Experience The Biggest And Best European Festivals In 2016

Make 2016 your year to get to Europe and hit up some of the biggest and best festivals that the continent has to offer.

It all kicks off in February with the Venice Carnival. Anyone who loves a masquerade will have a blast at the largest of its kind in Italy. People come from around the globe to take part in the merriment of this celebration in which colourfully clad masked partygoers roam the streets.

Two of Europe’s biggest National Day festivals are St Patrick’s Day in Ireland and King’s Day in the Netherlands. St Patrick’s Day is on 17th March when everyone becomes Irish for the day, but there really is only one place in the where you can properly celebrate this massive day and that is Dublin, where the city becomes an absolute sea of green. The best thing to do is just simply make sure you get yourself a pint of Guinness, dance the jig and get wild in the home of Ireland’s biggest festival.

Although Dublin is a sea of green for St Patrick’s Day, Amsterdam will turn orange on 27th April for King’s Day. Everyone in Amsterdam really gets into the festive spirit on King’s Day, with both locals and tourists dressed in orange, the colour that symbolises the royal family of the Netherlands. The party isn’t limited to the streets, as colourfully decorated boats line the waterways of Amsterdam’s canal system.

Spain is definitely home to some of the world’s largest and most exciting festivals. Whether you’re looking for food fights, throwing firecrackers or running with giant bulls, Spain is sure to have you covered. The Spanish festival year starts in March with the Las Fallas in Valencia. The people of Valencia love their Las Fallas Festival, which is a wonderfully spectacular experience involving fire, uniquely done in true Spanish style. The main five days and nights of Las Fallas are just one big long party with crowds lining the streets and explosions from firecrackers heard all day long and into the night.

If it’s food fights you want then Spain is the place to be, with La Batalla Del Vino and La Tomatina two not to be missed. La Batalla Del Vino, or Wine Fight, is held in Haro on 29th June. This area of Spain is well known for growing grapes and making wine, so it is only natural that with all that harvesting that the locals and tourists alike might want to let off a bit of steam with a bit of a battle involving wine as the weapon of choice.

La Tomatina is essentially the world’s largest food fight, with locals and tourists cramming into the small Spanish town of Buñol, near Valencia, madly chucking tomatoes at one another. La Tomatina is on Wednesday 31st August.

Of course, a festival trip to Spain would not be complete without the San Fermin Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona. San Fermin is on 6th to 14th July, with the Bull Run held every morning at 8am between 7th and 14th July. Pamplona is a great Basque town in Northern Spain and there is plenty to see and do during San Fermin.

After doing all of these amazing festivals, you would think you would have had enough, but September brings us the festival of all festivals – the biggest and best of them the all – Oktoberfest. More commonly referred to as Beerfest, Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany is a 16-day festival celebrating what else, but beer. More than 6 million people from around the world attend and generally more than 6 million litres of beer is consumed. That’s 1 litre for every individual! This year, Oktoberfest starts on 17th September.

If you’re looking for more information on tours and travel options for these fantastic events, then head on over to FOMO Travel for more information.