Water jousting, France
Fête de la Saint-Louis, Sète, Languedoc
When: 23-28 August
Highlight: The final night’s firework display
Since 1666, the port of Sète has been celebrating its patron saint in boisterous style. The town, known as the Venice of Languedoc, stages water-jousting tournaments on its canals throughout the summer, but it’s during its August festival that things go into overdrive. The lancers, standing on a platform on the stern of a boat propelled by oarsmen, try to knock each other into the water. The festival’s 70-plus events include street parades, pop-up bars and concerts.
While you’re there: Don’t miss Sète’s windswept sandy beaches, which stretch west all the way to Cap d’Agde via Marseillan Plage.
Where to stay: Peaceful Le Clos Saint-Clair B&B (doubles from €80 B&B) is on Mont Saint-Clair, the 183-metre hill between the old town and the beach, and has a pool.
Mary Novakovich
Lavender mob, France
Corso de la Lavande, Digne-les-Bains, Provence
When: 3-7 August
Highlight: Nighttime parade of illuminated floats covered in lavender and locals in traditional costume
The festival begins with a firework display over the river and is followed by four days of lavender-themed festivities: parades, marching bands, floats covered in the mauve flowers and a nightly ball in the main square of this spa town. Every afternoon, scores of stalls sell lavender and lavandin (its more photogenic hybrid variant) products. Digne’s lavender festival parade has been running since the second world war. Even older is the lavender fair, which takes place at the end of August, once the harvest is in. Members of the Commanderie de la Lavande, dressed in purple robes and felt hats, declare the harvest over, light the fire under a huge copper still in the centre of the town and celebrate with lavender liqueur, lavender biscuits, syrup, nosegays and lavender paté.
While you’re there: Take the narrow-gauge Train des Pignes to Nice. The journey takes about three hours, past cliff faces and through dark pine forests and dramatic gorges.
Where to stay: In the hills above Digne, the Chateau d’Auribeau (doubles from €90 B&B) produces its own honey and lavender oil.
Jon Bryant
Flamenco fair, Spain
Feria de Ganado y Fiestas de San Mateo, Villamartín, Cádiz
When: 20-24 September
Highlight: Teenagers in full flamenco dress on the fairground wall of death
The feast of Saint Matthew, celebrated across Spain, is the last big party of the long hot summer. Villamartín offers the quintessential Andalucian combination of cattle fair by day (held here since the 16th century) and dancing, drinking and a fair by night. Aside from shopping for cows, there’s a chance to catch traditional horse and carriage contests, demonstrations of horsemanship and gutsy flamenco performances. After 11pm, the town’s entire population of 12,000-odd people, most elaborately, fabulously attired in flamenco dress, heads to the Recinto Ferial, to parade, eat, drink, sing and dance in the casetas (roadside tents) that line the route, and enjoy tacky fairground delights. This is a complete assault on the senses: glorious, surreal and what passes as normal in these parts.
While you’re there: Cycle the Via Verde de la Sierra from neighbouring Puerto Serrano to Olvera (22 miles) or at least to the old station house cafe at Coripe (9 miles). Bikes available to rent at all three places.
Where to stay: Casas de Alamajar has self-catering houses from €50 a night for two (two-night minimum) in a garden setting in nearby Prado del Rey.
Sorrel Downer
Dead good fun, Spain
Santa Marta de Ribarteme, As Neves, Galicia
When: 29 July
Highlight: The procession of coffins: locals gather outside San Jose church holding long candles, waving incense and sobbing into handkerchiefs, waiting for the coffins to appear
During this festival in rural Galicia, devout Spaniards who have survived a near-death experience in the preceding year, whether illness or accident, are paraded in coffins through streets to give thanks to God and Santa Marta, the event’s patron, for being alive. The coffins are followed by relatives and friends dressed in black, in a procession that replicates a Spanish funeral. No one is sure when the festival actually started; some say it began as far back as the 12th century as an attempt by the Catholic church to adapt to the pagan rites widespread in the region. It may sound lugubrious, but the festival is in fact a celebration of life: you are more likely to encounter tears of joy than of sadness. The whole day is a mix of macabre and merry. There is live music, a flea market and lots of farmers selling produce, such as wine and vegetables. After the parade, locals and visitors retire to open-air kitchens around town to feast on polbo á feira – octopus with potatoes, olive oil, salt and paprika – and drink local white albariño wine.
While you’re there: Take the 45-minute drive to the seaside town of Baiona to sample great seafood, wander the picturesque streets and relax on white sandy beaches.
Where to stay: The Parador de Tui (doubles from €64 room-only) is about a 25-minute drive away.
Matthew Bremner
Noble grapes, Italy
Sagra dell’uva, Quartu Sant’Elena, Sardinia
When: 15 September
Highlight: Mass giveaway of bunches of home-grown grapes at the end of the parade
Held since at least 1787, this is the most fun part of the 10-day festival of Saint Helena. On the middle Saturday, wine producing families from the whole province turn out in historic costume to celebrate the grape harvest.Pulled by horses, donkeys or oxen, carts decorated with grapes, vines, palm fronds, bells, ribbon and tinsel follow a two-hour route through the town, now a suburb of Sardinia’s capital. More participants carry tools of their trade, baskets of grapes, and trays of cakes, all to folk music from guitars, accordions and pipes. One cart even had a live grape-treading demonstration on board. The women’s costumes, particularly, are embroidered, multi-layered affairs, outdone only by the decorations on the patient four-legged beasts. This is a fervent, untouristy celebration of regional traditions, laid on by and for locals. At the end, the carts and their loads are blessed at Sant’Elena basilica in the town centre, and handed out in huge quantities to unwary spectators.
While you’re there: See the 40,000 flamingoes that spend summer at Parco Molentargius, former salt pans south of Quartu that are now a nature reserve, with bikes to hire. Beyond that is Cagliari’s long sandy Blue Flag beach, Poetto.
Where to stay: On a hill above Quartu, Al Sandalyon B&B (doubles from €63 in June) has views of Poetto beach from the three bedrooms, and breakfast in the garden.
Liz Boulter
Mad for folk, Italy
Valfino al Canto, Abruzzo
When: 9-11 August
Highlight: The evening banquet celebrating the Abruzzo speciality of coatto, lamb stew simmered in large vats in the square all day, then served on trestles for everyone
Now in its 23rd year, Valfino al Canto celebrates folk music from all over Italy. With the unspoilt medieval hilltop village of Arsita as their stage, bands, buskers and dance troupes can be found performing anything from a Puglian pizzica to a Neapolitan tammurriata. There is nothing nostalgic about this festival, as traditional music is still very much part of rural Italian life, with multiple generations of families descending on the village over three days to share and learn popular song. Expect a low-key atmosphere, delicious locally grown grub, barrels of wine and many an accordion and fiddle.
While you’re there: Explore the mountainous Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga national park, one of the most biologically diverse and largest protected areas in Europe, where you might spot wild boar, wolves, roe deer and golden eagles.
Where to stay: The Colle Sette Vangeli agriturismo (doubles from €60 a night) is a farm in the hills with spectacular views and over 40 goats bred to provide cashmere.
Sophia Seymour
Donkey business, Portugal
L Burro i L Gueiteiro travelling festival, Douro
When: 25-29 July
Highlight: The Dança dos Pauliteiros on the Friday night, a frenzied folk dance to bagpipes
This festival travels between the Portuguese villages of the Miranda do Douro municipality, in the north-eastern mountains on the border with Spain. The festival celebrates the idiosyncrasies of a district isolated by its wild landscape, namely their unique breed of donkey and the tradition of the wandering minstrel. The players of gaita-de-fole, or bagpipes, once travelled by donkey to bring music and entertainment to the remote villages. Now a drove of up to 20 shaggy-haired donkeys are paraded through two chosen villages each year. Concerts and feasting on local smoked meats and Douro red wine take place every night but the workshops in traditional music, dance and painting are on the Saturday afternoon.
• For more information, workshop tickets or to be a part of the donkey procession, see aepga.pt
While you’re there: A 30-minute drive from Miranda do Douro is the river beach in the village of Uva, a perfect place to unwind on grassy riverbanks and take a dip with views of the Algoso valley.
Where to stay: Puial de I Douro (doubles from €70 B&B) is a rambling 19th-century farmhouse in the village of Aldeia Nova with a cellar of Douro wine.
Edwina Pitcher
Flower power, Portugal
Festas do Pereiro, Ribatejo province
When: 24-26 August
Highlight: Dancing until dawn in the town square on the Saturday night, and staying for the Sunday procession of the Virgin to mass
Once a year the narrow streets of Pereiro, a small hill town 200km north-east of Lisbon, are garlanded from wall to wall with paper flowers. This is a typical Portuguese summer festa, where the whole village celebrates its saint with homecomings, feasting and dancing. Pereiro has been heralded as the “capital of the flower-decked streets” but it is also a wonderful place to see the centuries-old tradition of Nossa Senhora da Saude (Our Lady of Good Health) being carried on a float through streets strewn with rosemary. Revellers kick off the weekend with dancing to pimba music, popular songs with bawdy lyrics, late into the night. Beer and bifanas or pregos (steak sandwiches) are served until dawn.
While you’re here Stroll the 2km wooden walkway that starts at the Alamal river beach (20km south of Pereiro) and follows the Tejo (Tagus) River with views of the 12th-century castle in Belver.
Where to stay: Casa Covão da Arbitureira (doubles from €60 B&B) is a beautiful old stone house in Belver with seven guest rooms and views across the Tejo.
Edwina Pitcher
Wedding invitation, Greece
Feast of the Assumption, Alonissos, Sporades Islands
When: 15 August
Highlight: The lively re-enactment of a traditional Alonissos wedding
The festival takes place in the island’s capital, also called Alonissos. It starts in the morning with a church service in honour of the Virgin Mary. The celebrations really kick off in the early evening with a re-enactment of a traditional Alonissos wedding, complete with vibrant costumes and plenty of sweetmeats and tsipouro (pomace brandy). The wedding ritual begins with the best man’s visit to the groom’s house. He is accompanied by traditional musicians, who play as they walk along the cobbled streets to pick up the bride, gathering a procession behind them as they head to the church. After the ceremony the customary wedding meal of pasta with slow-cooked goat sauce is served from huge vats over open fires. Festivities go on all night with live music, wine and traditional dancing.
While you’re there: Take a boat trip in the marine park of the northern Sporades.
Where to stay: In Alonissos old town, Elias House (€95 a night self-catering in high season for up to three adults and one child) has a lovely patio.
Merryn Wainwright
Fighting ships, Greece
Armata, Spetses, Saronic Islands
When: 1-8 September
Highlight: A lifesize ship set alight under a volley of fireworks, commemorating the
1822 defeat of the Ottoman fleet
Feisty Spetses was the first Greek island to rise up against Ottoman rule in 1821. The formidable Laskarina Bouboulina – Greece’s only female admiral— spent her fortune amassing a fleet of warships to fight the Turks. On the second weekend of September, the whole island gathers at the harbour for the re-enactment of an epic 1822 naval battle in which the Turkish fleet was routed. Fishing boats lit by candles drift slowly out to sea, surrounding a model Turkish ship that is ceremonially set alight as a barrage of fireworks and dramatic music almost drowns out the squealing crowds. This patriotic display is the climax of a week-long festival of traditional Greek dancing, live music, and religious rituals. Orthodox mass is held at Panagia Armata chapel, as well as the church of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors.
Where to stay: The Poseidonion (doubles from €148 B&B), a plush period hotel opened in 1914, is on the waterfront overlooking the action.
Rachel Howard
Singing up a storm, Croatia
Klapa music festival, Omiš
When: 29 June-21 July
Highlight: The men’s highly spirited final on 21 July
Backed by a dramatic canyon and straddling the mouth of the Cetina river, medieval Omiš has one of the Croatian coast’s most jaw-dropping settings. It’s a suitable backdrop for the evocative klapa music festival . Competing groups of singers perform this highly expressive a cappella, multipart style of singing in the town’s St Mihovil and Stjepan Radić squares every few days until one group is declared the winner. These songs of love and longing are some of the most beautifully haunting sounds of the Adriatic.
While you’re there: The Cetina canyon is a giant playground, with kayaking, ziplining, rafting and riverside walks.
Where to stay: Clinging to a rocky crag, the family-run Hotel Villa Dvor (doubles from €85 B&B) overlooks the river and the old town.
Mary Novakovich
Tiaras and truffles, Croatia
Subotina festival, Buzet
When: 8 and 9 September
Highlight: A giant truffle omelette prepared on the town square to kick off the festival
This year, 2018 eggs and 10kg of truffles will go into the enormous omelette that marks the start of the white truffle season in Buzet, a picturesque hilltown in northern Istria. The next day, the whole town dresses up in traditional clothes or period costume and shares the heritage and atmosphere of yesteryear. Artisans demonstrate carpentry, stonemasonry and basket-weaving while locals sing in dialect and dance to live accordion music in the cobbled streets of the old town. This is Istria, so there’s plenty to eat and drink: specialities such as maneštra (a thick soup similar to Italian minestrone); traditional pasta called fuži served with truffles; and fried doughnut-like fritule. Wines such as crisp white malvazija, or red teran flow freely.
While you’re there: Visit Hum, a charming fortified hilltown listed as the smallest town in the world by Guinness World Records. Twelfth-century frescoes decorate the nave of St Jerome’s church, and there are also wall writings in Glagolitic script, the oldest known Slavic alphabet.
Where to stay: Vela Vrata (doubles from €59 B&B) is a heritage hotel in Buzet’s old town with a pool, spa and restaurant.
Isabel Putinja
Ukuleles united, Czech Republic
Czech Ukulele festival, Unetice, near Prague
When: 28-29 July
Highlight: Delicious, straight-from-the-brewery-tap beer – plus the chance to participate in the world’s largest kazoo workshop
The ukulele may have become the hipster’s weapon of choice but this back-to-basics celebration of the tiny, twangy instrument is an unpretentious affair. It’s held in Unetice, a picturesque village around 20 minutes from Prague (bus 355 from Dejvice), where local and international musicians gather for a relaxed weekend of lute-plucking, lager-drinking japery. Its home is the highly rated Unetice brewery, so the beer is fresh and unfiltered, and the wide variety of acts and workshops means you can either get involved – or simply kick back in the sun. This year’s theme is Ladies Edition, and most of the acts are female.
• Day, night or whole weekend tickets available at goout.net
While you’re there: Get off the bus at Roztoky and enjoy a two-mile forest walk to Únětice through the gorgeous “Silent Valley”, following the red trail signs.
Where to stay: Hotel International Prague (doubles from €76) is a monstrously brilliant slab of Stalin-era architecture near the Dejvice bus stop.
Mark Pickering
Wine and song, Czech Republic
Pálava wine harvest festival, Mikulov, Moravia
When: 7-9 September
Highlight: The medieval pageant
Beer isn’t the only Czech tipple. The annual Pálava wine harvest provides the perfect excuse to try burčák, a deceptively innocuous semi-fermented wine that appears for a brief period in late summer. The weekend shindig celebrates winemaking around the historic Moravian town of Mikulov, on the Austrian border, and on Saturday the otherwise sedate square buzzes with merriment as King Wenceslas IV and his entourage proceed through Mikulov in costume. High above town, the castle hosts wine tastings, and there’s local wine and food to sample on central Kapucínská street. Attracting around 65,000 visitors over three days, the festival features live music, kids’ entertainment and more.
While you’re there: Don’t leave without taking in the views from 363-metre Svatý Kopeček (Holy Hill), on the edge of Mikulov and crowned by a dazzling white chapel.
Where to stay: Boutique Hotel Tanzberg (doubles from €54), whose chef worked with Jamie Oliver.
David Creighton
Viking re-enactments, UK
Largs Viking Festival, North Ayrshire
When: 1-9 September
Highlight: Travelling back in time to a Viking village (without the pillaging)
The Battle of Largs in 1263 was the last mainland confrontation between the Scots and the Vikings, with Scottish king Alexander III crashing to defeat at the hands of Haakon. The Largs Viking festival kicks off with a parade, complete with pipers and a re-enacted skirmish; the final weekend includes a torchlit procession, a full-on battle re-creation, longship burning and fireworks. There’s a food and craft fayre, street performers and a Viking living history village (adults £5, children £2). Why go to Scandinavia when there’s Viking revelry right here at home?
While you’re there: Take the 10-minute ferry ride to the island of Great Cumbrae and the attractive town of Millport, with its Cathedral of the Isles, Britain’s smallest working cathedral.
Where to stay: With views across the Firth of Clyde to Ailsa Craig, the Old Rectory in Largs (doubles from £80 B&B) used to house ministers of the Episcopal Church next door and has lovely period features.
Dixe Wills
Uncle Tom Cobley and all, UK
Widecombe Fair, Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Devon
When: 11 September
Highlight: The location: a sheltered valley, surrounded by moorland tors, with a couple of excellent pubs
This famous village get-together – celebrated in a well-known song about a man whose horse dies on its way to the fair – is run by volunteers and celebrates rural life, from horse, pony, cattle, sheep and produce competitions to bale-tossing, hawking and morris dancing. Look out for vintage cars and tractors, and terrier-racing. The Dartmoor Hill Pony Display Team, with young riders in the saddle, showcases these now rather rare ancient, fluffy, friendly native ponies. Apparently Anne Widdecombe lives in the village – you have been warned!
• Entrance free, parking £20 a day, no ATMs
While you’re there: Hike up to Hound Tor (a mile to the east), one of the most dramatic of the granite outcrops in this part of Dartmoor, said to have inspired The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Where to stay: There’s plenty of free/wild camping on the moor – this area is nowhere near the military shooting ranges; you can pitch anywhere away from the road.
Chris Moss
Giant nuptials, Belgium
La Ducasse d’Ath, Ath, Wallonia
When: 24 August-8 September
Highlight: The procession of seven giants
The 700-year-old Giants of Ath festival has long slipped free of its religious origins, but Goliath remains the star. The giants’ parade depicts the marriage of the biblical figure and his fight with David, played by a local boy. The big day is the last Sunday in August, when seven giants, musicians and a giant horse (carried by 16 people) parade through the town. For more folklore, the Maison des Géants museum, in an 18th-century townhouse, is a colourful guide to this tradition. Don’t leave without trying a tarte à masteilles, an almond tarte that locals wash down with a glass of burgundy. Around 100,000 people visit for the festival, so accommodation books up quickly.
While you’re there: Cycle the 14 miles to the Maison du Pays des Collines in Ellezelles, north of Ath (walloniabelgiumtourism.co.uk).
Where to stay: The central Hôtel du Parc has recently been renovated (doubles from €98 room-only)
Jennifer Rankin
Costume drama, Slovenia
Dnevi Narodnih Noš, Kamnik
When: 7-9 September
Highlight: The final parade, with scores of lavish regional costumes
First come the men in floral hats, cracking disconcertingly long bullwhips. There follows a parade of elaborate floats, carriages, brass bands and marchers in the intricate, handmade traditional folk costumes of regions throughout Slovenia and beyond. The diversity of cultural heritage (some 50 dialects and 24 distinct culinary regions) in this tiny country is on full display at the snappily titled National Costumes and Clothing Heritage Days. Three-castled Kamnik is a charming medieval gateway to the Alps, and the beer capital of Slovenia, with six award-winning microbreweries in a town of just 13,000.
While you’re there: Visit Volčji Potok Arboretum, five minutes from Kamnik, a world-class botanical garden with more than 2,500 trees and shrubs, plus an elaborate play area.
Where to stay: Pod Skalo is a B&B, hostel and pub (bunkbeds from €18 B&B, doubles from €56 B&B) a short walk from the centre of Kamnik. It is the only place in town open into the small hours, with local beers on tap.
Noah Charney
Knights on the town, Sweden
Medieval Week, Visby, Gotland
When: 5-12 August
Highlight: Watching knights in medieval attire jousting on galloping horses
Every August, the island of Gotland steps back in time to the middle ages and Visby, its largest town, becomes a mini kingdom celebrating Sweden’s medieval heritage during Medeltidsveckan, or Medieval Week. Visby itself is surrounded by a 13th-century ring wall with more than 50 towers and is a Unesco world heritage site. With more than 500 events in seven days, festivalgoers can attend jousting tournaments, haggle at markets, listen to storytellers, laugh at court jesters, watch fire shows and marvel at magicians. There is also a full-scale re-enactment of the 1361 Battle of Wisby against Danish forces.
While you’re there: Stroll or cycle along the three-mile Strandpromenaden that wraps around Visby’s northern coast for panoramic Baltic views.
Where to stay: Clarion Hotel Wisby (doubles from €205 B&B) is a former 17th-century warehouse in Visby’s old town.
Lola Akinmade Åkerström
Midsummer madness, Denmark
Sankt Hans festival, Skagen, Jutland
When: 23 June
Highlight: Partying on the northernmost tip of Denmark, where the sun barely sets in June
Sankt Hans involves communal singing, bonfires and dancing – a tradition captured by artist P S Krøyer in a 1906 painting. Join the fun on the beach at Skagen, when a grand bonfire is lit with a straw witch figure on top – a reference to the many men and women convicted of witchcraft and burned alive in the 16th and 17th centuries. There’s live music before the bonfire is lit.
While you’re here: Walk up to the very tip and northernmost point of Denmark, Grenen, and watch the waves collide where the seas of Skagerrak and Kattegat meet.
Where to stay: Danhostel Skagen has dorm beds for £23, doubles from £52, both including Danish breakfast buffet.
Monica Grue Steffensen
