Among other entertainments – a flea market in Austria, medieval games in Denmark, and wooden ships in Norway. More details about these and other August events – in the next issue of 'European Poster' from Gazeta.Ru.
AUSTRIA
"Magic of the Old Town", August 28-29, Klagenfurt. In the south of Austria, near the border with Slovenia, there is a town of Klagenfurt, where every year on the last weekend of August a flea market and a street artists festival are held. Around Cathedral Square from Friday evening to Saturday noon, perhaps the biggest flea market in Austria operates. At the same time, a two-day festival "Magic of the Old Town" will take place in Klagenfurt, where guests will see wonders of juggling, pantomime, magicians, comedians, and organ grinders. There will be a music program for all tastes: jazz, rock, blues, soul, funk, and of course, folk. //www.stadtgeruecht.at
BELGIUM
Summer Festival, August 14-23, Brussels. The Summer Festival delights guests with a varied program and affordable tickets (?15-20 for a pass for all 10 days of the festival). All festival events take place open-air, allowing visitors to see at least four beautiful places in Brussels: the City Park, Palace Square, Museum Square, and the 'Hill of Arts'. This year's program combines rock, jazz, hip-hop, classical music, and itinerant theater. Among the participants are Tryo, Psy4 de la rime, Molow, David Cohen, Machiavel, Pep's, La Grande Sophie, DJ Sonar, and others. The festival organizers recommend visiting the new Magritte Museum, which recently opened in one of the buildings of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. //www.infofestival.be
UNITED KINGDOM
Beatles Week, August 20-26, Liverpool. Every year Liverpool hosts a traditional festival dedicated to the Beatles. The program includes hundreds of bands playing 60s music, themed parties, several auctions, city tours, trips on the River Mersey, and a huge concert festival on Matthew Street with 200 bands, turning the city into a continuous stage.
International Bagpipe Festival Piping Live!, August 10-16, Glasgow. At the international Piping Live! festival, held annually in Glasgow, listeners can enjoy performances by the best bagpipers on the city streets, in squares, cafes, and of course, at the National Piping Centre. Visitors can expect various entertainments at the museum dedicated to this instrument, including family activities, and professionals will have seminars at the College of Piping. //www.pipingfestival.co.uk
HUNGARY
Sziget Music Festival, August 12-17, Budapest. The Sziget Festival is the biggest musical event of the month in Europe. Among the guests of the festival, which will be held on the outskirts of Budapest, are Lily Allen, Coldcut, Editors, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club ®, Woven Hand, Tricky, Fatboy Slim, The Offspring, The Prodigy, Bloc Party, Die Toten Hosen, Faith No More, Manic Street Preachers, Placebo, Pendulum, Primal Scream, and others. In addition to attending concerts and round-the-clock parties with the most reckless representatives of European youth, the festival organizers invite visitors to learn something useful. For example, making clay pots or speaking Hungarian. The latter is unlikely, but worth a try. //www.sziget.hu
GERMANY
Summer Wine Festival, August 13-16, Aachen. In Aachen, right under the walls of the Carolingian Chapel in mid-August, you can try about 400 varieties of red, white, and sparkling wines from the banks of the rivers Ahr, Moselle, Rhine Nahe, regions of Rheinhessen and Palatinate, all accompanied by live music. Also in August, wine festivals will be held in two other German cities: August 13-16 in Dortmund (Rhineland-Palatinate), August 20-30 in Braunschweig (Lower Saxony). //www.weinsommer.de
DENMARK
European Medieval Festival, August 28-29, Horsens. You can meet medieval characters from Denmark, England, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, and other countries on the same street in Danish Horsens on the last weekend of August. The medieval festival, recreating city life in the 14th–16th centuries, has been held since 1995. This year's theme is blood, daring, and chivalry. The city will turn into the largest medieval fair in Northern Europe: street actors, jugglers, musicians, workshops, stalls, fire-eaters, beggars, traders, pilgrims, indulgence sellers, bagpipers, and other characters will fill the streets, medieval weddings will be held in churches, knights without fear and reproach will fight for the hearts of fair ladies. If you have nowhere to stay, the organizers will accommodate you in a camping site with all amenities and even breakfast for only 300 crowns per day. //www.middelalderfestival.dk
SPAIN
Chopin Festival, August 9-30, Valldemossa, Mallorca. The festival is named after Frederic Chopin and dedicated to the memory of the composer and his lover George Sand, who spent the winter of 1838-1839 in the former cells of the Carthusian monastery in Mallorca. This year's festival will feature music not only by Chopin but also by Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Albéniz (each of whom has an anniversary this year). //www.festivalchopin.com
ITALY
Festival 'Under the Tuscan Sun', August 3-9, Cortona. The festival was founded by Russian violinist Nina Kotova, successful impresario Barrett Wissman, and American writer Frances Mayes, whose screenplay was used for the 2003 film 'Under the Tuscan Sun'. The special guest this year will be Anthony Hopkins. It turns out that Hopkins, in addition to his well-known acting talent, also has a passion for music and painting: at the festival you can see his paintings and listen to his musical compositions.
Also in the program "Under the Tuscan Sun": walks through the historical sites of Cortona, visits to the Etruscan Museum, a fresco technique workshop for beginners, wine tasting, a workshop on making cheeses and Tuscan dishes, classical and modern music, art exhibitions, dancing. \/\/www.tuscansunfestival.com
NORWAY
Wooden Boat Festival, August 6-9, Risør. A colorful armada of the most diverse wooden boats, with and without motors, with sails, luxury class and homemade, will arrive in the harbor of Risør from all over Norway and neighboring countries. Last year the event was a huge success: the small fishing village of Risør was visited by about 20,000 people, including His Majesty King Harald V of Norway. The regatta held within the festival is accompanied by themed exhibitions, street parades, music and performances. \/\/www.trebatfestivalen.no
FINLAND
Arts Festival, August 13-30, Helsinki. Originally the festival was dedicated to composer Jean Sibelius, and its program consisted exclusively of classical music. Now it has grown and combines music, circus, dance, theater, film and visual arts. The festival will be opened by the contemporary French avant-garde composer Pierre Boulez, the film section will show a retrospective of Shukshin, the theater will have a performance by the St. Petersburg "Litsedei", and specially for the children's audience they have prepared a flamenco-dancing Pippi Longstocking.
On August 21, the festival organizers promise a magical "Night of the Arts", during which one can wander until morning through the parks, streets and squares of Helsinki in search of wonders. \/\/www.helsinkifestival.fi
FRANCE
International Mime Festival, August 3-8, Périgueux. In the capital of the Aquitaine department of Dordogne, the 26th festival dedicated to the plastic arts will take place, featuring clowning, dance, puppet theater, pantomime, circus arts. The festival has two sections (one professional – MIMOS, the other for street artists – Mim'off) and two awards ("Best Performance" awarded by a professional jury, and the audience award). Entrance to many performances is free.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Open-air music festival, August 20-23, Trutnov. In a small town located near the border with Poland, a festival that claims to be the Czech Woodstock has been held since 1987. The list of invited artists is very diverse: from Primal Scream to Zhanna Bichevskaya, whom the organizers present as the "Russian Joan Baez". If the audience is not satisfied with that, they can drink beer, eat sausages, cool off in the local lake, get tattoos or paint themselves with henna, buy clothes and jewelry, or watch movies. \/\/www.festivaltrutnov.cz
SWITZERLAND
62nd Film Festival, August 5-15, Locarno. On the Piazza Grande, a huge square in Locarno that was formed back in the Renaissance era, up to 8,000 spectators gather annually. Here screenings of new films take place and interactions with producers and directors occur. This year, a special event at the festival will be a program dedicated to anime, its influence on modern aesthetics and perception. \/\/www.pardo.ch