Experience
Festivals & Events
Festival travel times the trip to the event — a music, arts, or film festival that takes over a place for a few days and shows it at full voltage. The destination and the calendar matter equally; the same town is a different trip during its festival.
Where to stay →Best places to stay for festivals & events
Ranked by global recognition — how widely each place is read about across Wikipedia's language editions. Never paid placement, prices, or reviews.
Venice
Veneto · ItalyVenice is a lagoon city in northeastern Italy, built across 126 islands threaded by canals and crossed by the Grand Canal at its centre.
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro · BrazilBetween the mountains and the South Atlantic sits Rio de Janeiro, the second-largest city in Brazil, founded in 1565.
Gothenburg
Västra Götaland County · SwedenGöteborg is Sweden's second-largest city, a major port on the west coast where the Göta älv river meets the Kattegat.
Des Moines
Iowa · United StatesThe gold dome of the Iowa State Capitol crowns Des Moines, a prairie capital in Iowa known for the Pappajohn Sculpture Park and its river parks.
Cannes
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur · FranceThe sea shines below Le Suquet at Cannes, a resort city on the French Riviera in the Alpes-Maritimes, home of the Cannes Film Festival.
Veracruz
Estado de Veracruz-Llave · MexicoSea air fills the harbour at Veracruz, a port city in Estado de Veracruz-Llave, known for San Juan de Ulúa and its carnival.
Zielona Góra
Lubusz Voivodeship · PolandVineyards climb the hills of Zielona Góra, the wine city of western Poland and a seat of the Lubusz Voivodeship, gathered below Saint Hedwig Cathedral.
Notting Hill
London · England · United KingdomNotting Hill is a district of West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, known for the Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road.Vitebsk
Vitebsk Oblast · BelarusThe Western Dvina divides Vitebsk, a city in north-eastern Belarus and the seat of Vitebsk Oblast, known as the birthplace of Marc Chagall.
Aomori
Aomori-ken · JapanAomori is a city of far-northern Honshu in Japan, a snowy port on its bay, famous for the giant lantern floats of the Nebuta festival and the apple…
Viña del Mar
Región de Valparaíso · ChileViña del Mar is a Pacific beach resort in central Chile, the garden city of palaces, parks, and sands beside Valparaíso.
Matsumoto
Nagano-ken · JapanMatsumoto is a castle city in Nagano, central Japan, set in a broad basin below the peaks of the Japanese Alps.17 more Festivals & Events destinations, by country
Philippines (1)
Mexico (1)
Denmark (1)
Egypt (1)
United States (3)
Sweden (1)
United Arab Emirates (1)
Italy (1)
Germany (3)
Common questions
How should I plan around a festival?
Book far ahead — beds vanish and prices climb around a major festival — and decide whether you want the event or the place, because during the headline days you rarely get both quietly. Shoulder dates around the peak can split the difference.