Festivals / Events
Mardi Gras all year round
By rocky | July 18, 2008
Every year around February tens of thousands flock to New Orleans to let their hair down and party at the annual Mardi Gras celebrations. People come to watch the parades which feature amazing floats which are the centrepiece of the carnival. Although you need to be in the Crescent City during the Mardi Gra to soak up the unbelievable atmosphere, visitors can see some of these beautiful floats all year round. Just over the mighty Mississippi from the city in Algiers is The Blaine Kern Mardi Gras world. Here dozens of the amazing floats and costumes are on display in all their glory. Some are huge there’s the 140 foot long sea monster Levithan and an even bigger 240 odd foot long Captain Eddies SS Endymion which includes tens of thousands of tiny fibre optic lights. Blaine Kern has been making parade floats for over 60 years, and the company even makes floats for some other cities and even Universal Studios where they are used in their Florida theme park’s street parades. Visitors to Mardi Gras world will see how these magnificent sculpture and figures are produced by very talented artists and trades people. Mardi Gras world is a must for anyone visiting beautiful New Orleans Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Americas, Festivals / Events | No Comments »
The Pope pops in to Darling Harbour
By rocky | July 15, 2008
This week His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and thousands of visitors from all around the world have flocked to Sydney to be part of the World Youth Day celebrations and one of the major locations for the celebrations was Barangroo on the Northern edge of Darling Harbour, offering spectacular views of one of the world’s most scenic cites. Over the coming years Barangroo will be come an extension to the growing city and the Darling Harbour leisure precinct. Darling Harbour is a huge recreational precinct stretching nearly the whole length of the city. Packed with restaurants, shopping, hotels and apartments the area has many of Sydney’s premier attractions including the Star City Casino, The IMAX, Sydney Aquarium, National Maritime Museum and the magnificent Powerhouse Museum, plus many conference and convention centres like the Sydney Exhibition Centre, Convention Centre and Sydney Entertainment Centre. The Precinct is also the gateway to Sydney’s vibrant Chinatown, Australia’s largest. Darling Harbour is linked to the city with a monorail, a light rail system and plenty of watercraft which travel to all parts of Sydney’s magnificent harbour. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Australia, Festivals / Events, Museums | No Comments »
The mascots come out to play
By rocky | July 12, 2008
The Celebrity Mascot Games is on again 24-26th of July and this year promises to be funnier than ever. Held for New Hope for Kids charity the first games were held in 1992 and have been a hit ever since. This year the day will feature over 30 mascots featuring some pretty cool guys from Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA and Arena Football League. There are 3 days of action the 24th it will be held at Stetson university, while the 25th and 26th of July Amway Arena will be the venue for the best day out in Orlando this year and it is helping make wishes come true for a lot of sick kids. Some of the competitors to this years event include Stanley C Panther from the Florida Panthers, Kid Coyote from the Dallas Desperados, Hairy Dawg from the University of Georgia, Junction Jack all the way from the Houston Astros and Carlton the Bear from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Topics: Americas, Festivals / Events, Must see | No Comments »
Mad fun in Munich
By rocky | February 4, 2008
 
A lot of the world’s biggest street celebrations happen in the first weeks of February including the Mardi Gras, Chinese New Year and the Munchen Narrisch or Mad Munich celebrations. All the fun takes place at the Viktualienmarkt in downtown Munich where thousands of costumed revellers party on with carnivals, entertainers, heaps of confetti and of course Munich Beer. It’s pretty cold in Munich today but with early morning temperatures down to as low as -1 and a high of only 9 but with all the fun who cares. Tuesday the celebrations come to a head with Dance of the Market Women which is great fun. The festival is the biggest think in Munich other than you guessed it Oktoberfest which is only 229 days away.
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Harbin Ice Festival in China
By rocky | January 4, 2008
Harbin is located in north east China, it lies east of Mongolia an just below Siberia and at this time of the year it is freezing, during the day expect -2f on a good day and -19f during the night. But what better way to celebrate the icy conditions than to have an ice festival. The festival is great fun with ice rides, ice bars and some amazing sculptures. At night the ice becomes magical with a kaleidoscope of coloured lights. This YouTube video gives you a great insight into the fun and the clever artists who create these works of icey art.
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Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg
By rocky | November 26, 2007
This Friday the world’s most famous Christmas Market the Christkindlesmart will bring Christmas cheer to around 2 million visitors in Nuremberg, Germany. The market is a special place with magical scenes of snow, Christmas and decorations amongst the beautiful cobblestone streets and gothic lanes, with the Church of Sebadus , The Church of Our Lady and the lovely fountains being the centerpiece for this beautiful setting. The market dates back nearly 400 years and always opens on the Friday before the first Advent and runs up to Christmas Eve. There are about 180 lovely stalls all decked out in red and white canvas selling everything you could ever want for Christmas. There is arts and crafts, toys and some of the worlds best chocolate, confectionery and of course German gingerbread, and you know you’re in Germany with the fresh smells of grilling sausages and mulled wine.
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Grand Prix with a Kiss
By rocky | November 13, 2007
Legendary rock group Kiss will be the star attractions along with the best of Formula One motorsport and the mighty Australian V8 Supercars at the Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne, March next year. The band has had a long history of playing special concerts in Melbourne, they recorded a television special there a few years back with a one of concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with classical music set to their greatest hits. The Melbourne Grand Prix is the first event on the 2008 Grand Prix calendar and promises to be huge with several hundred thousand people attending over the four day event. Held beautiful Albert Park with sweeping views of the city the Grand Prix is regarded one of the world’s best and with next years special guests Kiss it promises to be even better.
Topics: Australia, Cars, Festivals / Events, Kitsch Stuff, Must see | No Comments »
Grand Prix action in Macau
By rocky | November 10, 2007
The Grand Prix comes to the Portuguese island of Macau next weekend for what promises to be a huge weekend but for those who cant get there for the action there is a great museum you can visit during the year. The museum celebrates the the 50 odd years of racing in Macau and has some great displays. Opening in 1993 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first Macau Grand Prix the centre has some great memrobillia and amazing racecars and motorbikes. For those who want a real bargain and want to see some of Macau’s other great museums like the Wine Museum (which is next door), the Maritime Museum, Lin Zexu Museum and the Museum of Art there is a a bargain joint ticket available.
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Cannstatter Volksfest - Stuttgart’s Oktoberfest
By rocky | September 29, 2007
Stuttgart is not only the home of Mercedies Benz and Porshe it’s home to the annual Cannastatter Volksfest- the second largest beer festival in Germany (or the world for that matter) after Munich. The centrepiece of the festival is the huge Ferris Wheel and 24 metre basket of fruit. The festival dates back to 1818 and now attracts over 3 million people to its two weeks of celebration. There are huge beer tents but they are not as big as that found in Munich, but its much easier to find a beer here as things are not quiet as busy.
This years event starts today and goes through until the 12th of October.
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Topics: Beer, Europe, Festivals / Events | No Comments »