Washington State music lovers kick off the summer with the Sasquatch Music Festival in the Columbia Gorge each May, and they zip up to Seattle for the summer-ending Bumbershoot music-and-arts festival to bookend the season. Summers in the Pacific Northwest are all about enjoying as much of the nice weather as possible, since it doesn’t last long, so it’s a great excuse for people outside the state to come visit, too.
Bumbershoot started in Seattle in 1971, and has been a Labor Day weekend fixture since 1977. Festival-goers are regularly treated to local talent on the stage, but Bumbershoot has grown enough in stature over the decades to also attract big acts from all over the world. The “arts” part of the festival includes things like independent films, dance performances, poetry slams, and street performers, and there are plenty of vendors selling a variety of foods and arty souvenirs.
Incidentally, the word “bumbershoot” means “umbrella,” and that’s worth noting. Labor Day weekend in Seattle is usually perfectly lovely – but this is the Pacific Northwest, so anything could happen. People in this part of the world don’t let a little rain keep them from enjoying their festivals, however, so the show will most certainly go on – rain or shine.
>> Bumbershoot takes place each yer over Labor Day weekend
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, the month of August usually means one thing – that there’s only a month left of summer. That’s only a month left to cram in as many getaways as humanly possible before school and work schedules conspire to keep you indoors.
Edinburgh is a popular enough place to visit any time of the year, but for most of the month of August the city is transformed into one gigantic open-air arts festival. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe – lovingly known simply as “The Fringe” – is the biggest arts festival anywhere, and rather than being just a fancy festival with art or theatre exhibits behind closed doors, The Fringe spills out into the streets of Edinburgh, so that everywhere you look there’s performance art going on. It’s a feast for the senses.
Even if you’re old enough to remember Lollapalooza as a touring summer music festival, the current incarnation of the event bears such little resemblance to the original that it’s worth checking it out again. And if you’re just a fan of music and you didn’t know Lollapalooza was ever anything but a big music festival in Chicago, then ignore the previous statement’s reminiscing and carry on.
One of the rites of passage for many travelers is going to the famous Burning Man party in the Nevada desert at least once in their lives. The event is one part community building, one part performance art, and one part off-the-grid living – and although there are often musical or other artistic performances, the only scheduled event is the burning of the giant wooden statue that gives the annual party its name.
For many people, July is the height of the travel season – it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, that initial giddyness of being out of school or looking at a slightly diminished workload has passed, and it’s time to enjoy the long days before the intense heat of August sets in. The trouble is that so many people are having the exact same thought that finding July travel deals can be a bit more troublesome than you might want.
In the Northern Hemisphere, June marks the start of the summer travel season. Work schedules for many people slow down a bit, and the kids are out of school – it’s no wonder it’s such a popular time to travel. But as anyone who has tried to plan a trip in June knows, this is also when prices on things like airfare and hotel rooms goes way up. It becomes significantly more difficult to find 
In a summer calendar crowded with 
Sometimes a rural location for a big annual festival makes the “how do I get there?” question critical. But even if the festival you’re planning to attend is in a big city – like Milwaukee’s Summerfest – that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still ask the question, “how do I get there?”