Canal Cavalcade, Little Venice, London

In the Northern Hemisphere, May brings the start of warmer, brighter weather.  With one or two public holidays in the month, cities come to life, festivals take place and some major annual events start.  There is loads to choose from this month:

BRIGHTON, England
Brighton’s Annual Festival is back from 2-24 May. Personally, I don’t need any extra incentive to visit this lively, beautiful coastal town, but a festival is always welcome.

CHANNEL ISLANDS, Great Britain
9 May is 70th anniversary of liberation of the Channel Islands, the only areas of the British Isles to fall under German rule during World War 2.  The Channel Islands Heritage Festival will be celebrating until 11 May.

LONDON, England
The annual Canalway Cavalcade (see image at top of post) takes place at Little Venice, on the early May Bank Holiday weekend. Hopefully the English weather will play ball so that visitors can stroll the canals and green areas here, taking in the bright colours of the many narrowboats that converge here this weekend.
2-4 May, 2015

MALAGA, Spain
The pop-up Pompidou Centre, El Cubo, is open at last. The glass cube sits on the harbour front and will feature a rotating exhibition of works from the Pompidou Centre.

MARSEILLE, France
The new Eurostar route to Lyon and Marseille opens this month. I travelled to Marseille by train as a student, and a hot, uncomfortable, never ending journey it was. This new route launched on 1 May and will whisk you from London to Marseille in just 6.5 hours.
As with all Eurostar bookings, plan ahead and buy your ticket early to get the best prices.  There are only a few direct trains a week, so look carefully at the details when you book.  Other routes require a change of trains and stations in Paris.  At the time of writing, you can travel standard class on 18 May for £99.50 single.

MILAN, Italy
The International Expo has started in Milan. I visited Milan for the first time earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed the city. Classical art, stunning architecture, a lively canal side, great food and vibrant street art create an irresistible mix. With Expo on top of that this has to be on everyone’s travel wish list this summer. This year’s theme, “Feeding the planet, Energy for life”, was inspired by the UN prediction of a world population of 9 billion by 2050 and the resulting potential for a world food crisis.
There will be 140 pavilions from nations and organisations around the world, all aiming to highlight possible solutions. It’s not all stodgy science either- there’s a healthy side of entertainment and an architectural feast to boot.

ST PETERSBURG, Russia
Opera and ballet fiends will delight in the Stars of the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg.
27 May – 1 August 2015

SCOTLAND
If you prefer whisky over museums then this could be the festival for you: the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is on now, until 5 May.

VENICE, Italy
The famous Biennale starts 9 May

VIENNA, Austria
The 60th Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Vienna this year
18-23 May, Vienna Stadthalle

YPRES, Belgium
It’s raining cats and dogs in Ypres this May. (Warning: literary licence taken here, there will not actually be any dogs).
The 44th Cat Festival (Kattenstoet) takes place on 10 May this year.  In remembrance of the many cats that were tortured and thrown from the tower here in Ypres in the Middle Ages, giant cats parade the streets and toy cats are tossed to the streets from the tower.  the reasons before this dreadful treatment of cats is not clear: it may have been because they were associated with witchcraft or it may have been as prosaic as reducing the vast numbers of cats in the city.
If you fancy seeing this most unusual of festivals, hurry along this month or wait three years till the next one.

Copyright Debbie Smyth, 4 May 2015