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.