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Rum and Cigar Festival Elevates St. Barts to New Levels of Luxury Island Lifestyle

It’s a tiny island with a big reputation as one of the most chic destinations in the Caribbean. Legendary St. Barts combines French ‘art de vivre’ with a lush tropical setting and an exclusive atmosphere.

If you’ve been waiting to discover – or re-visit – this jewel of the islands, there may be no better time than November.

That’s when the Caribbean Rum Awards bring island luminaries and rum and cigar VIP’s from around the world together to celebrate two island luxury indulgences.

Saint-Barthelemy, affectionately shortened to the anglicized nickname St. Barts or St. Barths, is only 25 square kilometers (just under 10 square miles). Only small planes can land on St. Barts, and its iconic yacht harbour – one of the most renowned in the Caribbean – only accommodates yachts. That preserves the island’s charms from mass tourism.

Visitors arrive by small plane from nearby islands like St. Maarten, or sail in on a private or chartered yacht or even on one of the small, luxury cruise ships that can be accommodated in St. Barts’ picture-perfect, U-shaped harbour nestled in a cove in its capital city, Gustavia.

Some of the world’s most stylish, influential and prestigious travelers include the French overseas island on their annual calendar of travels.

The week-long Caribbean Rum Awards originated in 2018 and have become a highlight of the island’s November social calendar.

Anchored by Gustavia’s Rhum Room, home to the largest collection of fine rums of any bar in the hemisphere, the Caribbean Rum Awards are centered around a blind-tasting of the most premium rums in the world vying for the event’s top award.

Rum luminaries and cigar aficionados from far and wide gather to sip, savour, judge, share their insights and tastes, and celebrate the iconic sugarcane spirit of the Caribbean.

In addition to the main event, rum lovers enjoy a slate of day and evening events including cocktail parties, master classes, private tastings, rum and cigar pairings, cocktail pairing dinners led by top chefs at one of the island’s most talked-about restaurants that end with spectacular, rare cigars, and nightly tasting parties at the Rhum Room.

A one-day Rum Expo is open to the public that week. Only holders of VIP tickets can access the other events.

If you haven’t over indulged already, we recommend you stick around in St. Barths. The Caribbean Rum Awards week kicks off the island’s ‘Gourmet Month,’ with the St Barth Gourmet Festival scheduled for the following week.

#StartYourTrip!

Images: Getty

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You’ve Missed Danube Day But You Can Still Discover Europe’s Record-Breaking River

Every year on June 29th, eighty-one million people in 14 European countries celebrate the single river that ties them together and provides drinking water, food, power, recreation, jobs and transportation.

Danube Day annually marks the signing of the Danube River Protection Convention, which facilitates collaboration between the countries of the Danube River and the rivers that flow into it to ensure that it’s clean, healthy and safe.

It’s also the largest river festival in the world. Huge celebrations take place on the riverbanks of towns along the waterway, in addition to clean-ups and greening activities, and educational events.

That’s just one day of the year. But any visit to the region is the perfect time to discover what makes mainland Europe’s biggest waterway so special.

At 1770 miles (2,850 km), the Danube is the longest river in mainland Europe (only Russia’s Volga is longer).

Beginning in Germany’s Black Forest, the Danube flows southeast all the way across Central and Eastern Europe to drain into the Black Sea. It served as a vital transportation and trade route as well as food source for the earliest humans in Europe and was even the frontier of the Roman Empire.

Today, the Danube flows through more countries than any other river in the world. In a very real way, the region was built from the river inland. In addition to countless cities and towns that were built along its river banks beginning in ancient times, the Danube also flows through more national capital cities than any other river on the planet.

The capitals are the largest cities on the Danube, and include the can’t-miss European destinations and cultural and historic centers of Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Bratislava.

There are land tours in many of the countries and communities along the Danube. But perhaps the most authentic way to experience the river is to travel on it.

River cruises allow you to follow the footsteps of the ancient Europeans who navigated the river fishing, and trading goods from Eurasia into the heart of the continent, who established vineyards in the optimal terrain of steep riverbanks and microclimates nurtured along the Danube’s shores, and built the iconic cityscapes that are the hallmark of a Central European vacation. A night time sailing past the illuminated, riverbank Budapest parliament buildings (pictured top) should be on everyone’s travel bucket list.

A cruise that calls in the towns and ports in the countryside along the banks of what Strauss called “The Beautiful Blue Danube”, you’ll have a whole week of ‘Danube Days’ – and memories of a lifetime.

#StartYourTrip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host, BestTrip TV

#featured #europe_vacation #river_cruise

Celebrate This Island’s Sweet Harvest at its Annual Summer Mango Festival

On some islands, they like to tell you how many beaches they have, or days of sunshine. On Nevis, it’s how many different varieties of mangoes they have.

The answer? Officially, nearly four dozen – and unofficially, it’s estimated nearly 200 different varieties of mangoes grow on this tiny Caribbean island.

Nevis makes up the other part of the twin-island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis. Tucked away between Antigua and the British Virgin Islands, Nevis is off the beaten track in the Caribbean sense – which makes it a treasure for travellers looking for a secluded, charming island paradise.

Dominated by the cloud-topped Mount Nevis, whose verdant sides slope down before becoming sandy beaches at the water’s edge, Nevis is beloved by savvy travelers in the know, who call in port in Nevis on a private yacht charter or luxury, small-ship cruise, or arrive by ferry from St. Kitts a couple of miles away.

No buildings higher than a tree are permitted, so the island retains a local, island character that heavily-developed Caribbean destinations lose. Only one famous resort brand calls Nevis home, and the Four Seasons resort on Nevis is a legendary, luxury, tropical island escape (more about that below.) Many visitors to Nevis stay in villas and small inns – where mango trees fill gardens and yards.

Something very special about Nevis’ microclimate and soil has made it the ideal growing environment for mangoes where they almost grow like weeds. In addition to yards and gardens, mangoes grow in wild abundance along roadsides, and in the green rainforests up the sides of Mount Nevis. They’re there for the picking for the island’s residents as well as its famous monkey population, who climb the trees, and donkeys, who eat them off the ground.

Ripening mangoes on the trees add to the vibrant color palette of the island especially in July and again towards the end of the year. Everyone has their own favorite varieties, from Amory Polly, to Julie, to graft mangoes that can grow as big as your head, and many Nevisians eat them right from the trees.

Mangoes are such an integral part of Nevisian life that there’s even a festival during peak season in early July to celebrate them.

The Nevis Mango & Food Festival usually takes place over the first weekend of the month. It’s one of the biggest events on the island and draws some of the region’s most talented chefs who compete over the course of the weekend to create dishes judged by celebrity chefs like UK Iron Chef Judy Joo who often appears at the festival to judge and also to teach masterclasses.

If you don’t make it to Nevis during the festival, you don’t have to worry you’ll miss the flavors of Nevis’ famous mangoes at other times of the year. If there are four dozen – or two hundred – types of mangoes on Nevis, there are at least as many ways to enjoy them served throughout the island, from cocktails made with mango puree, mango guacamole and salads and sherbet, biscotti, jellies, sauces for fish dishes… even some you can take home with you as souvenirs, like mango chutney, or jam or even mango hot sauce!

Complete your mango-themed visit to Nevis dining at the restaurant called Mango at the newly-renovated Four Seasons resort. The breezy, vivid yellow seaside restaurant is the epitome of upscale island dining.

WATCH THE VIDEO at the top to see more of the new Four Seasons resort’s renovations – plus another can’t miss culinary experience: ‘Dive and Dine’ lobster at one of the resort’s private, beach side cabanas.

#StartYourTrip!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host, BestTrip TV

#featured #four_seasons #culinary

A Twist on 'April Showers' at This Country's New Year Celebrations

Many modern holiday celebrations put an irreverent twist on their historic – and often more solemn -traditions.

Thailand’s Songkran may be one of the most extreme examples of that phenomenon.

Ancient Thai culture marked the New Year in what we now call April. The word is Sanskrit, meaning ‘astrological passage’, and it coincides with the rising of Aries and the New Year of the Hindu and Buddhist calendars. Songkran is a three-day ritual, from the 13th to the 15th of April. The final day, April 15th is considered ‘New Year’s Day’ itself.

To help usher in the Thai New Year, we were invited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand to a virtual Songkran celebration via a live feed to events in the country.

You can WATCH the video of our virtual visit to Thailand at the top.

Water rituals play the central role in the observance of Songkran. They symbolize washing sins and bad luck away, and purifying the celebrant for the new year.

During our live feed virtual visit to a Thai temple, we watched celebrants gently pouring water over a Buddha statue.

(From Tourism Authority of Thailand video, top)

They also made offerings and practiced hand cleansing rituals with their elders and the Buddhist monks at the temples.

Then it was off to an elephant sanctuary. Elephants are the national symbol of Thailand, and are considered sacred for their role in Buddhism. These majestic, intelligent and sensitive animals also have a connection to the water. They are often pictured bathing in rivers and spraying each other.

The manager of the sanctuary wished us happy Songkran, and observed Songkran water purifying rituals – but it was an adorable baby elephant who stole the show, shyly weaving around the other elephants’ legs in the background, and peaking occasionally into the camera.

The final segment of the virtual event was a visit to the kitchen of American Top Chef alumnus, Asian cuisine chef Arnold Myint, where he prepared a refreshing Thai dish known and loved in Thai restaurants around the world, Thai papaya salad.

That’s how authorities like to depict Songkran, in all its charming, respectful and uniquely Thai aspects.

This is how the new generation celebrates Songkran – with public water fights! The ‘super soaker’ version of Songkran is just as colorful... maybe just not the most dignified or elegant. But it’s clearly inspired by traditional celebrations of water cleansing and even sacred elephants spraying water!

There may be a practical element, too. While technically ‘Spring’ in the northern hemisphere, in sultry Thailand so close to the equator, April is actually the hottest month.

And while water fights on the streets with buckets and water guns and unavoidable wet T-shirts (!) may seem pretty irreverent, they do provide precious relief from the heat – you might call it ‘blowing off steam!’

Maybe that’s why modern, young celebrants are putting a ‘splashy’ new spin on ancient Songkran rituals.

#DreamNowTravelSoon

#featured

Signs of Spring - Worth Traveling For

Spring may be the most hopeful season.

There is nothing more uplifting than seeing Nature reborn every Spring. It’s like an assurance that life will get better again, no matter how tough the dark days of Winter – or life – have been.

Between March’s Spring Equinox and the start of Summer on the Solstice in June, the days get progressively longer, dousing us in light, and sparking the renewal of life after a long, dull winter.

So it’s no wonder that so many ancient cultures celebrate Spring’s light and new life.

Or why we are still so enchanted by the signs of the new season.

None are quite so colorful as spring flowers peeking through the snow or opening on trees or brightening fields. Since the earliest of times, humans have cultivated their outdoor environments for both nutritional, and inspirational purpose.

Spring gardens feed the soul with wonder in the annual renewal of life, and the strength of even seemingly fragile organisms. There’s a parallel to human life our inner, primitive humans recognize.

If ‘April showers bring May flowers’, here’s the start of a Spring travel ‘bucket’ list to capture the essence of the season.

SPRING BULBS

Netherlands:

Keukenhof Garden is the largest spring flower garden in the world, planted with millions of spring bulbs. The garden is an orgy of vivid colors every Spring, but more than tourist attraction, it’s a calling card – or even business card – for Dutch spring bulbs, the Netherlands’ biggest agricultural product.

The garden serves as an outdoor sales convention for international buyers looking at the latest flowers offered for sale by Dutch growers.

Canada:

Ottawa Tulip Festival has a Dutch connection, too. During WW2, the Dutch Royal Family took refuge from their war-torn country. In gratitude, every year, a huge shipment of Dutch bulbs makes its way across the ocean to Canada’s capital, where they bloom in Spring in parks throughout the city.

CHERRY BLOSSOMS

Japan:

Cherry trees are native to many countries, but the ancient Japanese were the first to immortalize the delicate beauty of their pale blossoms in poetry, song, arts and crafts, and aristocratic festival. Cherry blossom viewing (pictured, top) has become a cornerstone of modern Japanese culture, but things have changed a bit since the Shogun strolled under the trees surrounding their castles.

Today, public parks become packed with groups of friends, families and co-workers who picnic and karaoke underneath the gently falling petals that remain a symbol that life is fragile and fleeting.

North America:

The Japanese have shared their national adoration of cherry blossoms in friendship with communities globally. Perhaps the most spectacular are the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C whose blossoms outshine even the magnificent monuments of the capital for a short time early every Spring.

In Canada, the quaintly-British colonial port city of Victoria rises out of the gray mists of the Pacific Northwest winter with the arrival of clouds of mystical off-pink of cherry blossoms, especially at its world-famous Butchart Gardens.

LUPINS and BLUEBONNETS

Canada’s East coast has something in common with the state of Texas, and it comes in the form of a native, early season bloom.

Texas bluebonnets carpet roadsides in a single, vivid hue. Their maritime cousin, the lupin, creates a mosaic of a wider variety of colors from rich orchid to bright pink, pure white and pale lavender, all the way to the royal blue of its Longhorn State cousin.

AND OTHER 'RHODIES' TRIPS, TOO

The list of floral tributes to spring – and the trips they inspire – could go on forever. Rhododendrons and azaleas in Asia, the Pacific Northwest and the American South. Fields of daffodils across England’s green pastures.

Even the gardens in your own home town or backyard.

Wherever you find yourself this Spring, we hope you spend time outdoors, glorying in the arrival of a new season full of hope and color.

#SpringTravels

By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host, BestTrip.TV

#featured

Celebrate 50 Years of Disney Magic

They’re calling it ‘The World’s Most Magical Celebration’ and it's a new entry on the travel bucket list of Disney lovers around the world.

On October 1st, 1971, after years of imagining and building, Walt Disney World Resort opened in Florida, taking the magic of the Disney universe and beloved characters from the silver screen to real life.

Half a century later, some would say Disney World is even better than real life. With millions of visitors every year, the ground-breaking theme park, against which all other theme parks would be measured, has created family memories and adventures of millions of lifetimes.

To celebrate, Disney has planned ‘The World’s Most Magical Celebration’ lasting a full year and a half beginning October 1st this year, and going all the way through 2022 and beyond. The 18-month gala features new experiences at the resort’s four theme parks and even beyond, where shimmering ‘EARidescent’ moments and décor will ‘magically’ appear.

Time to dust off your mouse ears and get ready to party.

Beacons of Magic at All Four Walt Disney World Theme Parks

All your favorite icons at each Walt Disney World theme park will transform into magnificent Beacons of Magic at night, coming to life with their own EARidescent glow.

· Cinderella Castle will illuminate Magic Kingdom with a dazzling radiance that sparkles with pixie dust.

· At Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, a warm light will emanate from the Tree of Life as magical fireflies gather to usher in the magic of nature.

· The Hollywood Tower Hotel at Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be awash in a brilliance evoking the golden age of imagination and adventure.

· And at EPCOT, new lights will shine across the reflective panels of Spaceship Earth, connecting to one another in a symbol of optimism resembling stars in a nighttime sky. The instantly-recognizable structure’s permanent new lighting will continue beyond “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” as a defining feature of the park.

Mickey and Minnie Dress Up

Your favorite characters dress for the occasion, too. As hosts of “The World’s Most Magical Celebration,” Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse don sparkling new duds featuring – you guessed it - EARidescent fabric, really upping the ante on everyday glitter costumes!

Walt Disney World cast members join Mickey and Minnie, to welcome guests during this once-in-a-lifetime anniversary celebration of the place know fondly by so many as The Most Magical Place on Earth.

#DreamNowTravelSoon

Images: Disney

#disney #family_vacation

Every 10 Years, This ‘World’s Fair’ of Flowers Upstages Netherlands’ Tulip Time. Don’t Miss Floriade 2022

If you thought Tulip Time in the Netherlands was the ultimate garden travel experience, you haven’t heard about Floriade.

Horticulture is famously the Netherlands’ most ‘colorful’ industry. The country sells half of the world’s ‘floriculture’ products and over three-quarters of the world’s flower bulbs. It’s number one in greenhouse horticulture and leads global exports of cut flowers, ornamental plants and even trees.

One of the most magnificent Dutch travel experiences is an early spring – ‘Tulip Time’ – visit to Keukenhof, the world’s largest spring flower garden featuring 7 million spring bulbs including over a thousand varieties of tulips alone. But even this experience – marvellous for visitors as it is – is actually a functioning, outdoor trade show exhibiting the best and latest bulb varieties for buyers from around the world.

Tulip Time, where a drive through the southern provinces of the Netherlands reveals fields of blooming tulips as far as the eye can see, and Keukenhof garden tours, luckily take place every year.

Floriade happens only 10 times a century.

Some call it the ‘World’s Fair’ of horticulture, and the next one is in 2022, just in time for travel-hungry people to ensure their post-pandemic travel plans include the opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime collection of vivid memories.

Floriade is the largest public event in the country, drawing 2 million visitors over six months between April and October to its vast displays of almost any plant that grows, in stunning gardens, installations, pavilions and greenhouses.

The exhibition moves around, with this Floriade taking place in a purpose-built, ultra-modern, 150-acre ‘garden city’ built on land reclaimed from the sea near Amsterdam.

The theme in 2022 is ‘Growing Green Cities’, with exhibitors from the Netherlands and around the world displaying green solutions and next-generation innovations and inventions for enjoyable, liveable and sustainable urban centers.

Like the term ‘World’s Fair of Horticulture’ suggests, Floriade offers 40 inspiring country presentations which will also house a spectacular greenhouse complex, a cable car over the Floriade park, pavilions with sustainable innovations and a vibrant arts and culture programme. An electric scale-model train moves visitors around the vast site, and a 35-meter high, 850-meter long cable car provides an incredible view of what will seem like the Garden of Eden below.

Other highlights of Floriade include: an international collection of plants, flowers and trees and 14,000 bulbs organized alphabetically ‘A to Z’ in nearly 200 sections of a vast arboretum like you’re walking through a plant encyclopedia, Alice in Wonderland style.

A visit to Floriade includes culinary experiences, entertainment and culture, and the intersection of horticulture and art, like the ‘life artwork’ project ‘Bobbing Forest’ consisting of 20 recycled sea buoys from the North Sea, planted with Dutch Elm trees even as they ‘bob’ in the water, which you can view from the cable car or on a tour boat that departs from a waterside terrace.

The theme even has a double meaning, since the site is set to become a new urban district once the expo closes. Its name will be ‘Hortus’, meaning ‘garden’ in Latin, and some future homes have already been built that will serve as pavillions during Floriade and in a perfect ‘green’ re-purposing, revert to homes afterwards.

How To Floriade

Like many other ticketed events, it pays to be part of an escorted group with guaranteed access and no need to line up with people waiting for tickets.

Amsterdam is the jumping off point for both Floriade and the Netherland’s spectacular spring flower garden Keukenhof.

It’s also a hub for land, ocean, and river travel, which means there are options for people of all travel styles to immerse themselves in the breathtaking beauty and inspiring innovation of Floriade.

Here are a few of our favorites:

LAND TOURS:

Check out: Trafalgar

Trafalgar’s guests on tours like Amsterdam Explorer and Best of Holland will spend a full day at the Floriade, and “Dive Into Culture” and discover what it would be like to live in a city which is built with environmental sustainability at its core. You’ll explore the location's three districts, each with their own theme – Food, Health and Energy, and the ‘Green Island’, along with live entertainment, cultural shows and culinary delights. In addition to Floriade, you’ll cruise the canals or bike through Amsterdam, taste cheese in Gouda, learn how pottery is made in Delft, and taste exquisite chocolate.

RIVER CRUISES

Check out: Uniworld, Avalon Waterways, Tauck, Scenic and Emerald Cruises

Luxury, boutique river cruise Uniworld is including Floriade as a ‘Choice Excursion’ on three of its 2022 itineraries, including the new Dutch Delight, as well as European Jewels and Remarkable Rhine and Historical Holland cruises on the cosmopolitan, richly elegant River Empress ship. Uniworld guests will have enjoy a full day excursion to Floriade, where you will stroll the expansive arboretum, sample healthful foods and learn about developments in sustainable architecture and energy.

Ultra-luxury river cruise line Tauck includes the Floriade experience on select Rhine River cruises in 2022. One of the things that sets the cruise line apart are its ‘Tauck Exclusive’ private shore experiences, which in this region of Europe, can include things like a pre-opening visit to the open-air Zuiderzee Museum; a private evening at the acclaimed Mauritshuis museum, where you will view masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer (including his iconic Girl with a Pearl Earring) and others and have dinner with live music for you and your fellow guests only; a cruise on the IJsselmeer aboard a century-old sailboat; and tease for, “a special Dutch treat at Floriade 2022.

Avalon Waterways is offering travellers on 8-day Active Discovery in Holland & Belgium, and Tulips of Northern Holland sailings (as well as a number of Rhine and multi-river cruises) the opportunity to sail, enjoying the only open-air balconies in river cruising with floor to ceiling, sliding glass windows facing your bed, then stop and smell the roses at Floriade, a featured, included excursion, giving guests the chance to join the celebration of phenomenal flora in all its finery and fill their senses with color, fragrance and fantastic food.

Scenic has increased its 2022 departures for Windmills, Tulips and Belgian Delights cruise, and for cruises from April to October, you’ll visit Floriade. The luxury river cruise line will also offer a two night extension to visit Floriade to Danube, Rhine and multi-river cruises between end of April to October that take care of all your planning and logistics for you, and allow you to spend as much time at Floriade as you like.

Sister line Emerald Cruises has similar options.

OCEAN CRUISES

Check out: Crystal

Ultra-luxury Crystal cruises include Floriade on sailings on their legendary ocean ships calling in Amsterdam, including London-roundtrip Gardens and Gateways, as well as London-Stockholm and Copenhagen-Reykjavik.

ASK US ABOUT THE BEST WAY FOR YOU TO FLORIADE IN 2022.

#DreamNowTravelSoon

Images/ renderings courtesy Floriade

#featured #river_cruise #escorted_tour #escorted_vacation #europe_vacation

The Best Celebrations Around the World For You To Ring In the New Year

At long last, 2020 is wrapping up, and a New Year full of hope is just around the corner.

This feels like the kind of year you’d toast the year past as early as possible, then call it a night, hoping when you wake up in the New Year, we will have turned the page on the disappointments, challenges, cancelled travels and special events missed during the past year.

No need to wait for the clock at home to strike midnight on December 31st. The global pandemic means that this year more than ever, countdowns have gone virtual, giving you several opportunities throughout the day to enjoy other cities’ New Year’s celebrations and kiss 2020 goodbye.

Dropping the Ball in New York

For many in North America, NYC’s glittering, Swarovski New Year’s Eve Ball drop is the definitive countdown and hallmark of the New Year. The tradition dates back a century to a ban on fireworks in New York City, and is now immortalized in popular culture with a televised show and one of the biggest crowds of the night. Usually, millions watch on TV, and billions also watch around the world as a million people fill Times Square to join together in bidding farewell to the departing year and celebrate collective hope for the year ahead.

This year, organizers are live streaming the Times Square Ball drop at the stroke of 12 to capture the same spirit in an online global community.

Futuristic Neon in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time in North America, meaning you could be drinking mimosas for brunch in Florida, New York or Toronto on December 31st as the New Year strikes in Hong Kong.

(Above and top renderings courtesy of Hong Kong Tourism Board)

For the first time ever, the pandemic is sending Hong Kong’s New Year Countdown Celebrations online. To share its world-famous neon artistry against ultra modern architecture framing historic Victoria Harbour and its belief in a hopeful and resilient future, the Hong Kong Tourism Board is showing a live countdown clock on its website beginning at 11 pm local time. As the clock strikes midnight, video featuring the glorious illuminations above Victoria Harbour and other landmarks, plus greetings and blessings to the world, will play.

Fireworks and Laser Show in Dubai

Midnight in Dubai on December 31st is 3 pm that afternoon Eastern time, easily justifying popping a champagne cork for the live streaming of one of the world’s most spectacular New Year’s celebrations: fireworks and a laser show at one of the architectural marvels of the Middle East.

(https://mydubainewyear.emaar.com/Index.html)

Already breathtaking at 2722 feet, the Burj Khalifa is even more wondrous on New Year’s Eve. People are also welcome to share 35-character New Year’s wishes to display on the world’s tallest building during the show by sending a message to Burj Khalifa’s social media accounts using the hashtag #BurjWishes2021.

Ringing in the New Year – Old School

Maybe the Year of COVID is the year to revert to ushering in the New Year using traditions that pre-date fireworks, laser, or ball-dropping extravaganzas.

For centuries, cultures around the world have developed traditions to bring health, happiness, hope, and good fortune to celebrants – and we need those blessings now more than ever.

Here are some of our favorite ways to start the New Year right, and you can do them all while in the safety of the self-isolation at home we’ve been asked to observe this holiday season.

Eating Grapes - Spain

It’s simple and delicious. Spaniards ring in the New Year by consuming a grape for every chime of the clock at midnight. Those 12 grapes also happen to correspond to the upcoming 12 months, bringing good luck for the entire year ahead. Wine makers are said to be at the root of this tasty tradition.

Ringing in the New Year - Japan

Buddhists try to avoid the 108 earthly temptations on earth to achieve nirvana. So on the last day of the year, Japanese go to their local temple – many at the peaks of mountains of this volcanic nation – to ring the temple bell. Monks ring the bell all 108 times, and members of the public file past the bell, ringing it once to cast away bad deeds and bad fortune to be pure and receptive to all things good in the year to come.

Welcoming a Guest in Scotland

After religious Christmas was suppressed in Scotland, New Year’s – or Hogmanay - became the Scots’ primary winter celebration to banish the dark months, and welcome new light, warmth, and wellness. In addition to the lighting of bonfires and toasts of whisky, Hogmanay’s signature tradition includes ‘first footing’.

The first person to cross your threshold in the New Year brings you good luck for the year ahead. For a culture fearful of marauding blond and red-haired Vikings, a dark-haired man was the best luck for a ‘first footer’. Even someone already in your home can exit to come back in as a first-footer, bearing salt ‘for the tears every life brings’, bread or shortbread ‘to soak up your tears’, or coal ‘to warm your hearth’.

Luggage to go in Columbia

This South American country may be home to our favorite of all the world’s New Years traditions. To bring prosperity and good fortune, Columbians carry money and lentils, both symbols of wealth and luck, with them on New Year’s. That’s easily understood. It’s another tradition – picking up empty suitcases at midnight and running around the block to help a year full of travel to materialize – that gets us really excited, especially for 2021.

Wishing you a happy and healthy year of good fortune and inspiring travels!

#HappyNewYear

#DreamNowTravelSoon

Image credits as noted above.

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Italy Names Its First 'City of Wine'

Wine lovers have one more reason to get traveling again next year. In celebration of one of its oldest and most beloved products, Italy has declared its first-ever ‘City of Wine’.

The Italian association of communities that collaborate to protect and promote their regional wine designations held a competition for the new honor.

Barolo - the town with the famous red wine of the same name – was crowned ‘City of Wine’ for the award’s inaugural year in 2021.

Nestled between Genoa on Italy’s north-western coast, and the Alps to the north, the picturesque Langhe hills surrounding Barolo in Piedmont are nearly entirely covered by vineyards and have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The nebbiolo grape grown there is made into Barolo wine – so highly esteemed, it’s been dubbed the ‘King of Wines’.

Barolo wine is considered the most famous regional designation in all of wine-rich Italy. Not only does the wine have to originate only in the Barolo zone – that’s only 5 miles across at its widest point – wine must also go through a particular process. That includes a minimum of 3 years of ageing – half of that in wooden casks. Barolo is famously a wine high in tannin and much better aged, with some connoisseurs waiting more than 10 years for Barolo wines to develop the best flavor.

That’s put some modernizers – who favor a fruitier, quicker, less fermented version that appeals to modern and international tastes – at odds with die hard traditionalists.

You can decide for yourself at the abundance of wineries and wine shops that form the core of any visit to Barolo, and pair the wine with some of the region’s famous dishes at local restaurants. (Don't miss braised beef Barolo - in Barolo red wine sauce, with carrots, an iconic example of Piedmontese cuisine.)

To beat out half a dozen other competitors for the new title ‘City of Wine’, Barolo proposed an entire 2021 calendar of events, exhibitions, seminars, tastings and installations. They’ll celebrate the wine traditions, history of Barolo wine, and the natural cycle of the seasons.

City of Wine celebrations only enhance Barolo’s permanent features: the Langhe hills, Barolo vineyards, wineries, and wine shops. Add Barolo castle and its wine museum, the nearby, quirky Corkscrew Museum, and Barolo chapel standing in the middle of vineyards with its historic sanctuary for vineyard workers-meets-modern art installation to your essential 2021 pilgrimage to Italy’s first designated City of Wine.

#DreamNowTravelSoon

Images: Getty

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3 Hallowe'en Traditions With Roots in Ancient Celtic Ireland

Frightful Hallowe’en is many people’s top holiday of the year – but did you know that we can thank ancient Ireland for our favorite Hallowe’en traditions?

Travel to Ireland these days, and you’ll still be able to connect with the origins of Celtic culture that still swirl in the mists of time in Ireland’s Ancient East.

Today’s Hallowe’en is the descendent of the Celtic festival of Samhain (Sow-ann). The celebrations included feasting on the harvest and lighting fires to mark the end of the season of light, and welcome the days of darkness.

The Irish practice of lighting bonfires began on hilltops in Ireland 3000 years ago, with clans and communities gathering to light huge ceremonial Samhain fires.

One of the biggest Celtic festivals of fire was on a hilltop called Hill of Ward in today’s County Meath. Recent archaeological excavations suggest the hill was used for feasting and celebration over 2,000 years ago. What’s more, it was the grandmother of all fires; old manuscripts reveal that the Celts lit a fire here from which all the fires in Ireland were rekindled.

To this day the area around the Hill of Ward, and the nearby Hill of Tara (pictured above) where the High Kings of Ireland ruled, remains one of the centers of Irish Halloween traditions. Every year, a 21st century celebration of Samhain, called the Púca Festival, is held in the region.

Celebrating Ireland as the birthplace of Halloween, Púca events normally include an impressive re-enactment of the symbolic lighting of the Samhain fire, live music and performance, amazing light installations and more. (This year the celebrations will be virtual, with a broadcast of the lighting of the Samhain fires due to take place on 31 October.)

Dress Up

That period of seasonal metamorphosis involved more than changing hours of light and darkness and lighting of fires for the ancient Celts. They believed that the moment of transition allowed the worlds of the living and the dead to interact – and that shape-shifting spirits could move between worlds. Starting to sound familiar?

To avoid being pulled into the netherworld in an untimely way, Celts disguised themselves in costumes. That would create confusion and even scare off any ghosts, fairies, goblins or demons roaming this world.

Hallowe’en dress up today may involve superheroes and video game characters – but its origins lay in deceptive and even frightening disguises.

Jack-o-Lanterns

Whatever face you choose to carve into your Hallowe’en pumpkin, you’re following an Irish tradition with New World materials. Before pumpkins existed in Europe, turnips and even large potatoes were hollowed out and carved to serve as lanterns.

Even the name Jack-o-lantern has its origins in and Irish folktale. As the story goes, a man named Stingy Jack played a trick on the Devil, who punished Jack, cursing him to wander all of Eternity with only a burning ember from the everlasting fires of Hell inside a turnip to light his way.

When Irish immigrants brought Hallowe’en traditions, including the jack-o-lantern, with them to North America, they discovered much larger and already-hollowed-out pumpkins and other winter squashes here that made bigger, better and much easier lanterns than turnips!

Trick or Treat

In old Ireland, it was called ‘souling’. Children and the poor went from door to door, offering songs or prayers for the dead in exchange for money, kindling for fires, or food. The common food treat was a ‘soul cake’: a flatbread that contained fruit.

Today, the Irish celebrate Hallowe’en much like we do, with costumes and visits to neighborhood homes for small gifts of candy, fruit and money.

But as we enjoy activities we see as fun diversions and cute child’s play, we can also remember their mystical origins in ancient Celtic Ireland.

#DreamNowTravelSoon

Images courtesy Ireland.com

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How the Postponed Tokyo Olympic Games Will Feature Japan's National Sport

We should be watching the opening ceremony of the XXXIII Olympiad right now.

But COVID has changed the history of the Olympics along with so many other features of our lives. Tokyo 2020 retains the name, but the dates have changed.

Originally scheduled to take place from July 24th through the second week of August this year, Tokyo 2020 now opens on July 23rd 2021. They are the first Summer Games to be postponed instead of cancelled due to an international crisis.

You can still make plans to be in the stands for Tokyo 2020 in 2021 and part of the excitement in Japan’s capital. The date changes will mean a magnified Olympic energy, pent up for an extra year. Always an international, feel-good rally, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 promise to be even more symbolically charged in the year following the COVID crisis.

So next year more than many other Olympics, all eyes will be on Tokyo. In addition to all our favorite Summer Olympic sports, new competitions at Tokyo 2020 will include freestyle BMX and 3x3 basketball, as well as the debut of surfing, skateboarding and karate, sports proposed by the host country.

But Japan’s national sport will not be played at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Sumo is only practiced at the highest levels inside Japan. There is no competition between nations like Olympic Games for sumo.

Instead, between the closing of the Olympic Games and the opening of the Paralympic Games, the Japan Sumo Association has planned to stage a special, two-day sumo exhibition tournament.

It gives attendees at the Olympic Games the opportunity to be a part of one of the world’s most rare, ritualized, ancient sports still part of a country’s modern culture.

Sumo is often caricaturized in Western culture. You may have even been to parties where brave or joker guests don inflatable ‘sumo’ costumes, throw themselves at each other and roll around on the floor, laughing.

But a bit of knowledge about Japan’s version of wrestling gives viewers new appreciation for this unique sport and martial art.

Sumo was first mentioned in writing in the 700’s, but pre-historic wall paintings show sumo’s roots in ritual dances for good harvests;

Matches are held in a 15-foot wide clay ring;

Far from colliding and rolling around on the floor like the Western party game, sumo wrestlers try to force their opponents outside of the ring in full-contact, ritualized movements that are considered a martial art;

Sumo wrestlers are required to wear their hair long in a waxed topknot, in an historically Samurai warrior style;

In the ring, they wear 30-foot long belts (not diapers!), tied in the back, that the other wrestler can latch onto to throw his opponent out of the ring;

Matches begin with a powerful crouch and charge that use the wrestlers’ great size to full effect;

There are no weight classes in sumo, so the bigger wrestlers can get, the better! Sumo wrestlers consume specific, traditional foods – up to 20,000 calories every day, or 10 times what an average person needs! – to gain and maintain weights in excess of 300 pounds. In modern sumo history, 3 famous sumo wrestlers have even weighed in at over 600 pounds!;

Even today, other customs and traditions of sumo are very linked to Japan’s ancient Shinto religion, including the throwing salt to purify the ring.

If you are not in Japan for the special tournament following the Tokyo Games, six sumo tournaments are held for two weeks each every year throughout Japan. Tokyo’s tournaments are in January, May and September, and other major cities have one each, including Osaka in March, Nagoya in July, and Fukuoka in November.

It may never be an Olympic sport, but sumo is one of the best-preserved ancient sports anywhere in the world, and an experience not to miss if you ever have a chance to travel to Japan.

#DreamNowTravelSoon

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Summer Solstice at Stonehenge Goes Virtual: How You Can Attend this Mystical, Ancient Celebration This Year

Mark dawn in England on June 21st on your calendar. It will be worth or staying up late at night in North America to experience the online broadcast of one of the world’s most famous celebrations of pre-historic spirituality.

Summer Solstice is the astrological event that marks the longest day (the most sun) - and the shortest night (the least moon) of the year. Usually on June 21st, it’s the beginning of the Summer season in the northern hemisphere.

A Wonder of the Ancient World - and Accurate Solar Calendar

From ancient times, humans have marvelled at and closely observed the predictable movements of the sun, moon, stars and the earth. They connected them to celestial gods, earthly survival through good harvests blessed with enough sunshine to grow, and the insignificance of humanity amongst the heavens.

Ancient sites around the world are believed to have measured, marked, or honored celestial events like rare eclipses or the annual Summer Solstice (and its counterpart, Winter Solstice 6 months later on December 21st marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year).

Perhaps the most famous of these is England’s Stonehenge, or ‘hanging stones’. Stonehenge triggers an onslaught of fantasy and imagination in everyone who sees or experiences it. A circle of gigantic standing stones, some as high as 30 feet, and weighing in at 45 tons, even topped with other monster-sized stones fitted perfectly on top, they were arranged in a ring pattern that exactly lines up with the sun’s Summer and Winter Solstices even thousands of years later.

Like the pyramids of ancient Egypt, this 5000 year-old site has remained a wonder of the ancient world for the generations that followed, rediscovering and attempting to unlock its mysteries. It was even connected to Britain’s fabled King Arthur, so it could not be more ripe with legend and mystique.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

At this unparalleled Stone Age site 90 miles west of London, ten thousand or more people every year gather to watch dawn of the Summer Solstice. As the sun rises behind the site’s massive stones this one day of the year, its rays are framed to penetrate into the center of the prehistoric circle with astonishing precision. Members of today’s druid, pagan, and mystical communities who hold Stonehenge to be their temple believe it is a spiritual moment.

Whether or not you believe Stonehenge is an astrological ‘map’ or solar calendar or celestial place of worship by pre-historic Celtic priests, the celebration of the Summer Solstice at this astonishing site remains a moving and unforgettable experience for modern people.

Summer Solstice Goes Virtual

So when the global pandemic made the gathering of crowds at Stonehenge this year unsafe, English Heritage, the organization that manages Stonehenge and many of the country’s historic sites, announced it would offer a livestream of sunrise on the site’s most celebrated and significant day of the year.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge goes virtual this year on English Heritage’s social media accounts live on Sunday morning, June 21st at sunrise local time (4:43 am London time which is 11:43 pm Saturday night in North America’s Eastern Time zone.) Bear in mind, that’s the actual moment dawn breaks, so you’ll want to tune in earlier to get the full effect over the course of sunrise.

You can join the English Heritage event on facebook – click here.

Or watch a video of last year’s Summer Solstice at Stonehenge on English Heritage’s youtube channel (click here) while you wait for this year’s livestream to launch.

So even on the other side of the Earth during the middle of a global travel shutdown, we can participate in the spiritual experience of this vital moment on the solar calendar. And take a moment to ponder that we still share the same rhythms of sun and seasons with people who built a monument to its everlasting truths thousands of years before our time.

#DreamNowTravelLater

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Milan's Shuttered Duomo will Ring with the Voice of an 'Angel' as Bocelli Performs Easter Concert

The COVID-19 pandemic is cancelling Easter celebrations large and small around the world. Thousand-year-old cathedrals will make history as they remain empty and silent.

Enter Andrea Angel Bocelli.

Celine Dion has said that, 'if God has a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli.'

The Italian tenor who made pop music audiences fall in love with classical opera, who has received cultural honors in his home country and also has Grammy awards and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame… is taking this unprecedented opportunity to fill Milan’s empty cathedral with music on Easter Sunday 2020.

Milan’s Duomo dates back to the 1300’s. It is the largest church in Italy (St. Peter’s Basilica is larger, but it’s in the independent state of Vatican City). That makes it the 2nd largest in all of Europe. Milan’s Duomo is famous not just for the size of the building, but also for the 225-rank pipe organ which is the biggest in Italy, and for the gold Madonna gazing out onto the city from a perch nearly 360 feet at the top of one of the church’s many spires.

(Getty)

It’s also in the heart of the region of Italy hardest-hit by COVID-19.

Bocelli is making sure everyone’s Easter is filled with uplifting music, singing a solo concert Andrea Bocelli: Music for Hope in the Milan Duomo.

The 61-year old tenor and cathedral organist Emanuele Vianelli will perform soaring hymns like “Ave Maria” and “Sancta Maria” in the dramatic surroundings of the Duomo.

And while the pews in Milan and around the world will be empty, the point of the Music for Hope concert is to “send a message of love, healing and hope to Italy and the world.”

So the Music for Hope will be livestreamed globally HERE on Bocelli’s YouTube channel beginning at 1 pm Eastern Time on Easter Sunday in a gesture the beloved tenor hopes will unite everyone facing the pandemic.

'I believe in the strength of praying together; I believe in the Christian Easter, a universal symbol of rebirth that everyone - whether they are believers or not - truly needs right now,” Bocelli said, “Thanks to music, streamed live, bringing together millions of clasped hands everywhere in the world, we will hug this wounded Earth's pulsing heart.”

He also hopes the concert symbolizes renewal of the society so disrupted by the pandemic. “It will be a joy to witness it, in the Duomo, during the Easter celebration which evokes the mystery of birth and rebirth.”

The Music for Hope concert isn’t the only way Bocelli is contributing. In addition to Sunday’s concert, the Andrea Bocelli Foundation is part of a campaign to purchase more medical equipment needed to treat COVID-19 patients. And the acclaimed tenor also performs on April 18th’s virtual concert One World: Together at Home, raising money for charities providing food, shelter and healthcare to those in need as a result of the continuing crisis.

But it’s the Music for Hope concert in the hauntingly empty venue of Milan’s Duomo that will uplift the world on Easter Sunday.

And inspire us to think of happy days when we can once again travel to experience the gifts of Italian culture in person.

(via Andrea Bocelli /YouTube)

#featured #shore #europe

Europe's Capital of Music Celebrates the 250th Anniversary of This Musical Genius

You may only listen to classical music once in a while, but we’ll bet this composer’s name rings a bell.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Germany, but spent his professional career and passed away in the music capital of Europe. 2020 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer, who in spite of becoming ill and deaf, was considered one of the greatest musical talents of all time. And Vienna is celebrating his life and works.

The Austrian capital was the epi-center of musical creativity throughout most of the era that gave us classical music’s greatest moments. Most of Beethoven’s groundbreaking premieres took place in Vienna’s iconic venues. Many of them remain today (like Vienna's State Opera House above © WienTourismus/ Christian Stemper), and Vienna continues to set the stage of the world’s rich classical music scene. Every night in the city, around 10,000 music fans are treated to live classical music at the great music institutions that debuted Beethoven’s greatest works.

In the year that marks 250 years since Beethoven's birth, Vienna celebrates the artist and his long-lasting legacy of classical music with the slogan Beethoven Belongs to Everyone.

Digital Beethoven

The Vienna Tourist Board has developed a voice application for the Amazon and Google voice assistants for the 2020 Year of Beethoven. Users discover an interactive audiobook on the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven. Recordings of all Nine of his Symphonies performed by the Wiener Symphoniker provide the soundtrack.

The Vienna Tourist Board and the Austrian National Tourist Board also worked together to develop a smart audio guide integrated into a pair of special sunglasses. Ludwig van Beethoven takes wearers on an acoustic tour of Vienna and New York with the help of Bose frames featuring integrated loudspeakers and the new #RelatedToAustria app. In Vienna, visitors can borrow the glasses for free from the Tourist information office on Albertinaplatz.

Beethoven Live in Vienna

In the 2020 Beethoven year more than ever, Vienna’s orchestras and music institutions celebrate the genius composer with a full calendar of performances.

The Vienna Philharmonic holds a Beethoven cycle at the Vienna State Opera’s Gustav Mahler Hall. The series of ten chamber music evenings runs until mid-June 2020, presenting all of the master’s vocal works.

The Wiener Symphoniker plays many of the Beethoven performances at the Wiener Konzerthaus: the packed program for 2020 is bookended by his Ninth Symphony on New Year’s Day and a final rendition of “the Ninth” on New Year’s Eve, and includes an open-air event with public viewing areas in the Beethoven cities of Bonn (his birthplace) and Vienna.

The Theater an der Wien, where Beethoven was engaged and lived for a time, will be the venue for a production of Fidelio, taking Beethoven’s operatic work back to the place where it was first performed.

In 2020 the Musikverein will be celebrating Beethoven as well, along with the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester and the Wiener Akademie orchestra – in which all the performers play original instruments, recording all of Beethoven’s symphonies and piano concerts for posterity. You can research live performances during your visit to Vienna, as well as anniversary recordings, here:

Vienna Philharmonic, www.wienerphilharmoniker.at

Vienna State Opera, www.wiener-staatsoper.at

Wiener Symphoniker, www.wienersymphoniker.at

Wiener Konzerthaus, www.konzerthaus.at

Theater an der Wien, www.theater-wien.at

Musikverein, www.musikverein.at

ORF Radio Symphonieorchester, rso.orf.at

Orchester Wiener Akademie, www.wienerakademie.at

Beethoven in Art

Don't miss exhibits, projects and installations featuring a Beethoven theme at Vienna’s museums and art galleries in 2020:

Beethoven moves, Mar 25-Jul 5, 2020, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, www.khm.at

Inspiration Beethoven. A Symphony in Pictures from Vienna 1900. May 30, Sep 21, 2020, Leopold Museum, MuseumsQuartier Vienna, www.leopoldmuseum.org

Beethoven. World of the Man and Spark of the Gods, Dec 19, 2019-Apr 19, 2020, National Library, State Hall, Austrian National Library, www.onb.ac.at

The Great Triad of Viennese Classical Music: Haydn - Mozart - Beethoven. Similarities - Parallels - Opposites, Feb 13, 2020-Jan 27, 2021, Mozarthaus Vienna, www.mozarthausvienna.at

House of Music. The Museum of Sound, www.hdm.at

Beethoven Museum, www.wienmuseum.at

Pasqualati House, www.wienmuseum.at

Secession, www.secession.at

Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, Hofburg, Neue Burg, www.khm.at

Beethoven in Photos

Ludwig van Beethoven moved to Vienna to advance his career in the Music Capital with the renowned Haydn when he was only 22, and lived out his life there. So there are many monuments to the famous composer in Vienna. You’ll want to post images of all things Beethoven during your visit, including these famous Beethoven locations.

Beethoven Memorial in Beethoven Park Beethovenplatz, 1030 Vienna

Unveiled in 1880, this monument was paid for in part by one of Beethoven’s high-profile colleagues from the world of music. A committed Beethoven fan, Franz Liszt used the proceeds from his last public concert on March 16, 1877 (marking the 50th anniversary of Beethoven’s death) to complete the memorial.

Beethoven Museum - Probusgasse 6, 1190 Vienna, www.wienmuseum.at

In Beethoven’s day, Heiligenstadt was a popular spa destination beyond the old city walls, although today it’s part of the city. He retreated here as therapy for his ailments. The Beethoven Museum opened in one of his former residences.

Pasqualati House Mölker Bastei 8, 1010 Vienna, www.wienmuseum.at

Baron von Pasqualati provided cheap lodgings for his friend Beethoven to use, which the composer returned to on multiple occasions.

Theater an der Wien - Linke Wienzeile 6, 1060 Vienna, www.theater-wien.at

This theater was an important venue for concerts of all descriptions. Several of Beethoven’s works made their debuts here, including his violin concerto and Fidelio – his only opera.

Beethoven’s grave - Central Cemetery, Simmeringer Hauptstrasse 234, 1110 Vienna

Beethoven lies in rest in a grave of honor next to Franz Schubert’s final resting place, with a memorial to Mozart – who was buried elsewhere – installed between them.

Include Austria's magnificent capital on a tour of the country's many charms, or visit Vienna during a port of call on a Danube river cruise.

Start your Trip!

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Where Every Gaming Teen Wants to Travel This Summer

If your family has a teen who spends time immersed in electronic games, take heart! We've discovered the perfect summer holiday everyone in your family will enjoy.

There's a vibrant summer destination that not only delivers an unforgettable skyline and cityscape, shopping, culture and food scene ranging from gourmet street food to Michelin-starred cuisine… and one of the world's most exciting e-Sports events.

The e-Sports & Music Festival Hong Kong takes place annually in late July in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, and it gives gaming teens as well as the rest of their families an exciting summer holiday destination.

Featuring tournaments played between some of the best players in the world and live-streamed in 3 languages, as well as experiences for amateur gamers and visitors, the EMFHK ensures e-Sports enthusiasts in your family will be happily occupied for all three days of the festival, and free up the rest of you to explore Asia's World City.

Top Level International Team Tournaments

The EMFHK launched the first-ever official International College Championship in 2019. The League of Legends International College Cup. 12 winning college teams from all over the world compete for glory in this highly competitive, fast paced action-strategy game.

CS:GO World Invitational gives gaming fans the chance to witness first-hand two top professional teams fighting for a HK$500,000 prize pool.

Mobile Game Regional Tournaments

EMFHK - e-Sports Tournaments “Honor of Kings” Official City Tournament

“Honor of Kings” is the most played Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) mobile game in China, with over 50 million players per day. Qualifiers from 4 regions in the Greater Bay Area of HK/China compete for the championship.

PUBG Mobile Hong Kong Tournament

Winning teams from online qualifiers gather to battle for the championship title of the most played Battle Royale mobile game in the world.

Interactive Experiences for Visitors

Your teens will lose themselves for hours in the Experience Zone, which includes a showcase of cool retro arcade machines, along with VR experiences and professional e-racing equipment they can test drive. They'll experience the trendiest mobile games at the “CSL Mobile Game Party” and can check out “Street Fighter” and “The King of Fighters” in the “Retro Fighting Game Zone”.

Nightly entertainment during the three-day Festival features performances and parties that include events like an ACG & e-Sports Cosplay Competition, an electronic dance music (EDM) party featuring Korean rappers, performances featuring popular local bands and artists.

Tickets are all-inclusive of admission to the tournaments, the Experience Zone, nightly performances and even free admission to the Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong that runs at the same time.

Build a summer holiday around Hong Kong's e-Sports & Music Festival, and you'll be in your gaming teens' good books for the whole year!

Start your Trip!

Images courtesy Discover Hong Kong

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6 Year-Round Festivals That Give You a Reason to Celebrate in Barbados

After winning the NBA championship, legend Kawhi Leonard toasted his huge win with a trip to Barbados. But you don't have to be a basketball hero to celebrate in Barbados.

Beyond the beaches, this eastern Caribbean island, outside the principal hurricane belt, has a year round calendar of festivities that gives nearly every traveler a reason to pack a bag for Barbados.

Crop Over Festival

When: May to August

This months-long festival is a 200 year-old tradition of marking the end of the sugar cane harvest. It's the most popular celebration on the island, an extravaganza of live music and traditional dancing. This is the ultimate Bajan festival with all-night parties, arts and crafts markets, street fairs with local cuisine, and the culmination of the Crop Over Festival in the final week in August, with a masquerade band parade complete with costumed partiers, music trucks and moving bars.

Crop Over Festival Tip: Barbados' most famous native daughter, Rihanna herself is known to show up for the final day of the festival in support of her brother Rorrey Fenty's band Aura Experience! Sign up to 'jump' with the band and you could be partying with Rihanna's costumed crew.

Dive Fest

When: Early July 2 – 7 | Website:

Get a little underwater in Barbados. Or simply swim, float, or soak up some sun on the beach. Dive Fest features water awareness programs, scuba and freediving demonstrations and trials, beach clean ups, conservation tips, lionfish hunting and tasting, as well as scuba dives all over the island - including the island's acclaimed east coast!

Dive Fest Tip: Don't miss Carlisle Bay Marine Park, a wreck diver's dream, with over half a dozen ship wrecks, including a Canadian freighter sunk by a Germany U-boat in WWII, and other ships sunk as dive sites. Some wrecks are as shallow as 12 feet under, all the way to over 55 feet under the surface. In addition to underwater history, you can check out the marine inhabitants: eels, frog fish, seahorses, rays, porcupine fish and squid that make the shipwrecks home.

Barbados Jazz Excursion & Golf Tournament Weekend

When: mid-October long weekend (Columbus Day / Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend) |

Jazz Sax-Man and Barbados-born recording artist Elan Trotman hosts a weekend of concerts, island excursions and charity golf for this annual event. Festivalgoers are treated to an ever-growing lineup of contemporary jazz and R&B artists at the fest along with a schedule that allows time to discover the alluring tropical beauty of Barbados. The weekend benefits the Headstart Music program in the island that provides free music lessons to children on saxophone, flute, clarinet, trumpet and percussion instruments.

Barbados Jazz Excursion & Golf Weekend Tip: This is shoulder season, so you’ll be sure to get great flight deals.

Food & Rum Festival

When: Late October weekend

For over 10 years, Barbados has been celebrating some of the best local Bajan, regional and international chef and mixology talent. for a unique festival of flavour. Local gastronomy and the island’s signature spirit – rum, are the highlight of this festival of flavor. Add in beach parties and other exciting cultural experiences and foodies and their friends have an island escape to remember!

Food & Rum Festival Tip: You'll want to check out local restaurants in addition to ticketed food and rum events. Don't miss Chef Damian Leach's restaurant Cocktail Kitchen. The award-winning Bajan chef, who studied in Canada, is bringing innovation and sustainability to the island dining scene; including the use of the invasive species lionfish in his cuisine.

Open Water Festival

When: Early November weekend

Join hundreds of swimmers and open water enthusiasts in Barbados’ turquoise waters for races of 3.3, 5 and 10 k. Swimmers also have a chance to rub shoulders (or fins) with aquatic celebrities like Oceans Seven swimmer, Cameron Bellamy!

Open Water Festival Tip: Don’t miss the Practice Swim #3 on the Friday in 'Miami Beach'. This beach (also known as Enterprise Beach) is a hidden gem and known to locals as the most beautiful beach in the Caribbean, boasting white sand and pristine blue-green seas.

Run Barbados Marathon

When: Early December weekend

Barbados' largest running event is your opportunity to test your running endurance in an idyllic tropical landscape. Sign up for the 10k, or half marathon too, and you'll run through Barbados' beautiful capital city and UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bridgetown, as well as its spellbinding natural harbor at Carlisle Bay.

Run Barbados Marathon Tip: North Americans dominate Barbados during this marathon, with US /Canadian running program partners bringing hundreds of participants and even Olympic Athletes to the marathon you may encounter during your run or at arm's length cheering on from the sidelines.

Start your Trip!

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This European Wine Festival Only Happens 4 Times a Century - And It's This Summer

For oenophiles (and everyday wine lovers like you and me), it's a once in a generation opportunity to celebrate the wines of a country you might not even associate with viticulture.

The Fete des Vignerons (Festival of Vintners or Winegrowers) is held only every 20-25 years, taking over the town of Vevey on Lake Geneva.

Yes, Switzerland. The Swiss call their wines one of their best-kept secrets. They are some of the best wines in the world – even if you've never heard of or tried them. Nearby Vevey are the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces growing one of the country's treasured appellations and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Fete des Vignerons has been orchestrated by the local 'Brotherhood of Winemakers' since the 1700's to celebrate the local wines and especially the winegrowers whose love and labor deliver wines to the tables of households and restaurants of Switzerland. 2019's festival marks only the 12th festival – truly a once-in-a generation event.

Artist's Rendering of the 2019 Arena, courtesy of Fete des Vignerons 2019

The festival kicks off mid-July in a 20,000-seat stadium built just for the event in the town's immense, historic market square, with a Coronation Ceremony developed by a producer with Cirque du Soleil and Olympic closing ceremony credentials. No wonder the Fete des Vignerons takes a quarter of a century to organize. The festival also has UNESCO designation, on the List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the world.

The ceremony is designed to 'praise and distinguish the best winemakers' of the area, with winning winemakers receiving astonishing, once-in-a-career recognition. And it pays homage to centuries of wine-making and cultural traditions with over 6000 actors, musicians and singers. One of the highlights is a song firmly associated with the Festival, the Ranz des Vaches, a centuries-old song used by herdsmen to call their cattle in the Alps where the regions vines also grow.

Following the launch Coronation Ceremony, the show is performed 19 additional times over the course of the 3-week festival ending in early August. The area in Vevey surrounding the stadium is only open to pedestrians for the duration, and houses 10 more stages, dozens of local food and wine stands, pop –up restaurants seating hundreds and a lakeside terrace/rooftop area where you can sip wine and taste local cuisine with views of the lake and mountains.

There's even a wine made just for the festival. Half a million bottles of exclusive festival vintages of red and white wines will be on hand for the highlight of the Swiss summer season.

If you miss the 2019 Fete des Vignerons, you don't have to wait decades to enjoy Swiss wines. Any visit to Switzerland should include the UNESCO Lavaux terraces as well as famous Valais and Vaud wine regions, wine routes and wine hiking and biking trails. You can learn more about Switzerland's wines and wine regions at www.myswitzerland.com/en/wine

Cheers!

Top image courtesy MySwitzerland.com

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