The 2012 Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival now celebrating its 45th year, is one of California’s most prominent celebrations of Asian traditions. Each year, over 200,000 people attend this dazzling display showcasing the color and grace of the Japanese culture and the diversity of the Japanese American Community. This year’s Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival [...]

The first ever Jerusalem Ice Festival will take place between March 6 and April 30, 2012. The festival will be held in the Old Railway Station in Jerusalem and will include ice sculptures of many of the city’s major sites, an ice skating rink, a concert area, and an ice bar. The Jerusalem Ice Festival [...]

One of Britain’s first food festivals and now in its 18th year (September 7 -9, 2012), more than 160 independent producers set out their stalls on the medieval streets of Ludlow, selling everything from meats to preserves, pickles and puddings. But there is far more to this festival than simply buying and eating; the Slow [...]

The milder the climate, the earlier the blossoms open. On Japan’s southern, subtropical islands of Okinawa, cherry blossoms open as early as January, while on the northern island of Hokkaido, they bloom as late as May. In most major cities in between, including Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the cherry blossom season typically takes place in [...]

Warsaw’s Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival honours not just the composer, but the wealth of classical music in the 200 years since Beethoven’s heyday. Numerous concerts, conferences and exhibitions take place in venues across the Polish capital for a fortnight. First held in 1997, the festival began in Krakow with the continued involvement of the [...]