festivals

Barbados "Crop Over" Festival Nears Grand Finale

Crop Over is the biggest festival in Barbados, and is that island nation's version of Brazil's Carnival. Historically, the event marked the end of the sugar harvest, but now that tourism has well overtaken sugar production in the Bajan economy, it's become a great excuse to throw a five-week long summer party.

It's all about to come to a climax on Monday, August 2nd -- the end of Crop Over, also known as Grand Kadooment day. This is basically a giant parade of calypso bands, all dressed in wild costumes. It's a competition, and it's huge: last year 15,000 costumed people participated with 25 bands. And I'm quite sure that it's well fueled with one of Barbados' most enduring legacies of the sugar trade: rum.

Tags: barbados, festivals, rum

Ferraris and Maseratis Meet at Motori & Sapori

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Events

An incredible array of Ferrari and Maserati supercars was on display recently at the annual Motori & Sapori festival in Castelfranco Emilia, Italy, celebrating sports cars as well as the region's fine food and wine. The town is located near Modena, where Ferrari is based and which is the center of the Italian motorsports industry, and is located on the route of the famed Mille Miglia race. Ferrari F430s, F360s and F348s, Testarossas, 330s and more along with many Maseratis convened on the picturesque town along with some highly prized vintage and racing models, including the first Ferrari ever built, the famed "Auto Avio Costruzioni 815″, owned by a renowned private collector. Several collectors participated in the event allowing some rarely exhibited exotics to be appreciated by all.

Gallery: Motori & Sapori 2010

Tags: car festival, Ferrari, festivals, Italy, Maserati, Modena, supercar

The Classicist: Cannes Gives Up on Glam

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Yachts & Sailing, Events, The Classicist, Wealth

Sad but true: the recession has hit the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in the South of France next month, an international symbol of glamorous excess. Cutbacks are being made everywhere, from ritzy parties to the type of food being served, the AFP tells us. For starters, Vanity Fair has canceled its annual star-studded party, the social highlight of the festival, while the VIP nightclub Jimmy'z lost two key sponsors, Fendi and Swarovski, and Louis Vuitton said it would skip AmFar's big-ticket AIDS charity fundraiser.

"We're experiencing an unprecedented world crisis and it's also affecting the Riviera and Cannes," says Michel Chevillon, head of Cannes' hotel association. "Companies are sending fewer people, for shorter periods." 70% of the area's hotels have frozen their room rates compared to last year, and many are taking bookings for less than the full 12-day period, something normally unheard of at festival time, Chevillon tells the AFP.

Overall attendance at the festival is expected to be down for the first time in decades. "People are afraid it will hurt their image to be seen in a place associated with wealth," Cannes deputy mayor David Lissnard tells the AFP. Yacht charters are also suffering, as brokers struggle to find clients in Cannes' port, where all 60 berths for megayachts were booked up in anticipation. "There's a lot less demand this year for yacht rentals and a lot of pressure on prices," says broker Valerie Ruiz, who rents out yachts up to 200-ft. for the festival.

Gallery: Cannes Film Festival

Tags: Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, CannesFilmFestival, celebrity, entertainment, Fendi, festivals, France, Hollywood, hotel, LOreal, Louis Vuitton, LouisVuitton, movies, Riviera, South of France, SouthOfFrance, Swarovski, Vanity Fair, VanityFair, yacht

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Palm Desert Art of Food & Wine Festival

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Wine, Events

Tickets recently went on sale for yet another food and wine festival. This one is the first Palm Desert Art of Food & Wine Festival which will take place November 9 - 12, 2006 in Palm Desert, California (a lovely time of the year to be in that area). The Desert Springs JW Marriott Resort & Spa, the City of Palm Desert and Southern Wine and Spirits are hosting the four-day festival art, food, and wine. The event includes the dedication of the 2007/08 El Paseo Invitational Sculpture Exhibition, "Wining on the Golf Course", featuring wine, spirits, and culinary delights for sampling throughout the 18-holes. Other events include guided art tours, fashion shows, and plenty of tastings. A weekend pass costs $650 and the winemaker dinners are already starting to sell out.

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Tags: festivals, food, palm desert, PalmDesert, wine

Tales of the Cocktail

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Events

We write about plenty of wine and food festivals but how about an event just for the cocktail. Tales of the Cocktail runs July 19-23 at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans and centers around the mixed drink. There are seminars, discussions, dinner pairings, bartending lessons and plenty of cocktail parties. Carson Kressley, star of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," NPR's Kitchen Sisters and chefs Aaron Sanchez, Marcus Samuelsson and Suvir Saran of New York are among the presenters. The winner of the Tales of the Cocktail competition for this year has also been announced. Judges chose from 19 recipes using Bacardi Superior Rum, selecting Michael Brewer's drink which includes rum, lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, cilantro and avocado. The Drink in History package includes access to all seminars, cocktail events, the bartender's bash and a private mixology seminar with Marvin Allen of the Carousel Bar. This package sells for $275 and rooms at the Hotel Monteleone are selling for $88 per night during the event.

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Tags: events, festivals, food and drink, hotel monteleone, mixologists, new orleans, new orleans events, NewOrleans, tales of the cocktail, TalesOfTheCocktail, travel