August festivals (part 4)
The month of August is upon us so we’ll finish our look at some of the August festivals that you might wish to visit if you’re planning a trip during this month.
Burning Man – Black Rock Desert, Gerlach, Nevada
Burning Man is more than a festival, it’s more of a temporary society that springs up for a few days on the cracked terrain of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. During the festival a 45,000-strong ‘city’ simply appears in the desert – this would be the fifth-largest in the state of Nevada if it would become an actual town – under the tenants of 10 principles which include things like radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort and participation.
Teams of entrepreneurial artists arrive from all across the US with literal truckloads of materials, which they will then assemble in the crazy heat of the Nevada desert and result in a range of creations from a colossal sculpture made of two lorries to something called the Temple of Forgiveness.
Between all the make-shift structures you’ll see performers doing their thing, from the theatrical to the purely surreal.
Notting Hill Carnival – Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London, England
This is an interesting particularity of the British capital, a celebration of the local Caribbean community that has been ongoing in that particular part of the city since the 1950s.
The celebration which takes place during the end-of-August bank holiday has the neighborhood blaring reggae, calypso and soca, as well as samba dancing, great costumes and animistic sculptures.
This very vibrant and musical display of Caribbean culture attracts around two million party animals to West London, making this one of the largest street festivals in the world.
The event climaxes on Monday with a three-mile parade of floats and revelers in all manner of headdresses, Lycra suits and other costumes not usually seen on London’s streets.
