7 Top Summer Festivals Across Europe

We look at our highlights for this summer’s top festivals across Europe.

1.       White Lights Festival, Russia (24^th May – 28^th July)

A unique music and arts festival held in St. Petersburg through May and June is full of popular and diverse performances and showcases and is fast becoming renowned as one of the best music festivals in the world.  With its Northern positioning during June and part of July the city is almost always in daylight as the sun never descends below the horizon far enough to allow the sky to grow dark. 

Major venues across St Petersburg play host to some of the musical and arts performances; like the Mariinsky Theatre who host a number of operas, ballets and dance concerts. During the festival carnivals also take place, with one of the most spectacular being held at Peterhof that showcases reproductions of key historical events. 

(Image courtesy of Tourism Updates)

2.       La Tomatina Festival, Spain (25^th – 28^th August)

In Bunol, Spain you can paint the town red, quite literally, as you join in with the La Tomatina festival that sees an hours long food fight with thousands of revellers gathering to throw tomatoes.  A tradition in the area since 1944/1945, but no one is exactly sure of the history of this world famous event.

With the council providing the tomatoes a continually growing audience is drawn to the festival year on year. A crowd of 10,000 to 40,000 people join the event to throw over 100,000 tonnes of tomatoes, more than doubling Bunol’s tiny population of around 9000 people. 

Come 11am googles are secured, swimming caps are pulled on and the cracker sounds to alert 5 trucks full to the brim with tomatoes that they dump in the middle of the streets. This all cues the start of the huge tomato fight. The fight lasts approximately one hour.

(Image courtesy of Huffington Post)

3.       Rijeka Summer Nights Festival, Croatia (June – July)

An outdoor Croatian festival plays host to classical concerts, with ballet and theatre performances through the summer. The festival really has something for everyone; you are just as likely to catch an old classic as a gritty British film. The musical shows take place in the city’s squares, streets and beaches giving each of them a spectacular backdrop.  The festival is also a fantastic showcase of Croatian performing arts. 

(Image courtesy of Panoramio)

4.       V-Festival, England (16^th – 17^th August)

Seeing a stellar line up this year, with world renowned acts Justin Timberlake and The Killers headlining the shows are set to be knock outs. With other big names from across the globe such as Lily Allen, Bastille, Kaiser Chiefs and Rita Ora there is something to suit most music tastes. With entertainment tents and fairground rides V-festival stands out as one of England’s best and biggest summer festivals. 

With the festival alternating its acts on the two days between two locations, in Weston Park, Staffordshire and Hylands Park in Chelmsford you’ve two chances to catch your favourite acts.

(Image courtesy of Blood Sweat and Fashion)

5.       Rock en Seine, France (August)

Over three days in August the biggest rock festival in France takes place in a fascinating and beautiful historical park on the outskirts of Paris. Drawing visitors from all across Europe the event is continuously a sell-out year on year, demonstrating its popularity. A camping festival so if you’re feeling the true spirit, pack your tent and camp out with the other revellers, alternatively the music finishes early enough to catch the metro back into Paris city centre.

The line-up includes people such as Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Bjork and Mark ronson all performing over four stages. Children are also welcome there’s a ‘mini rock’ festival featuring music and creative activities to keep them occupied.

(Image courtesy of Talk in French)

6.       Venice International Film Festival, Italy (August – September)

The festival dates back to 1932 and has taken place every year from late August to early September ever since. The festivals main aim is to promote awareness of all aspects of international cinema in a fun way, where freedom of opinion is granted. 

At the festival the cream of the crop competes for the Golden Lion award, it is awarded annually to the best film showcased at the festival.

(Image courtesy of Islands)

7.       Brussels summer festival, Belgium (August)

Originally a music festival, it has expanded within recent years to include movie screenings, street theatre and exhibitions; this all adding to the festivals growing popularity. With a wide variety of music from hip hop, electronic music, indie and world music all performed outdoors in the city’s main squares it is a very lively and varied festival with lots to be experienced. 

There is a strong representation of Belgian artists, but over the years there has been a growing presence of international musicians featured such as Beastie Boys and Jamie Cullum. Alongside the performances there are various craft and food stalls in an ‘urban village’ and burlesque performances.

(Image courtesy of Daily Mail)

So if you’re looking to add a bit of culture and excitement to your summer these are some of our top events to check out. There are of course plenty of other festivals going on all across the world which you can find cheap holiday deals to and enjoy a great summer holiday.

Why not come and compare discount holidays to find amazingly cheap deals. Quick before they all go!