteeing comfort and security. Unlike in some places, amplifiers might be blasting out at all hours, so don’t expect too much sleep. The site is open for visitors for a week or so before the Festival actually gets under way. The EXIT Festival camp-site has the added bonus of its own stretch of Danube beach for the campers to enjoy. This really is Party HQ for a few days!

There are a number of fine hotels in Novi Sad itself, a short walk across the Danube. Predominant amongst them is the Hotel Aleksander, a four star hotel. It is recommended that, if you wish to stay in the city, that you make your reservation well in advance as the demand is very high for the Festival period.

Additional information can be found on the official EXIT website.

EXIT has had its problems over the years – Björk’s controversial non-appearance and the death of a camper because of a fallen tree branch being the major ones – but it has developed into one of the liveliest, happiest festivals of the season and, for large numbers of people, the middle of July wouldn’t be the same without their visit to the castle by the side of the Danube.

Prague Spring Festival

11/11/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

The Prague Spring International Music Festival has, for more than 60 years, been a showcase for many of the world’s leading orchestras and performers. With performances taking place in many of the city’s leading venues – including the Prague State Opera House and the National Theatre – this annual celebration of music has become a major attraction for both music loving tourists and musicians themselves.

The origins of the Prague Festival can be traced back to the late 19th Century, although the May Festival began in 1900, with a series of concerts each year. In 1946, however, to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Spring Festival was officially launched. Whilst initially focussing on the work of leading Czech composers and musicians, there was, from the very beginning, a substantial international aspect to the Spring Festival. Leonard Bernstein, for example, performed in the Festival’s first two years. When the Budapest Symphony Orchestra visited in 1949, it began the tradition of leading orchestras from all over the world attending.

The Spring Festival traditionally is opened by a performance of Smetana’s ‘My Country’ and closes with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Between these two events, however, is a programme of tremendous variety. Many leading orchestras, conductors and soloists will feature each year – the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé are amongst the many celebrated orchestras to have appeared here during at least one Festival.

An additional essential element of the festival programme is the inclusion of spectacular guest operatic and ballet productions. The Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, the Sadler’s Wells Ballet and many other world famous companies have appeared.

The Spring Festival has always specifically attempted to promote and develop young, talented musicians and, consequently, each year a competition is held in various instrumental sections. Sviatoslav Richter, the celebrated Russian pianist, gave his first concerts outside his homeland here and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich was awarded the Gold Medal in 1947. A founding member of the Federation of International Music Competitions, the Prague Spring festival has helped launch the careers of countless talented young musicians.

Lasting for most of the month of May each year and finishing at the beginning of June, the events in the festival range from large scale concerts to much smaller, more intimate chamber music ensembles. In addition to the main venues of the city, performances are also held in places such as St Anne’s Monastery, the Municipal House and various churches. In 2009, there were 70 events – categorised as Orchestral, Chamber Music, Recitals, Early Music, Popular Series, Theatre and Opera and Accompanying Events – which included a musicological conference and the Prize Giving.

Details of the next Prague Spring International Music Festival appear on the official website which will also have details about how to obtain tickets. This festival is especially noteworthy because of the discounts it is possible to obtain on many of the ticket prices. For example, concert-goers who are 60 or more years old, children under 15 and students can receive a discount of 20% for any concert.

It is only in recent years that many people have come to realise that Prague has much to offer visitors; rising in 2006 to Europe’s sixth most visited city destination. In addition to some amazing architecture it has some elements that are rather less common – the Lennon Wall, for example, which attracts many visitors, as does the Franz Kafka Museum. Often referred to as the ‘city of a thousand spires’ it is equally as famous for the quality of its beer and it has developed the reputation of being Central Europe’s most exciting city in terms of its nightlife. The public transport system in the city has made great strides in recent years – although visitors are always warned to be wary of unlicensed taxi drivers, who can charge as much as twice the official fare.

There are now over 50,000 hotel beds in the city – most of which are in accommodation built since the 1990s – and so far it has managed to maintain a good balance between being heavily dependent on tourism for its economy and maintaining its own cultural identity. Certainly, the Spring International Music Festival is a major part of Prague’s cultural year and is certainly a good excuse to visit this gem of a city.

National Eisteddfod

01/09/2010 // by Eurofiestas// Leave a Comment

About 160,000 people each year attend the National Eisteddfod of Wales, a celebration of music, poetry and art established specifically to promote the Welsh language and culture. Famous throughout the world, the origins of this spectacular event, held at the beginning of every August, can be traced as far back as 1176 when, at Cardigan Castle, Lord Rhys allowed the most talented of the assembled poets and musicians to have seats at the high table. The Eisteddfod in its current form was first held in 1860 in Aberdare, and, since the formation, in 1880, of the National Eisteddfod Association, it has now become an annual event. There is not a permanent venue for the festival; it alternates between North and South Wales.

Linked for many years with the Gorsedd of Bards – an elite group of poets, writers, musicians, artists, etc who have helped promote the international reputation of Wales – and also with certain druid ceremonies, the Eisteddfod takes place each year in a chosen field, known as the Maes. Because of the large area of land needed to accommodate the enormous event, the Eisteddfod is customarily outside of the actual host town, and a symbolic stone ring is erected at the centre of the maes. Often, the stone circle is left as a permanent reminder of the Eisteddfod’s visit to the town.

In addition to the internally known singing competitions and concerts, which take place in the main Pavilion, there are pop, folk and rock concerts, classic plays, comedy events. The Pavilion hosts the ceremonies and prize givings that also characterise an Eisteddfod and help invest it with its special atmosphere. There are also a dance hall, a literary tent, a Science and Technology venue, a tent for learners of Welsh, a Youth tent and more than 300 stalls of miscellaneous arts and crafts – as well as an array of tempting food.

It is possible to obtain tickets for individual concerts or for longer periods. Information can always be found at the website, www.eisteddfod.org.uk, where you can easily navigate to pages in English. Incidentally, the main events of the Eisteddfod are carried out in Welsh but simultaneous translations are usually available. Certainly, the quality of the programme for each year really does transcend any language barrier. Not only can the competitions themselves reveal startling new talent – the now world famous baritone Bryn Terfel is a former winner, for example – but well-known artists can always be seen at the concerts which form equally as important a part of the proceedings. Although the Welsh language does form such a vital element of the event, it does not mean that non-Welsh speakers need feel unwanted or intimidated in anyway; the Eisteddfod is a friendly, welcoming occasion for speakers of any language.

Many visitors decide to camp or bring caravans to the National Eisteddfod, although you will need to book your place well in advance. There are usually caravan places with electricity as well as those without power. As some of the host towns can be quite limited in terms of accommodation, be aware that hotel or guest house prices at the beginning of August are likely to be rather expensive.

The National Eisteddfod of Wales was held in Denbighshire in 2013 then Llanelli in 2014. Venues for 2015 1nd 2016 are Montgomeryshire followed by Monmouthshire which maintains the proud tradition of alternating venues.

More Festivals

Where is the EXIT Festival?

Where to Stay in Novi Sad