Festivals

Held every three years, the third Normandy Impressionist Festival will take place April 16-Sept. 26, 2016. Works of Impressionist artists will be exhibited in cities and towns throughout the province of Normandy, France, including Cherbourg, Caen, Le Havre and Rouen. Impressionist-inspired art, photography, music and performances also will be showcased.
For details of events, visit www.normandie-impressionniste.eu and click on “Download the Normandy Impressionist 2016 press release.”

Starting every year on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar (June 9 in 2016, May 30 in 2017), 3-day Dragon Boat festivals have been held throughout China for over 2,000 years.
The festivals get their name from the dragon-shaped boats that are raced by teams of men hoping to bring a bountiful harvest and happy life to the people of their villages by winning. Races can be seen all along the Yangtze River and in Hong Kong and Macau.
Zongzi, pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings with various fillings, are traditionally eaten during the festival.

At Landiwiese Park, on the shore of Lake Zürich in Zürich, Switzerland, street performers from all over the globe will gather Aug. 18-Sept. 4, 2016, for the annual Theater Spektakel (www.theaterspektakel.ch/en). Ten stages will feature music, acrobatics and performance art.
Some stage performances require tickets, most costing CHF25-CHF47 (near $25-$47). Tickets go on sale July 13; visit www.starticket.ch.

Among scores of world-class artists and orchestras performing in multiple venues in Leipzig, Germany, at the 2016 Leipzig Bach Festival, June 10-19, 2016, will be the St. Thomas Boys and Monteverdi choirs, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and American organist Cameron Carpenter. A new event, Cantata Day, on June 18, will feature 10 Bach cantatas, all composed from 1723 to 1724. Also to be noted, the 100th anniversary of the death of German composer/musician Max Reger. Visit www.worldwideticketing.com/bach-festival.

Having enjoyed many of the world’s great gardens and floral events, I found the Chiang Mai Thailand Flower Festival via the Internet and discovered that Go See Touring (4/99 Racecourse Rd., Ascot, Queensland 4007, Australia; phone +61 1300 551 997, www.goseetouring.com) had been offering tours to Thailand and the festival for nine years. 

From my first email to GiGi Huxley (gigi@goseetouring) until the fabulous farewell dinner our group had in Chiang Mai, our tour and the staff of Go See Touring exceeded all of our expectations.

Cruises to Havana, Cuba, from Miami with Carnival Cruise Lines (800/ 764-7419, www.carnival.com) were approved by the US Department of the Treasury on July 7. The 7-night biweekly sailings will begin in May 2016, and itineraries will meet US regulations for People-to-People travel, which do not allow for free time on the island. Cruise fares were starting at $2,990 per person, double, plus.

In an attempt to prevent alcohol being smuggled aboard its ships, and citing behavioral issues and the amount of time it took to inspect boarding passengers’ bottles for alcohol, on June 9 Carnival Cruise Lines (800/764-7419, www.carnival.com) banned most bottled drinks from being taken aboard during embarkation.

Passengers will be allowed up to 12 unopened bottles of water or cans of soda, and passengers over 21 are also allowed one unopened, 750-milliliter bottle of wine or champagne.

We asked you to tell us about a fun, impressive or unique annual festival, celebrating something in particular, that you attended outside of the US in the last few years.