Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rolling Championships.
Locals cheer on
the Cheshire team as they take on their
Lancashire and Stilton rivals over a cre-
ative obstacle course, in what has become
a charmingly curious celebration of
Chester's cheese-making tradition. www.
visitchester.com.
MARCH
The
Newcastle Science Festival
sees ven-
ues throughout the city fizzle with amazing
robots, incredible inventions, and the occa-
sional fireball. With plenty of activities for
kids and adults, the program appeals to
aspiring academics and skeptic scientists
alike. www.newcastlesciencefest.co.uk.
St. Patrick's Day
may have started in Ire-
land but nowadays it's celebrated through-
out the world, not least in Manchester
which hosts one of Europe's biggest cele-
brations of all things Irish. Lasting roughly
2 weeks, the
Manchester Irish Festival
pays
tribute to the Emerald Isle with parties,
music, comedy, theatre, sport, and dance
throughout the city. It all culminates in the
city's own St. Patrick's Day parade, which
regularly attracts crowds of up to 150,000
people. www.irishfestival.co.uk.
APRIL
It's not just the pretty timber-framed houses
that lure tourists to Stratford-upon-Avon. As
Shakespeare's birthplace this small town car-
ries real cultural clout, and the Royal Shake-
speare Company celebrates “the Bard” with
performances of his works throughout the
year. It's in April, the month of Shakespeare's
birth (and death), that the latest program is
released and the
Shakespeare Season
begins
afresh. www.rsc.org.uk.
More than just a sporting event, the
Lon-
don Marathon
is the world's longest street
party. Roads along the route come alive
with bands, cheering crowds, entertainers,
and 36,000 pairs of feet hitting the tarmac
along the 26.2 mile course. www.virgin
londonmarathon.com.
The
Grand National
at Aintree Racecourse
in Liverpool is widely regarded as the
greatest steeplechase in the world. The
atmosphere is compelling, with punters
exchanging tips and form and almost as
much to see off track as on it. Scan the
stands and look out for the ladies who
make up Liverpool's high society and soc-
cer players' wives sorority—their attire has
a reputation for being reliably lavish, fre-
quently lurid, and occasionally ludicrous.
www.aintree.co.uk.
The
Oxford and Cambridge University
Boat Race,
in London on a Saturday in
early April, is another great tradition. Row-
ers battle it out on the Thames between
Putney and Chiswick bridges with the river-
banks inbetween taking on a festival atmo-
sphere. www.theboatrace.org.
MAY
The
Hay Festival
is among the largest liter-
ary get-togethers in the English-speaking
world. The event annually attracts up to
50,000 people to Hay-on-Wye in Wales for
a program of interviews, lectures, readings,
and performances featuring distinguished
authors. This is a festival that will leave you
flushed with enthusiasm and brimming
with inspiration rather than stressed out
and exhausted. www.hayfestival.com.
Bohemian, beach-front Brighton comes
into its own every summer and not just due
to the much-anticipated good weather. In
May, the city's
Brighton Festival
returns
with 3 weeks of energetic arts-themed
performances and eclectic occurrences, the
development of which is heavily influenced
by whichever illustrious creative is awarded
the role of Guest Artistic Director. www.
brightonfestival.org.
London's
Chelsea Flower Show
is Europe's
premier gardening event. Some of the
greatest exponents of the art exhibit imag-
inative garden designs over an 11-acre site
at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, creating a
floral wonderland for the public to explore.
Visitors can roam through scores of gar-
dens and exhibitions, with the displays
showcasing some of the world's finest
examples of horticultural excellence. www.
rhs.org.uk/chelsea.
The country house of Glyndebourne, near
Lewes, draws crowds to its manicured lawns
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