Table Of ContentThe Rough Guide to the World’s Best Festivals
World Party
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Publishing Information
World Party
The Rough Guide to the World’s Best Festivals
Published January 2007 by Rough Guides Ltd,
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
345 Hudson St, 4th Floor,
New York, NY 10014, USA
14 Local Shopping Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110017, India
Distributed by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd,
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL
Penguin Putnam, Inc.
375 Hudson Street, NY 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Australia)
250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell,
Victoria 3124, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd,
10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada M4V 1E4
Penguin Group (NZ)
67 Apollo Drive, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 1310, New Zealand
Typeset in Egyptian, Rockwell and Helvetica to an
original design by Diana Jarvis.
Printed in Slovakia
© Big Cat Press 2007
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except
for the quotation of brief passages in reviews.
400pp includes index
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 1-84353-528-9
ISBN 13: 9781843535287
The publishers and authors have done their best to ensure the accuracy and currency of all the
information in World Party: The Rough Guide to the World’s Best Festivals, however, they can
accept no responsibility for any loss, injury, or inconvenience sustained by any traveller as a result
of information or advice contained in the guide.
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to Diana Jarvis for her great design and layout, Mark Thomas for sourcing
such fantastic photos, Katie Lloyd-Jones for the beautiful maps, and Keith Drew
for skilfully keeping the book on its editorial track; and, of course, to the
legendary Dave Dakota, whose idea it was in the first place.
This book is dedicated to Daisy, who will enjoy many parties.
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The Rough Guide to the World’s Best Festivals
World Party
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Las Fallas
The Rough guide World Party
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Contents
IntroduCtIon ........................6 Junkanoo ....................................................219
Mardi gras .................................................225
Reggae Sumfest .........................................233
EuroPE
Rio Carnival ...............................................239
Common Ridings .........................................19
Trinidad Carnival .......................................249
Festa do São João ..........................................25
Best of the rest ..................................259
Fiesta de San Fermin ....................................31
galway international oyster Festival ............41
AFrICA And tHE MIddLE EASt
glastonbury Festival ....................................47
hogmanay ....................................................53 Festival in the desert ..................................275
ibiza Closing Parties ....................................59 Rustler’s Valley Festivals .............................281
il Palio ..........................................................65 Best of the rest ..................................285
La Tomatina ..................................................75
Las Fallas .....................................................81 ASIA
Lewes Bonfire Night .....................................87
Ati-Atihan ...................................................299
Love Parade .................................................93
esala Perahera ...........................................305
Monaco grand Prix ......................................99
Full Moon Party ..........................................311
Notting hill Carnival ..................................105
gion Matsuri ..............................................317
oktoberfest ................................................113
holi ............................................................323
Queen’s day ...............................................121
Kumbh Mela ...............................................329
St Patrick’s day ...........................................127
Naadam......................................................335
Tenerife Carnival .......................................133
Phalgun Festivals ........................................343
Venice Carnival .........................................139
Pushkar Camel Fair ....................................349
Best of the rest ..................................145
Best of the rest ..................................355
tHE AMErICAS And tHE
AuStrALIA And nEW zEALAnd
CArIBBEAn Birdsville Races ..........................................367
Burning Man ..............................................181 Sydney gay and Lesbian Mardi gras .........373
Crop over ..................................................189 Best of the rest ..................................381
day of the dead .........................................195
Fantasy Fest ................................................201
End MAttEr .........................387
Fiesta de Merengue ...................................207
halloween Parade ......................................213
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Introduction
There’s nothing like the life-affirming buzz of a major festival, whether
it’s toasting the arrival of summer in Iceland, chugging beers at Munich’s
Oktoberfest, or joining in the orgy of beats at Ibiza’s closing parties.
This book is a guide to over two hundred of the greatest events on earth,
and represents the culmination of years of research, travelling and
party-hopping by Rough Guide authors and contributors. Armed with
this book, you’ll find out all you need to know before you go, and what
to do while you’re there, as well as the practical details that can make
or break your trip.
Every country in the world has its own festivals and
celebrations. They’re a colourful key to unlocking local
cultures and can make for a fantastic travel experience.
Many travellers have their own special memories of
spectacular events they have attended, whether it’s
a long-planned visit to the Fiesta de San Fermin, or
a stumbled-upon saint’s-day procession in a dusty
southern Italian town. The festivals in this book come
in all shapes and sizes. Many have been around, in one
form or another, for decades – some, such as Kumbh
Mela and Naadam, for centuries – and have deep roots
in the culture of the country they take place in. Others,
such as Burning Man, will be following, perhaps even
initiating, newer traditions. Some, like Sri Lanka’s
Esala Perahera, will have deep religious significance;
others will be secular occasions based on a key, history-
changing event – Lewes Bonfire Night, for example.
Some, like Pushkar Camel Fair, will be a mixture of all
of these things. And some, like Spain’s La Tomatina, will
be no more than a massive food-fight. However, nearly
all the festivals in this book draw people from local
communities together and demonstrate tangibly the Fiesta de San Fermin
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Burning Man
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Top 20 values and priorities of local cultures – and, as
such, they almost all involve some sort of cultural
festivals exchange; attending and getting involved in a
sensitive and non-voyeuristic way offers a travel
experience like no other.
These are the top 20 festivals around the
world, as voted for by readers of the Rough The philosophy of this book, indeed of Rough
Guides website wworldparty.roughguides.com. Guides in general, is a relatively simple one: to
get out there and see the world – responsibly
1. Rio Carnival
– and to enjoy yourself while you’re doing it.
2.
Fantasy Fest
Which is defi nitely something you can do at all the
3. Fiesta de San Fermin
festivals featured in this book. The list of events
. Glastonbury Festival
we’ve included is fairly subjective and inevitably
. Oktoberfest
highly selective. So how did we choose? Well, the
. Love Parade
. Mardi Gras list in part refl ects the interests and preferences
8. Trinidad Carnival of our writers, and of visitors to our website.
. Queen’s Day Also, we have tried to make sure that cultures
10. Burning Man and traditions from most, if not all, parts of the
11. Notting Hill Carnival world are represented. We’ve also only included
12. Crop Over festivals that are annual and well established
13. Ati-Atihan – attended by thousands rather than hundreds of
1. Westmann Islands Festival
people, and that have a big focus on participation.
1. Reggae Sumfest
So, although you won’t fi nd all of the big music
1. Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
festivals, sports events and one-off parties
1. Las Fallas
here, you will fi nd the classics – Rio Carnival,
18. St Patrick’s Day
Glastonbury and Mardi Gras – as well as smaller
1. Rustler’s Valley Festivals
20. Il Palio events such as Scotland’s Common Ridings and
Australia’s Birdsville Races. Arguably, these are
the real gold dust in this book – all big enough
to produce a great vibe in their own individual way, but small enough to retain a sense of
community, authenticity and accessibility that many of the mega-events have lost.
How to fi nd the perfect party
Before you pick that perfect festival to begin your conquest of the World Party circuit, it’s
worth remembering that there are some signifi cant barriers in the way. All too often, festivals
can be the worst time for travelling to – and staying in – the place in which the event is held.
Accommodation prices rocket and the huge crowds can leave you feeling alienated while the
festival bangs away somewhere in the distance. The golden rule, therefore, is to make your
plans and book your accommodation at least six months in advance. This may not sit with
8 The Rough guide World Party
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