Having been sent a copy of Lonely Planet’s ‘A Year of Festivals‘ to review, I’ve spent most of this last weekend with my nose in the book, traveling the globe month by month, discovering what festivals are where and when.
And it got me thinking…
Wouldn’t it be great to just get on a plane and go from festival to festival? In other words, dedicate yourself to a year of festivals? Of course the logistics and the costs of such an endeavor would be almost impossible. But isn’t it fun to dream.
For me, that’s what books such as ‘A Year of Festivals’ are all about. Yes, for some, it might be a guidebook that helps them choose a festival or two to visit on their travels. But let’s face it, no one is going to get to all 192 festivals listed in this book. Mostly, readers will flick through the pages, gazing at the stunning photographs and say to themselves ‘one day I’ll get to this one or that one’.
And this is a book that is easy to flick through.
Laid out like a diary, it features month by month all the color, diversity, and downright wackiness of festivals around the world. Starting in January with the Junkanoo festival in the Bahamas and finishing at the end of December with Reveillion in Brazil, Lonely Planet’s A Year of Festivals really does cover it all.
Each festival highlighted has detailed information about it’s location, dates, description, and even the level of participation ranging from 1(spectator) to 5 (total immersion).
After all, you’d want to know before you arrive at the Camel Wrestling Festival that no one really expects you to wrestle a camel. You are there only to watch (although I have to question why you would want to!!!). On the other hand, the Noche De Brujas (Night of the Witches) festival has a level of participation score of 4 - if you want a spell or two, then this is the one for you.
Lonely Planet’s A Year of Festivals features many well known festivals - for example, the ‘running of the bulls’ (Fiesta de San Fermin) and Burning Man. But it’s the lesser known ones - the ‘hungry ghost festival’ (Chung Yuan) and the ‘tooth festival’ (Esala Peraheera) - that caught my eye and my imagination. That, plus amazing photographs that simply pulled you in and made you feel that, at least, for a second or two, you are there…
So, have I got your attention? Is this a book that sounds like something you’d like to see on your coffee table?
If so, leave a comment by Sunday 7th September. Tell us what festivals you’ve gone to or want to go to and you’ll be in the draw to win a copy of Lonely Planet’s ‘ A Year of Festivals’.
