Helsinki this Autumn

Despite this beautiful spot of weather we’re having right now, it’s actually the start of Autumn.  A beautiful time of year and normally a great opportunity to get away when other people might not think to book a break away.  Helsinki’s one city that’s always fantastic in the later months of the year, so here’s a look at some of the best things happening in the Finnish capital over the next three months.

Helsinki Design Week: Until 14th September

Already in full swing now, Helsinki Design Week is celebrating its tenth year anniversary this year.  It’s an essential visit for anyone with an interest in design and you can find more details about the ten day long event here.  If you’ve missed the chance to catch the event, not to worry, book yourself onto a Helsinki Design Tour to see all of the design sights of the city.

Hotel Manta: Until 12th October

A curious art piece from Japanese installation artist Tatzu Nishi, building a hotel room aorund one of the city’s most iconic statues – the Havis Amanda.  The exhibition is aimed at making people see their local surroundings in a whole new way it’s currently running and will continue until the 12th October.  Entry is charged at €3 or children can enter for free.

MTV Push Helsinki: 10th – 12th September

A festival of 72 hours of music in Helsinki, celebrating some of the hottest new local and international talent. Featuring live performances and DJ sets in venues dotted around the whole city.  Accompanying the music will be alternative entertainment events including skateboarding, graffiti art and city gardening.  Read all about the whole festival here.

Autumn Harvest : September – October

One of the more traditional events in Helsinki in the Autumn is the harvest, come and celebrate at the Nokka restaurant where head chef, Ari Ruoho will be curating ingredients to give guests a true taste of Finland.  For more information about the Autumn harvest, take a look here.

Love and Anarchy Film Festival 18th – 28th September

Get the opportunity to see some new, alternative films at this film festival.  Featuring some features you wouldn’t normally be able to see at cinemas, this non-competitive event highlights the work of up and coming directors, along with well established names.  Read more about the event here.

If you’re planning on visiting Helsinki this Autumn , make sure you download the Trippa Helsinki guide before you go to get all the essential information on the best places to stay, eat, drink, see and shop.  If you’re not going to Helsinki any time soon why don’t you download one of our other fantastic guides like Trippa Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Cardiff, London, Marseille, Oslo, Palma, Reykjavik, San Sebastian, Seville or Stockholm

What's On, Berlin in September

We’re at the start of September, so once again it’s time to look at some of the biggest events happening over the next 30 days from one of our destination cities.  This month we’re looking at one of our favourites, Berlin, so without further ado:

Berlin Music Week: 3rd – 7th

This five day event brings together some of the hottest new talent at the moment in Berlin’s Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district. Every year roughly 20,000 people from all over the world will attend this event which bolsters Berlin’s status as an international new music hotspot.  For tickets, venue details and information about the acts playing, take a look at the official Berlin Music Week website here.

Pyronale: 5th – 6th, Nr. Olympiastadion

Another annual event, Pyronale is a competition where teams of pyrotechnic experts to try and put on the best possible display for the voting audience and judges.  A number of different competitions are run, including a challenge for the teams to synchronise their display with a music accompaniment.  For further information and tickets, head to the Pyronale Website

Heritage Day: 13th – 14th

A Europe-wide event, Heritage Day opens up some public buildings which are not normally accessible for visitors.  A number of different sites throughout Berlin will be open for members of the public to come along and take a look around, while experts will be on hand at each one to help people better understand the importance and history of each site.  For more information on the sites to be open, look at the Heritage Day page.

Berlin Art Week: 16th – 21st

This is the third annual Berlin Art Week and over six days (opposed to the five days of the Berlin Music Week) you can expect to see some of the worlds finest contemporary artists come together to share ideas and experiences.  The whole festival kicks off on Tuesday the 16th with an opening party on the open air stage at Hanseatenweg 10.  For more information, take a look at the Berlin Art Week website.

Berlin Marathon: 28th

Known as the fastest marathon course in the world, the Berlin Marathon attracts over 40,000 athletes, from over 120 different countries, every year.  The whole course takes the runners around the city, coming to a climactic finish through the Brandenburg Gate.  To see the full route and the best places to pitch up a spot for spectating, take a look at the Berlin Marathon website.

If you’re planning on visiting Berlin in September or just generally making the journey in the future, make sure you download the Trippa Berlin guide before you go to get all the essential information on the best places to stay, eat, drink, see and shop.  If you’re not going to Berlin any time soon why don’t you download one of our other fantastic guides like Trippa Athens, Barcelona, Cardiff, London, Helsinki, Marseille, Oslo, Palma, Reykjavik, Seville or Stockholm

Festa Major de Sants 2014

It’s the last weekend of August now, which means summer is firmly coming to an end.  We’ve had some fantastic events take place, Notting Hill Carnival, Berlin Fashion Week, Cardiff International Food and Drink Festival and Grec Festival in Barcelona.  Well we’re going to head back to Barcelona now for the final weekend before we hit Autumn – Festa Major de Sants 2014.

The Sants Festival takes place on the Sants neighbouhood of Barcelona and overlaps with another popular neighbourhood festival – Festa Major de Gracia.  Sants festival is not quite as famous as the Gracia equivalent, however it’s equally as worth making the trip along.  Most of the activity takes place along “Parc de l’Espanya Industrial”, however a walk around the 16 streets of the Sants which are all decorated by the residents in beautiful colours.

You’ll get plenty of chances to see Catalan traditions like the correfoc (firerun) for children and adults.  The Diada Castellera, which is the human castle building day of the Festa Major de Sants.  You’ll also get the chance to see giants and massive heads being paraded through the streets (gegants and capgrossos) at various points throughout the festival.

Sports highlights of the Sants Festival include the bike race Cursa Ciclista ‘Memorial Antoni Andrés Sancho and the 2k run called “2000 de Sants – Cursa atlètica de la Festa Major”.  Both of which generally always take place on the last Sunday of the festival.

The Sants festival is finished with a firework display and musical performances.  You can see full details of everything that will be taking place at the festival at the official Festa Major Sants website.

That’s just one of the things going on this weekend in the thriving city of Barcelona. You can download Trippa Barcelona here to find all of the best sights to see, hotels to sleep in, restaurants to eat and bars to drink in.  If you’re not making the trip to Barcelona this weekend, why not look at one of our other guides like: Trippa Athens, Berlin, Cardiff, Helsinki, Marseille, Palma, Oslo, Reykjavik, Seville or Stockholm

August Bank Holiday Weekend 2014

This weekend is the last bank holiday weekend of the year for everyone in the UK (aside from the Christmas Break, of course).  As such it’s a great chance to get to some events that are taking place across the country, and outside of it.  Here are a couple of hand-picked events for people with a bit of spare time this weekend looking for something to be getting up to.

London: Notting Hill Carnival, 24th – 25th August

One of the biggest events to hit London all year, Notting Hill Carnival takes place in and around the London Borough of the same name every year.  It’s two days of colour and sound as the parade comes down the street while music is blasting from every corner and food and drinks are sold on every corner.  It’s a completely free event to attend and one certainly not to be missed if you’re in the area.

Cardiff: Cardiff Harbour Festival, 23rd – 25th August

Part of the much larger Cardiff Festival, Cardiff Harbour Festival is three days of extreme sailing at Cardiff Bay.  The whole of the Bay comes to life as people from all over the country travel to Cardiff to see the boats compete, along with the rest of the activities which fill up the surrounding area. It’s completely free to enter, although some activities do cost a little bit.

Stockholm: Running 23rd – 24th August

It may not be a bank holiday in Stockholm, but there’s plenty of fun to be had.  On the 23rd you can take part in the Colour Run, a 5k event which has no winners.  You simply need to get from one side of the course to the other getting covered in as much coloured paint as you can!  If you prefer something a bit more serious, the Stockholm Triathlontakes place on the 23rd and 24th of August too.

If you’re planning on visiting Cardiff, London or Stockholm this weekend, make sure you download the Trippa Cardiff, London or Stockholm guide before you go to get all the essential information on the best places to stay, eat, drink, see and shop.  If you’re not going to Reykjavik any time soon why don’t you download one of our other fantastic guides like Trippa Athens,Barcelona, Berlin, Helsinki, Marseille, Oslo, Palma, Reykjavik or Seville

Reykjavik Jazz Festival 2014

Reykjavik is well known for being a home of art and culture,  it’s a quirky city full of fantastic people.  It’s no surprise then that the city would hold one of the world’s biggest and most successful Jazz festivals every year.  The Reykjavik Jazz Festival is now in its 25th year and even if you might normally write off the genre of Jazz – if you’re in Reykjavik during the festival period you should certainly check it out.

The lineup consists of local and international Jazz stars, with the aim of the week long event is to showcase the best in Icelandic music while connecting with the international music scene.  With performance styles ranging from classic jazz to afro-beat, and performers playing solo guitar, piano and trumpet – there’s bound to be something happening across the whole week that will peak your interest.  You can see a full and detailed list of all the performers from the festival here.

Unlike previous years where the festivities were spread around the city, this year Reykjavik Jazz Festival takes place at Harpa concert hall.  The Harpa concert hall was opened in May 2011 and is instantly recognisable as one of the most unique venues in the world.  Located on the shoreline of Reykjavik itself, a visit to any event here is an unforgettable experience.

The Reykjavik Jazz Festival is organized by the FIH Jazz Department, assisted by FIH Cultural Fund, The City of Reykjavik and the State Fund for Music.  Tickets vary in price depending on which day and event you’d like to attend, but tickets can be bought through the Harpa website here.

The festival kicks off on Thursday 14th August, starting with a parade from Lucky Records to Harpa itself at 17:00, with the opening ceremony starting at 19:00.  The final event is at 22:30 on Wednesday 20th August.

If you’re planning on visiting Reykjavik for the Jazz Festival, make sure you download the TrippaReykjavik guide before you go to get all the essential information on the best places to stay, eat, drink, see and shop.  If you’re not going to Reykjavik any time soon why don’t you download one of our other fantastic guides like Trippa Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Cardiff, London, Helsinki,Marseille, Oslo, Palma, Seville or Stockholm

RideLondon 2014

Bicycle is one of the most popular ways to get from A to B in London, the rise in popularity of fixies and the availability of ‘Boris Bikes’ has helped no end in getting people on their bike.  To celebrate the rise of the two wheeled traveller, a festival is taking place in London this Saturday aimed at getting the whole family together, riding around a 10 mile traffic free route in the English capital.  It’s called RideLondon and it’s a totally free event for all to attend.

The cycle route takes place around london, incorporating many of the cities finest sights from Buckingham Palace in the west to the Tower of London in the east via the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s.  You’re welcome to join and exit the loop at any point round the circuit, just look for one of the points to join or leave the giant bike ride.  There will be plenty to see all around the route with music bikes, bands on bikes, stilt bicycles, Penny Farthings, stagecoaches and rickshaws, with bike doctors on hand in case of any technical problems.

Once you’ve done your cycling you can stop off at Green Park, Tower Hill, St Paul’s Churchyard, Guildhall Yard or Leadenhall Market to join in with some cycling related festivities.  There are far too many fantastic things happening at all of these locations to list them, but if you go to the official RideLondon website, you can see a runthrough of all the days activities.  If you’ve not got your bike with you, you can easily hire on and join in with the days activities, take a look at the TFL website for information on the best places to hire a bike.

Later in the day, after the freecycle, pop along to St. James Park to see the Grand Prix event where some of the worlds best pro cyclists will battle it out.  Then on the Sunday you can spectate (or take part!) in the London-Surrey 100, with cyclists starting in Queen Elizabeth Olynpic Park and embarking on a 100 mile route around the stunning Surrey countryside, before coming back down The Mall in central London, all along closed roads.

If you’re planning on making the trip to London for RideLondon this weekend, make sure you download Trippa London, the best travel guide to the English capital.  If you’re not going to London but fancy getting away this weekend, why not take a look at one of our other fantastic guides like Trippa Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Cardiff, Helsinki, Marseille, Oslo, Palma, Reykjavik,Seville or Stockholm.

What's On, August in Stockholm

We’re at the end of July now, Summer is flying by and August is just around the corner.  It’s time for another one of our monthly instalments of What’s On, this month we’re looking at Stockholm – the capital of Scandinavia.

Stockholm Music and Arts – 1st – 3rd

Every year Stockholm becomes a hive of activity for music and arts, this festival takes place over three days and combines, music, art, food, drink and culture across the whole of the Stockholm Archipelago setting.  Tickets and more information can be found at theStockholm Music and Arts website.

Dans Dakar – 8th – 9th

Taking place over one night, Dans Dakar is one of the biggest dance music events taking place in Stockholm this year.  Some of the biggest names in electronic music can be found alongside thousands of ravers looking for a good time.  More information (in Swedish) can be found on the Dans Dakar website.

Stockholm Culture Festival 12 – 17

Running over five days, this festival packs as much music and culture into it’s schedule as it possibly can.  With something for everyone, this event is spread out across the whole of the city and is free to attend.  You can get more information about the weeks proceedings from the Stockholm Culture Festival website

Colour Run – 23rd

Running a 5k might not be for everyone, neither is watching one, but what if that 5k run was brightened up with bags of colour powder paint to throw at the runners.  Known as the happiest 5k on the planet, there is no prizes for winning, everyone is just encouraged to get as covered in paint as possible on their way round.  Find out all about the event atThe Colour Run website

Popaganda – 29th – 30th

Taking place on the last weekend of August, Popaganda is a festival for pop music lovers.  With some of the biggest household names in pop right now playing over the two days, Popaganda looks like it could be an excellent way to end the month off.  Find out all about it at the Popaganda website

So that was our roundup of the biggest events in Stockholm over the next 31 days. If you’re not going to Stockholm but fancy getting away this weekend, why not take a look at one of our other fantastic guides like Trippa Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Cardiff, Helsinki,Marseille,Palma, Oslo, Reykjavik or Seville