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Travel: Summer Festival Destinations

We usually associate summer festivals with warm beaches and tropical destinations, but cool countries have them too. In fact, many northern countries have interesting summer celebrations, and they can be just as entertaining and enjoyable as the summer festivities of tropical nations.So if you’re curious to know what kind of summer festivals countries with cool climates have to offer then here are three examples that may interest you.

The Nebuta Matsuri Festival

Despite its cool, northerly location, many parts of Japan are actually quite warm, particularly during summer, and one of the country’s leading summer festivals is the Nebuta Matsuri Festival in Aomori.

This festival is among the biggest in the country, and attracts millions of people every year. According to legend, Nebuta means “sleepiness” and the purpose of the festival is to help people overcome that particular sensation during summer.

Nebuta Matsuri takes place from August 2 to 7 and features parades of giant floats made from wood and paper. Aldo during this time, traditional celebrations and parades are accompanied by Taiko drums and Japanese flutes. Dance celebrations are also quite common, and Aomori’s beaches become centers of celebration throughout the course of the festival.

The Beliye Nochi

Another great summer festival is the Beliye Nochi in St. Petersburg Russia. Beliye Nochi means “White Nights,” because summer extends daylight to the point that the sun barely seems to set.

Beliye Nochi’s festivities last from May to July, and throughout this time, St. Petersburg’s streets are filled with festivals, concerts, ballets, operas and restaurants. Furthermore, the festivities also offer visitors the opportunity to visit the immaculately landscaped Letnii Sad or Summer Gardens, which happens to be one of most attractive summer attractions in Russia.

The only downside in all this is that because of St. Petersburg’s location, you won’t likely have the chance to show off your latest summer swimsuit. However, thanks to the local celebrations, that won’t matter. You will have a lot of opportunities to wear your latest summer dresses in a wide variety of special events.

The Hangang Summer Festival

Seoul, South Korea is another cool country with nice summer festivals. In this case, one of their most prominent festivals is the Hangang Summer Festival, which also happens to be one of the most prominent riverside festivals in Seoul.

Government and local civic organizations work together to organize the festival’s celebrations, including water leisure sports, concerts, film screenings, cycling competitions, boat racing and more.

Since the Hangang Summer festival centers around Hangang river, don’t expect a lot of beach related activities, but that doesn’t really matter because there are plenty of riverside events to go to.

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