Top 5 Festivals To Experience On A Gap Year

A gap year has the potential to be filled with adventures and escapades all around the world. Indeed, there are a wealth of opportunities available for the first time if you have a decent budget and a wide enough imagination. There are many festivals which take place throughout the year, exciting prospects which continue to attract vast hoards every time. Here are a handful of the festivals that are perfect for your gap year.

Burning Man

Held annually from the last Monday in August to the first Monday in September since 1986, Burning Man is a unique community art experiment which advocates principles of self-expression and self-reliance, among other things. The event takes its name from the inaugural burning of a substantially sized effigy on the final night in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. A theme is set each year, inspiring eclectic artistic creations of all kinds. A treat for creative-minded souls.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Set in the Scottish capital, the Fringe has fostered countless comedy acts over the years. During the three-and-a-half week August festival, over 3,000 acts perform to jovial audiences, with one able to expect anything from cabaret to stand-up, to comedy troupes and circus acts and much more. The long-running festival is the world’s largest in the arts field, and is a fantastic opportunity to see side-splitting shows in a wide array of characterful venues.

Rio Carnival

This world-famous South American carnival, which dates back to as early as 1723, pits different Rio samba schools against one another, in a festival filled with vibrant decorations and lively music. Bateria bands and elaborately dressed street dancers parade through the streets, with almost anyone welcome to join in with the spectacle.

Oktoberfest

The 16-day beer-drinking marathon is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, with millions of litres of alcoholic beverages (predominantly beer) being served each time. Oktoberfest has been etched into Bavarian culture for over 200 years, with a funfair and food stall element having been integrated into the festival as it has grown in popularity over time. In excess of 5 million visitors now flock to the Bavarian celebration each year, with the event coinciding with the national holiday, the day of German unity, in October. Supposedly, waiters only require one-and-a-half seconds to fill a whole stein (approximately 1 litre) with beer.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival

This month-long Chinese festival, beginning and running through January, exhibits some of the largest ice sculptures in the world, with participants travelling from all across the globe. Sculptures are displayed in two separate locations under the categories of either snow or ice creations, with the sculptures lit up at night to make the exhibition particularly impressive when viewed from above. The biggest snow sculpture ever crafted was presented here in 2007, a construction which emulated both Niagara Falls and the crossing of the Bering Strait, standing at a length of 250 metres in total. These painstakingly shaped structures are certainly not to be missed.

By Tim Thorne