Special Events / Music Festivals
There are many special events in the world that attract visitors. Here are some of the most important ones:
Music Festivals
To classical music and opera fans we offer tours to all major music festivals and events. Europe especially comes alive every summer with seemingly endless festivals representing every musical genre and in winter with some of the finest opera seasons in the world.
Whether you want to attend the Spoleto Festival or enjoy the Summer Opera Season in Verona, we’ve been there. Over the past 26 years we have designed tailored programs for individuals and families, using private cars and drivers or self-drive cars, along with experienced professional guides and hand-picked accommodation and services allowing you to enjoy every moment of your visit.
We feature events such as: Summer Opera Festival in Verona’s ancient Roman amphitheater, Vienna Imperial Ball at New Year’s Eve, Salzburg and Budapest Music Festivals, Mozart and Beethoven Festivals, Maggio Fiorentino and much more. Vantage World Travel can organize the perfect trip just for you!
Art Travel
The world is full of great art and we can get you there! Customized itineraries to your heart’s desire. Here are some highlights of 2008:
Bucharest, Romania - a center for performaing arts in Europe every spring. Europea Fest begins May 7-13, 2008 and boasts over 300 artists and music ensembles from 45 countries will perform.
Madrid, Spain - The Museo del Prado opens its new extension with an inagural exhibit of the museum’s 19th century collection. The Museum also houses an extensive collection of the Spanish Masters including Goya and Picasso.
London, England - Frieze Art Fair takes place every October in Regent’s Park.It features around 150 of the most exciting contemporary art galleries in the world, specially commissioned projects and prestigious talks. October 16-19, 2008, 15-18, 2009 and 14-17, 2010.
Berlin, Germany - the Neue National Gallery will host and extensive retropsective of Paul Klee and will also include works by Franz Marc, W. Kandinsky and others. Stay in an art gallery hotel where every room is an art installation.
Carnival
The Carnival Season is a holiday period during the two weeks before the traditional Christian fasting of Lent. The celebration of Carnival ends on “Mardi Gras”, the day before Ash Wednesday, when the rigors of Lent’s 40 days of fasting and sacrifice begin. The origin of the name is unclear. The most common theory is that it comes from the Latin caro (meat) + vale (farewell), literally “farewell to the meat” or “stop eating meat”. This period of celebration and partying had its origin in the need to use up all remaining meat and animal products such as eggs and butter before the fasting season.
Some Carnivals have become famous like the one in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), known worldwide for the elaborate parades staged by the city’s major samba schools and the one in Venice (Italy), a cocktail of tradition, spectacle, history and transgression set in a unique city, attracting thousands of people each year. For eight days before Lent, tourists flood these cities creating an orgy of pageants, commedia dell’arte, concerts and masked balls until Shrove Tuesday.
Oktoberfest
“Ozapft is!” – “It’s tapped!” exclaims Munich’s Lord Mayor after opening the first keg of beer at noon, thus officially inaugurating the world-famous Oktoberfest. For eighteen days the fairgrounds, familiarly called the “Wiesn” (“meadow”) at the foot of the Bavaria statue, will be alive with hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. The brass bands music in the beer tents is just as much part of the atmosphere as the rides on the roller coasters and merry-go-rounds, or the smell of roasted almonds and gingerbread hearts. The Oktoberfest cannot be correctly described, it is just an experience not to be missed!
The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September to allow for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over “die Wiesen” or the fields much longer without feeling chilly.
Christmas Markets
Christmas is a very special time in Central Europe, steeped in tradition and human warmth, and Advent is usually ushered in with the opening of the town’s Christmas market or Weihnachtsmarkt in many of its medieval towns. Generally held in the town square and pedestrian zones, the market combines food and drink in the open air, is especially famous for Christmas ornaments and gifts shopping and offers pageantry as well as tradition.
The most famous Christmas markets are held in the cities of Nuremberg, Dresden, and Stuttgart, while other well known markets are held in Cologne, Bonn, Lübeck and Vienna, Salzburg and Villach. Strasbourg, France has been holding a Christmas market around its cathedral since 1570 and Christmas markets are traditional all around Alsace.
