The Bottom Line
Open this handsomely produced paperback, and you may have trouble deciding where to go next. Its attitude is, the world's a party — and you're invited. And if you truly love to travel, you don't need to be asked twice. Especially now that, thanks to World Party, you know the time and place of the next great celebration.
- Perfect travel inspiration
- Gorgeous photos
- Info on dozens of festivals throughout the world
- Calls out top 20 festivals in the world
- Too heavy to travel with
- Some unnecessary info on lodgings; more festivals would be better
- Small type hard to read on some pages
- Some pages are missing page numbers
- Major music festivals are not included
Description
- Covers 200 of the greatest events on earth.
- Many of the festivals featured have been traditions for decades or even centuries.
- Details on accommodations, eating and drinking, and event info with official Web sites is provided.
- Silly, secular, and religious events are all included in the book.
- Cultures and traditions throughout the world are represented.
Guide Review - World Party: the Rough Guide to the World's Best Festivals
Whether your idea of the perfect party consists of witnessing a majestic horserace (that would be Il Palio, held every summer in Siena, Italy); a techno music fest (that would be Berlin's Love Parade, in July); or shopping till you drop (at Dubai's monthlong January Shopping Festival), you can find out more about how to indulge that passion in this book.
In addition to the major events, at the end of each geographic section the book profiles other worthy draws, including Amsterdam's Cannabis Cup (July); Hong Kong's Dragon Boat Races (May 31); and the World Buskers Festival in New Zealand (January).
World Party: the Rough Guide to the World's Best Festivals goes beyond describing each event to providing ample color, background, and useful information.
Just don't think these festivals are all Rabelasian fun or PR hype. The Rough Guides team of writers tells it like it is. For example, the description of a world-renowned Asian celebration begins thusly:
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"For anyone who has ever wondered what a football crowd-sized quantity of farting camels smells like, the Pushkar Camel Fair, on the fringes of India's Thar Desert in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, is the place to find out."
Whether your favorite holiday is Halloween, Mardi Gras, Day of the Dead, or New Year's Eve, you can find the best city to have a gas in this book.
