10 amazing festivals that offer an early dose of summer

What better way to salute the season than with a cultural festival that makes the most of the great outdoors? Chris Leadbeater takes his pick.

Lisbon

Why spend one weekend at a summery cultural festival when you can make a whole month of it? That’s the judicious opinion of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, which devotes the entirety of June to its patron holy fellow St Anthony. How? Via an extravaganza of parades and theatre events, the sound of jazz and fado in the streets, and the devouring of roasted sardines with basil (lisboanarua.com/festasdelisboa). 

Denver

Could there be anything more gloriously incongruous than a festival pinned firmly to Mexican folklore being held in the American Rockies? That the Colorado capital Denver has a Cinco de Mayo bonanza (cincodemayodenver.com; May 5-6) is remarkable. That this year’s is the 32nd edition is a reason to be cheerful. Who doesn’t love a mariachi band?

Berlin

Never look for anything less than pragmatism from our good friends in Germany. They could hold the big Karneval der Kulturen (karneval-berlin.de) – with its noisy street parties and around one million visitors – in the traditional carnival month, February. But Berlin is as cold as a polar bear’s toothbrush in February, so that would be a miserable idea. Better to host a four-day blow-out on May 18-21 instead. Clever thinking.

Seville

What makes a cultural festival go with a swing? Flamboyant costumes? All right, go on then. Flamenco dancing? That would be nice. Sherry? Oh yes, now we’re talking. So it’s buenos dias Spain, and hola to the annual Seville Fair (April 15-21; visitasevilla.es/en/history/feria-de-abril), which revels in all these things – but particularly the latter.

N?mes

France will also cast off its (chic and quite expensive, actually) winter coat in the next few weeks. And what will it replace it with? Yes, leather tunics, chainmail and some sort of warpaint. Obviously. The Great Roman Games (arenes-nimes.com) will take over the ancient amphitheatre in N?mes from April 28 for three days of chariot racing, gladiator battles and swarthy men acting out their Russell Crowe fantasies.

Tours

France is such an expert at sipping wine that it can do it with its eyes shut while riding a unicycle backwards up Mont Blanc. Still, that won’t be necessary at the Viti Loire festival (vitiloire.tours.fr), which, held in Tours, will honour the best plonk and produce of the Loire Valley via cycle rides and food stalls, on the weekend of May 27-28.

La Coru?a

Spain serenades summer’s mid-point, too, not least in the Galician city La Coru?a, which marks the arrival of John the Baptist’s feast day in just the way any biblical prophet would want – by piling hills of discarded wood onto its beaches, and torching them in a pyromania frenzy (nights of June 23-24; hoguerassanjuan.com). Health and safety? Not much. Fun and frivolity? In spades.

San Francisco

San Francisco cannot compete with New Orleans for pre-Easter weather, so doesn’t try, instead staging its main Mardi Gras-esque moment once the Bay Area has heated up. This year’s Carnaval San Francisco (May 26-27) will be the event’s 40th edition. Expect sequins, street food, and sunshine (carnavalsanfrancisco.org).

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Tyrol

The summer solstice is also a flammable affair in the Austrian Tyrol, where the ski zone Tiroler Zugspitz Arena gets as far as it can from its winter image every June 23 by building some 8,000 bonfires on the hillsides – many of them crafted as elaborate mythological symbols – and setting the night ablaze (zugspitzarena.com/en/news-events).

Holland

If your idea of an early summer serenade is less sound-systems on Unter den Linden and more the lazy turning of agrarian sails in a fluttering breeze, then you need Holland and its National Mill Day – which, in no way confusingly, is set to run for the entire weekend of May 12-13.

The gist – 950 windmills across the country will open their doors in a celebration of Dutch life. More at the events section of holland.com.