Let’s get happy and hit a festival this year!
The world is coming back to life and here are just a few fun festivals you may want to put on your travel schedule. At the time of this writing, you’ve still got time to make it to these awesome events!
Get down and dirty at the Boryeong Mud Festival
Get dirty! Usually happens for about two weeks in the summer in Boryeong, South Korea, but looks like it might be a shorter event this year, as far as we can tell July 16-18. They actually truck in mud to the Daecheon beach area where it’s the centerpiece of “Mud Experience Land.” There’s a mud pool, mud slides, mud prison, and mud skiing! Even colored mud for body painting. A large stage on the beach with music and competitions, and it all ends with fireworks. There will be long lines for you to roll around in the mud but most people say it’s worth the wait. Celebrate the great cosmetics made from the mud flats and have fun!
The Running of the Bulls.
Like many events this was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, so the bulls and the people will be letting off some steam this year for sure. Yes, people actually run in front of a group of usually six cattle, but sometimes more than that, that have been let loose to run free and fast and frighteningly strong on the street. The most famous and most popular run is the ‘encierro’ held in Pamplona, during the nine day festival at Sanfermines, Spain. Scheduled July 6-14, 2022. Daily bull runs and bull fights. Every year 50-100 people get injured, some gored to death. Okay. We’re guessing it’s fun.
The Glastonbury Festival in England.
Held on the last weekend of June. So it’s June 22-26, 2022. Yay! Held in the southwest of England at Worthy Farm, between the villages of Pilton and Pyle in Somerset, about six miles east of Glastonbury. Music, dance, comedy, theatre, cabaret, and much more for entertainment. 200,000 people have attended in the past. Features an acoustic tent, a comedy tent, a circus, crafts, and more. Helps some worthwhile charities, too like Oxfam, Wateraid, Greenpeace, and others. This year features Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar, Robert Plant with Alisson Krause, Diana Ross, Billie Eilish, Herbie Hancock, the Pet Shop Boys, Crowded House, and many, many more.
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
Four days of music on several stages June 16-19, 2022, at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tennesee. Last year was cancelled like other events because of Covid, but it’s on this year! So many great performers playing this year at Bonnaroo– Robert Plant with Alisson Krause, Stevie Nicks, Machine Gun Kelly, Tool, Herbie Hancock, Gryffyn, J. Cole, The Chicks, Flume, Disclosure, Ludacris, and many more. Ten stages, four party barns, entertainment all day and all night, many different styles of music—rock, world music, hip hop, jazz, Americana, bluegrass, country, folk, gospel, reggae, pop, electronic, and more.
The La Tomatina Festival is in the Valencia town of Bunol, Spain, not far from the Mediterranean Sea
It’s all about one big juicy wet wild and crazy tomato fight, which lasts about an hour or two we understand. Held on the last Wednesday of August. So this glorious red fun party is August 31, 2022! Wear clothes you don’t care about too much– you’re gonna get soaked by tomato rain and water hoses. Maybe wear goggles. Keep in mind it’s 18 or over. Use your imagination on this one, and have fun!
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
October 1-9, 2022!! 9 days, 750 hot air balloons, in New Mexico. The largest hot air balloon event in the world. Filling the skies with hundreds of colorful, artful, wonderful, big and bright hot air balloons. Lift off around 7 a.m., sunrise in Albuquerque. Unique shapes, many illuminated, plus concerts with music this year from Chris Young, The Band Perry, Darius Rucker, Old Dominion, and more. Also a balloon rodeo, twilight balloon glows, chain saw carving, skydiving, car shows, and balloon rides. It’s going to look spectacular in the autumn sun.
New Years Eve in Sydney, Australia
Dec. 31st, of course. Is it too soon to start planning yet?? No way!! Sydney Harbour. Pyrotechnic displays, family fireworks early, midnight fireworks to bring in the new year… won’t it be great to ring in 2023 this year!? We’ll have more info about this for you soon.
Burning Man… let’s get weird!
Black Rock City is coming! That’s a temporary metropolis for you and me. This year’s theme is Waking Dreams. Held on August 28 to Sept. 5 in the Black Rock desert in Nevada. It’s all about community, art, self-expression and self-reliance. It’s fun, meaningful, different, thought-provoking, and wild! It’s a disco in a 747. It’s a human car wash. It’s a really big fire! Guided by ten principles: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leaving no trace, participation, and immediacy. You’ll see some big whigs there— famous people, silicon valley rich types, social media influencers… and of course everyone else like you and me, who are just as important! Wear your regular clothes, wear a costume or wear nothing at all! The man burns on Sept. 3, 2022!
Other big festivals you might want to keep in mind for this year or next:
The Carnival Rio de Janeiro in Brazil
Great American Beer Fest, Denver, CO, USA
Koninginnedag, Queens Day, Amsterdam
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Montreal Jazz Festival, Canada
The U.S. Open tennis tournament, NYC, NY, USA
Sapporo Snow Festival, Sapporo, Japan
Tanglewood Music Festival, Lennox, Mass., USA
Calgary Stampede, Canada
Lantern Festival, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Loi Krathong, the ‘festival of lights’, Thailand
Fasnacht, Switzerland
Daytona Bike Week, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
Dragon Boat Carnival, Hong Kong
Summerfest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Holi, the ‘festival of colors’, India
Taste of Chicago, Illinois, USA
St. Patricks Day Parade, Boston, MA
Italian Grand Prix, Monza, Italy
Maine Lobster Festival, Rockland, Maine, USA
Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
Winterlude, Ottawa, Canada
Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, USA
New Years Eve, Times Square, NYC, NY, USA
Day of the Dead, Mexico City, Mexico
Comic-con, San Diego, Cal., USA
Junkanoo, Nassau, Bahamas
SXSW (South by Southwest), Austin, Texas, NYC
Tomorrowland, electronic music festival, Boom, Belgium
Isle of Wight Festival, England
Rock in Rio, Parque Olimpico, Cidade do Rock, Brazil
White Nights, St. Petersburg, Russia
Reggae Sumfest, Montego Bay, Jamaica
Strawberry Fields, New South Wales, Australia
St. Patricks Day in Dublin, Ireland
Kentucky Derby, Lousiville, Kentucky, USA
AND SO MANY, MANY, MANY MORE!!!
Author: The Party Hound
Our favorite imaginary dog, 'The Partyhound', didn't write this blog post, as you probably guessed. We like to think he's a smart pooch, but he's not that smart!! 'The Partyhound' simply represents one or more of Partyhound Media's creative staff of researchers, journalists, writers, photographers, and cinematographers. These are actual real live people who are excited to share their thoughts with you. If you'd like to learn more about joining our staff, please throw us a bone! Email: ted@partyhound.com.
