With Coachella kicking off the festival season on 14th April, discover 12 lesser-known festivals to look forward to around the world this year. From celebrations of the arts and music to world-class food and drink, the upcoming months have something in store for everyone.
Cinco de Mayo Fiesta – Sedona, Arizona (6 May)
Celebrate spring and immerse in rich cultural heritage at Cinco de Mayo Fiesta in Sedona this May. Honouring Mexican history, the festival features high-energy music and dance, which is sure to excite all. Taking place from 11am – 5pm on 6 May at the Tlaquepaque Arts and Shopping Village, visitors are welcome and admission is free. The event is also family-friendly with arts and crafts stations and fun face painting booths. www.visitarizona.com
The Mariposa Butterfly Festival – Yosemite Mariposa, California (6 – 7 May)
The Mariposa Butterfly Festival is inspired by the 1806 Spanish expedition of Gabriel Moraga celebrating the Spanish name of the historic Gold Rush town, “Mariposa,” meaning “butterfly.” One of the most anticipated moments of the festival is the release of some 4,000 butterflies, creating a colourful storm. Other family-friendly games and activities include bouncy castles, pony rides, virtual reality stations and face painting booths. There is also an educational aspect to the festival with volunteers presenting butterfly ecology and teaching festival goers how to create their own butterfly garden. www.yosemite.com
Vivid Sydney 2023 – Sydney, New South Wales (26 May – 17 June)
Celebrating its 13th year in 2023, Vivid Sydney returns to the city fusing art, innovation and technology in collaboration with some of the most boundary-pushing artists, thinkers and musicians of our time. Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas, including outdoor immersive light installations and projections across iconic buildings and attractions, performances by local and international musicians, and an ideas exchange forum featuring public talks and debates with leading creative thinkers. www.visitnsw.com
Three Rivers Arts Festival – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2 – 11 June)
Taking place across ten days, Three Rivers Arts Festival is a free outdoor music and arts festival held each June in the Downtown district of Pittsburgh. Featuring live music and performance art, as well as visual art, the authentic gastronomy and beer scene is presented across vendors throughout the park. Teaming world class beer with over 400 independent artists and musicians, this festival isn’t one to be missed. www.visitpittsburgh.com
Telluride Bluegrass Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary – Telluride, Colorado (15 – 18 June)
Nestled in the rugged San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival welcomes visitors from far and wide. This year is going to be even more spectacular with the festival’s 50th anniversary celebrations which includes free workshops, a 2023 NightGrass schedule and a better than before music lineup. Not only an iconic representation of the music scene, the experience is a place of awe inspiring beauty – a destination where travellers can dance under the solstice sun and embrace their truest self. www.colorado.com
Great Valencia Fair – Valencia, Spain (1 – 25 July)
Embrace tradition in Valencia and enjoy the Great Valencia Fair held every July. The city organises a month of activities, involving filling the streets with colour, outdoor concerts and firework displays on the seafront. Enjoy the cultural aspect by spending a night at the museums as they are open until dawn or watch the spectacular Battle of Flowers. During the festival, Valencia vibrates to the sound of jazz, pop and rock, and smells of gunpowder, roses and daisies. www.visitvalencia.com/en
Drishti Beats Yoga & Music Festival – Snowmass Village, Colorado (7 – 9 July)
The 2023 Drishti Beats Yoga & Music Festival in Snowmass Village explores the symbiotic connection between music, yoga and the outdoors. Visitors can fully relax and nurture their wellbeing with scenic mountain surroundings for three days with yoga classes, lectures and a live music lineup highlighting some of the top artists of downtempo electronic chill and house music. www.gosnowmass.com
Capitol Hill Block Party – Seattle, Washington (21 – 23 July)
Celebrating the Capitol Hill neighbourhood in Seattle, Capitol Hill Block Party has 100 local and national acts performing at bars, outdoor stages and restaurants in the area. Known for creating the world’s most influential musicians, such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Seattle is the city for music fanatics and Capitol Hill is where the newest and best in the industry can be found. This year’s headliners are still to be confirmed. visitseattle.org
Tenjin Matsuri – Osaka, Japan (25 July)
Over 1,000 years old, the Tenjin Matsuri is one of Japan’s top three summer festivals that takes place in July every year. Centred around the god of learning, Sugawara Michizane, the festival begins at the Tenmangu Shrine and moves toward the Okawa River where portable shrines are loaded onto boats. This sacred ritual is done to ensure Osaka’s prosperity in the year ahead. On the second day of the festival, visitors can watch the procession of traditional floats and portable shrines moving through the city streets led by drummers in red hats. The Tenjin Matsuri continues into the night with an evening boat procession which carries the portable shrines on the river in illuminated boats. Visitors are welcome to join in the festivities by donning a yukata (traditional summer wear) and geta (traditional shoes). www.japan.travel/en/uk/
Sendai Tanabata Matsuri – Sendai, Japan (6 – 8 August)
Derived from the traditional Tanabata festivals, also known as “star festivals”, the Sendai Tanabata Matsuri is held every year from 6 – 8 August. One of Japan’s largest and most famous tanabata celebrations, the festival features colourful handcrafted streamers, each about 3-5 metres long. In addition, smaller paper decorations such as kimono, cranes, purses, paper strips, trash bags and nets, might be seen as part of the streamers or hung separately from poles around the venue. During the festival, lively performances featuring live music and entertainment, as well as traditional dance, can be seen in other venues around the city. The night before the festival, visitors can look forward to fireworks along the bank of the Hirosegawa River. www.japan.travel/en/uk/
The Great American Beer Festival – Denver, Colorado (21 – 23 September)
From 21-23 September, the Great American Beer Festival returns to Denver for the first time since the pandemic. Presenting the largest collection of US beer ever served in a public tasting event, the much anticipated event brings together brewers, consumers and diverse beers that make the state the world’s greatest brewing nation. With over 100 breweries in the Denver metropolitan area, the city is the perfect host for the speciality festival due to its expertise.. www.denver.org
Aftershock Festival – Sacramento, California (5 – 8 October)
2023 will be Aftershock’s 11th year running and it continues to grow, held at Discovery Park in Sacramento from 5-8 October, set to build on last year’s record-breaking success with an attendance of 160,000 rock music fans. This year’s festival will be headlined by the legendary Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Avenged Sevenfold and Korn and they will be joined by over 95 more bands making 2023 Aftershock’s biggest year yet. This includes Godsmack who will be debuting their newest album Lighting Up The Sky as well as, Pantera, Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age, Limp Bizkit, Megadeth, Rancid, Turnstile, plus loads more new and exciting rock groups. www.visitsacramento.com
