Festivals around the UK

In a bid to discover the best of the Month of May, I stumbled upon a huge amount of festivals and traditions that take place across the whole of the UK, that would make for the perfect day out.

No matter where you go this May, there will be all sorts of festivities happening; take a look at some of the festivals which I think sound like fantastic days out. I have selected a few that are happening during May which will cover all tastes and interests I guarentee you! There are even some unusual festivals thrown in just in case you think yourself a worm charmer!

City Festivals

Luton International Carnival
The town centre comes alive with a burst of activity and colour during the May bank holiday. This one day only carnival hits the streets with extravagant costumes, music from around the globe, street entertainers, and mouth watering food from every corner of the world.

The carnival offers a mix of craft, fundraising and trade stalls. There will be music stages and sound systems sites at the carnival, there’ll be music to suit all tastes, so listen out for the world music; including South American, Caribbean, Asian, Irish and Afro-Jazz sounds and so much more!

Look out for the stilt walkers, jugglers and street entertainers who will be entertaining the crowds throughout the day in The Mall, St George’s Square and George Street.

To get your taste buds tingling, there will be a variety of refreshment stalls featuring finger licking Caribbean and Asian foods rubbing shoulders with more traditional meals and snacks including Jerk chicken, curries, sausages, donuts and fresh fruit.

Go along to the event and enjoy a free day out in the sunshine. If you need any further information ring 01582 87 81 00 or email carnival@lutonculture.com. Have a look at the website here.

Bath International Music Festival
This exhilarating festival runs from the 26th May – 6th June this year. The Festival takes place annually over 12 days when the weather is hopefully getting warmer, and showcases a rich range of high quality events featuring orchestral and classical, jazz giants, folk, roots and world musicians, and electronica artists. It has historical grounding and started over 60 years ago, the festival always offers a wide variety of entertainment and activities, each year it carries a different theme and project.

“2009′s programme was the biggest and boldest yet, featuring Jazz greats Branford Marsalis and Maceo Parker; classical music from BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Charles Hazlewood; South African vocal music from Sibongile Khumalo; Appalachian folk from country legend Ralph Stanley; plus our usual panoply of internationally renowned musicians.”

For more information, to book tickets and get your brochure of features for the festival visit bathmusicfest.org.uk. Tickets range in price dependent on which day and events are being held.

Countryside Festivals

Stilton Cheese Rolling in Cambridgeshire

The Stilton Cheese Rolling Festival is one of the year’s highlights in the small Cambridgeshire town of Stilton. The festival celebrates the origin place of Stilton cheese. Every May Day participants compete in rolling large rounded blocks of wood along the high street for a prize of cheese and bottles of port.

Many of the teams compete in fancy dress and although the sport has become better-behaved in recent years, you will still see a fair amount of tumbles and falls. It’s a knockout competition with quarters, semi’s and a grand final, so you’re in for a full day’s entertainment. You can watch the teams roll the cheese for the title of Stilton Cheese Rolling Champion! And this year is the 50th Anniversary of the famous festival so it promises to be bigger and better than ever.

If you fancy entering the competition, or if you would like more information on what else will be happening on May 3rd in the area, then head to the village website. There will also be stalls with local trades and food, the website also provides the history of the event.

Special Events

Chelsea Flower show
Described as the ultimate event in the gardening year, this show allows garden lovers to see the latest in gardening trends, the newest and most desirable gardening products and cutting edge garden design.

This year the event will run from the 25th – 29th of May. You will expect to find “Cutting-edge garden design and thousands of perfect blooms; top growers and world class designers; scents and sights and shopping galore. Chelsea will be crammed with leading lights, big name designers and the spectacle you’d expect at the world’s greatest gardening event.”

To find out more about this world renowned show, visit the Royal Horticultural Society website for detailed information.

The Strange and Wonderful

I thought it only right to include reference to the wonderful weirdness that I came across when searching for festivals around the UK. Here are two that I thought sounded bizarre and quite possibly the most interesting events that I have came across in a long time.

International Worm Charming Festival in Devon

The Devon area website explains the festival: “Adults and children compete to extract the greatest number of worms from their dedicated one metre square patch of grassland but they have to do it without digging up any of the turf! The annual festival was started in 1984 when two locals decided to try it as a means of banishing the winter blues. Favourite tools to bring the beasts to the surface include questionable liquid combinations of water, beer, gravy and sugar – which contestants are required to sample themselves beforehand, just to prove that it won’t do the worms any harm.”

The festival will take place on 5th May from 12 noon until 4pm, for more information on the location and the event itself visit the website or contact 01803 832207.

Spitstickers, Scorpers and Sandbags

If you love crafts and art, then this festival is for you. The festival will be staged at Nature in Art in Gloucester early May.

“It is an exhibition celebrating etching and engraving that gives the visitor the chance to discover the techniques used. From early prints to contemporary copper wheel glass engravings, black and white prints to coloured images, traditional methods to modern techniques, the show brings craftsmanship and artistry together.”

Take a look at the website for further information on opening times and the tariffs for entry. It price is very reasonable and the dates are not restricted to one weekend which means you can visit throughout the week.

To be honest there are so many festivals and events celebrating the Month of May, that I have included a resource for you to find the event most suited to you and your family or friends. Choose from a whole list of places to visit at this website.