Summer 2010 : Where it’s at

25 July 2010-28 August 2010, Bayreuth, Germany

Bayreuther Festspiele – Wagner Festival 

Only operas by Richard Wagner are performed at this festival, which was conceived by the composer and musician himself, who promoted the idea of a special festival to showcase his own works, in particular his monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. 

Very well-known interpreters and excellent mise en scene make Bayreuth the capital of world music on the occasion of the Festival and attract an international public.

www.bayreuther-festspiele.de

 

25 July 2010-30 August 2010, Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg Festival

Held each summer in the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this year the festival programme will revolve around mythological themes.

The Salzburg Festival was founded in the midst of the First World War with the intention of counteracting the crisis of meaning, the loss in values and the identity crisis of the individual, as well as of entire nations.

www.salzburgerfestspiele.at

 

6 – 30 August 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

The Fringe, as it is known is the world’s most renown arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Scotland’s capital during three weeks every August alongside several other arts and cultural festivals, collectively known as the Edinburgh Festival, of which the Fringe is the largest.

The Fringe mostly attracts events from the performing arts, particularly theatre and comedy, although dance and music also figure significantly.

www.edfringe.com

 

13 August 2010 -5 September 2010

Edinburgh International Festival

Every August, the Edinburgh International Festival transforms one of the world’s most beautiful cities, presenting three exhilarating weeks of the finest creators and performers from the worlds of the arts – for everyone.

This year artists from the Americas and the Pacific perform with artists from Spain, Holland, Germany, Russia and the UK, creating a delicious melting pot of entertainment.

www.eif.co.uk

 

19 -21 August, Kiewit, Belgium

Pukkelpop

This year the music festival will host over 200 acts. It prides itself on its progressive music programme, with its idiosyncratic blend of unforgettable top acts and surprising new talent. The campsite opens the day before the event and local party DJs provide an eclectic warm-up.

http://www.pukkelpop.be/en/

 

19-22 August 2010, Gibside, United Kingdom

Green Phoenix Festival

The Green Phoenix Festival is a new festival of Arts and Sustainable Culture. It is the very first festival of its type on National Trust property and offers four days and nights of entertainment and camping in beautiful surroundings.

www.greenphoenixfestival.org.uk

 

20 August – 5 September, Helsinki, Finland

Helsinki Festival

An art festival including concerts, performance art, parties and children’s events. Its aim is to make art accessible for all. The event will showcase plays like Enda Walsh: Penelope, a hilarious retelling of the life and suitors of Odysseus’ wife Penelope.

http://www.helsinginjuhlaviikot.fi/en

 

23-26 September 2010, Bellinzona, Switzerland

Babel

Festival di Letteratura e Traduzione (Literature and Translation Festival)

Translation overcomes linguistic and cultural barriers to welcome “the other” and enables us to get to know literature from all parts of the world. At the Babel Festival, translation is the protagonist both in the strict sense of the word and in the metaphorical sense: translation is a form of “linguistic hospitality”, it welcomes and encourages encounters.

The Festival’s formula is simple: one guest language expressed through the works of its most accomplished authors, as well as those writing in a language other than their mother tongue, those who live in-between cultures. This year the star guest is Mexico, a land of deserts, jungles, cities, oceans, dust, lead and blood. Two hundred years after its Independence and one hundred after the Revolution, from the 23rd till the 26th of September Mexico will visit Babel where its languages, culture, writers and their translators, music, movies, art will be on display for all to see.

www.babelfestival.com