Summer Travel Guide
Defy the (anti) hype and pick
up a discount ticket. Summer is coming and it's time to travel.
Summer's here, and the time is right for dancing
in the streets, tanning on the beaches or chilling in the mountains.
Whatever your pleasure, grab your suitcase, shades and one of those
special SARS masks. And check with the embassy for the latest terror
warnings. And best make sure George Bush is on friendly terms with
your destination's leader.
On second thoughts, it might be safer to stay
home like you did at Golden Week, when, according to Japan Airline
Systems (JALS), 48% fewer of you flew internationally than in GW
last year. But while Hong Kong might not top your wish-list, there
are plenty of safe, sexy and exciting places to visit this summer.
 Take
Finland. Ok it's not sexy, but it is safe. And fun. At the Sonkajärvi
County Fair, 4-5 July, you can take part in the Wife Carrying Championships.
Throwing political correctness to the wind, the Fins compete to
haul their spouses along a 250m obstacle course.
Or for a bit more sun with your fun, how about
Spain? Pamplona's legendary bull run (6-14 July), where hundreds
of men prove their virility/stupidity by letting a crazed bull chase
them half a mile down a narrow street, is just one example of the
Spanish vida loca. The town of Castrillo de Murcia celebrates Corpus
Christi (22 June) by lining up its new-born babies for men (dressed
as devils) to leap over - apparently cleansing the tots of evil.
On the final Wednesday of August, tens of thousands
of people in the small eastern town of Buñol honour the Virgin
Mary and the town's patron saint San Luis Bertran by hurling tomatoes
at each other for two hours.
More sedate food events this summer include pineapple
festivals in both Thailand and the Bahamas with pineapple eating
contests, Pineapple Princess pageants and, in the Bahamas, plantation
tours.
But if there's one place to visit for the food,
it's surely Italy. Tuscanny's two standout food festivals, Sagra
della Ranocchia (6-7 June in Asciano) and Sagra dei Bomboloni (1-3
August in Camporgiano) both offer authentic Italian gastronomy,
but choose carefully; Bomboloni is Italian for 'doughnut', while
Ranocchia means 'frog'.
For music-loving globetrotters there's Montreal's
Jazz festival and London's Meltdown. The Canadian jazzfest (June
26-July 6) offers 500 shows, 2,000 performers and predicts 2 million
visitors. Meltdown (8-30 June at Royal Festival Hall) can't match
Montreal's numbers but is curated by Lee 'Scratch' Perry and the
line up includes Public Enemy, Macy Gray, Tricky and Tortoise.
If the US Independence Day celebrations inspire
terror, try a different national party. Mozambique (25 June), France
(July 14) and Liechtenstein (August 15) are among over 60 nations
that celebrate their national day in the summer. Crashing the festivities
is the best way to guarantee a warm reception and plenty of free-flowing
booze (luckily all the alcohol-free states celebrate their nationhood
outside the summer months).
There's a big wide world of stress-free summer
travel out there. All you need is a passport, a few crisp banknotes
and our following guide to Summer Fun. Bon voyage.
KS Guide to Summer Fun
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Restoration Day Carnival
Dominican Republic, 16 August
Don your sequins and feathers for the Dominican Republic's second carnival of the year, this time marking Restoration Day when the nation declared war against Spain.
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Frog Festival
 Asciano
Tuscany, 6-7 June
A Tuscan tribute to green cuisine.
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Baby-Jumping Festival
 Castrillo
de Murcia, 22 June
Evel Knievel jumped 13 trucks, Eddie Kidd
leapt the Great Wall of China and in a Spanish village grown
men jump tiny new-born babies to cleanse their wicked little
souls.
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San Fermin Bull Run
 Pamplona,
Spain, 6-14 July
Survival of the fittest - in quick time. Run fast, escape the bull's piercing horns, and win... absolutely nothing. Get a high window instead and watch the event from safety.
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Meltdown 2003
 Royal
festival Hall, London, England, 8-30 June
Three week series of shows with a line-up
devised by master dubber Lee 'Scratch' Perry.
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Montreal Jazz Festival
 Montreal,
Canada, 26 June - 6 July
At last a reason to visit Canada. Contemporary
stars ranging from Mr Scruff to Norah Jones join jazzing heavyweights
such as the Ray Charles Big Band and Bobby McFerrin.
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Bastille Day
 France,
14 July
You're supposed to break out of prisons,
not into them. Ah well, any excuse for a party. Fireworks
and parades mark the day (July 14) in 1789 when the Queen's
laundry director and his mob sparked the French revolution.
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Pineapple festival
 Lampang,
Thailand, 2-4 June
Three days of fruity celebration culminate
in the crowning of 'Miss Pineapple' - a backhanded compliment
if ever there was one.
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Pineapple Festival
Eleuthera,
Bahamas, 5-9 June
Over 5,000 people usually attend this tribute
to the prickly fruit. The pineapple is apparently a symbol
of Bahaman hospitality.
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Worst Film Festival
Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans,
USA, 8 June
Twelfth annual charity festival of celluloid
crimes. Past screenings have included Hillbillys in a Haunted
House and Navy vs. the Night Monsters.
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Mozambique National Day
 Maputo,
Mozambique, 25 June
A speech from the president will precede
a huge concert of African rhythms in the national stadium.
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Sonkajärvi County Fair
Sonkajärvi, Finland, 4-5 July
Food, dancing and wife-carrying races. Drop
your wife once and incur a 15 second penalty, drop her twice
and (insert joke here).
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Love Parade
 Berlin,
Germany, 12 July
In 1989 150 people attended the inaugural
Love Parade. Ten years later 1.5 million turned up to the
world's biggest house and techno party.
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Edinburgh Festival/ Edinburgh Fringe
 Edinburgh,
Scotland, 10-30 August
World class dance, theater and opera at
the main festival; three weeks of left field nuttiness at
the fringe. Book your accommodation very very early.
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Twins Festival
 Twinsburg,
Ohio, USA, 1-3 August
Billed as the "world's largest twins
festival". When the joke wears off, down a few beers
and enjoy the world's largest triplets festival.
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Text Frank Czucha
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