Getaway calendar - May

© CheungChau.org

What's on where in May? Weird and wonderful events of interest around the world in the coming month.

May 1: Cheese Rolling Festival, England
May Day events in the village of Stilton, Cambridgeshire, unsurprisingly celebrate the cheese named after the town. The annual cheese rolling event sees residents dress up in fancy dress with teams of four competing to roll a "stilton" (actually a stilton-shaped block of wood) between two pubs in the fastest time. The winners are awarded a whole stilton (the genuine cheese variety) plus beer for the men or wine for the women.

Travel: Stilton village is between Cambridge and Peterborough. Find a hotel in Cambridge or a hotel in Peterborough.

May 5-12: Cheung Chau Bun Festival, Hong Kong
Another food related festival takes place a few days later in Hong Kong. Cheung Chau is one of the outlying islands, about 12km south of mainland Hong Kong. The bun festival lasts three days, with processions, music and carnival, during which time the inhabitants of the island traditionally only had a vegetarian diet. So far, so normal. The end of the diet, however, is celebrated by, wait for it, climbing up a pre-constructed bamboo tower, which is studded with sweet buns, tearing the buns out and throwing them over the crowd.

Though the festival is ancient, this is only the second year you can watch the full event since 1978. The climbing of the bun towers was banned after the events that year, when one of the towers fell down and injured the crowd. The event was only reinstated in 2005.

Travel: Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Air France, Cathay Pacific and Qantas all fly from the UK and Ireland to Hong Kong.

May 13: Waisak Festival, Indonesia
Borobudur in Indonesia is the site of the world's largest Buddhist monument. Every year on May 13, Buddha's Day of Enlightenment, the monument is the focal point of the Waisak Festival in Indonesia. Hundreds of monks, dressed in the traditional saffron robes and carrying offerings of flowers and candles, walk five miles from Mendut, the nearest large city, to the monument. By moonlight the monks pray and chant into the night.

Travel: The closest airport is at Jakarta. KLM, Gulf Air, Emirates and Singapore Airlines all fly to Jakarta from the UK.

May 15: Corsa dei Ceri, Italy
The ancient Umbrian town of Gubbio in Italy is host to a rather bizarre festival every May 15. The day is St Ubaldo's Eve and every year the corsa dei ceri, or race of the candles takes place. Three "candles" are made: huge wooden structures more than 7m tall and weighing more than 500kg, each with a statue of a saint on top. San Ubaldo is the patron saint of the town and protector of the masons, San Georgio is patron saint of the merchants and San Antonio patron of the farmers. Between 18 and 20 men race these huge statues through the town and up the slope of Mount Ingino. The exhausting race is hard-fought every year, but San Ubaldo must always win.

Travel: Gubbio is easily reached by train from Rome or Peruggia. Many low-cost and larger airlines fly to Rome from the UK, including: Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways, and Alitalia.

May 17-28: Cannes Film Festival, France
The 59th Cannes Film Festival lasts for ten days in late May. Though you haven't a hope of getting in unless you're already involved, the Cinema de la Plage shows open air screenings of films that are out of the selection. And if you're in Cannes you're bound to bump into some celebrities enjoying the sun in the French Riviera.

Travel: The closest airport is at Nice, 15 miles from Cannes. It is the country's second largest airport to Paris and many airlines fly there, including: easyJet, Aer Lingus, bmibaby, bmi, British Airways, Flyglobespan, Jet2.

May 19-21: Sanja Matsuri, Japan
The parades of Sanja Matsuri in the Asakusa region of Tokyo celebrate the Asakusa shrine and make up the biggest and liveliest of Tokyo's festivals. More than two million people come to watch the three day event: a parade with the traditional Sanja Matsuri dance on the first day, followed by two days of processions of mikoshi - 100 portable shrines that are carried through the streets and blessed. Each of the hundred models represents a different shrine in Tokyo and houses a deity. The tour of the city on the third day is to bring prosperity and luck to the inhabitants of Tokyo. Musicians, dancers and performers follow every shrine.

Travel: Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Japan Airlines all fly to Tokyo.

May 19-21: Brussels Jazz Marathon, Belgium
A bit closer to home, the Jazz Marathon is hosted annually in Brussels. This year's festival has more than 400 performers and 125 free concerts (that's right, bargain hunters, completely free). Outdoor concerts take place in four different locations, including the stunning Grand Place. It's finger clicking good.

Travel: Fly to the Belgian capital with British Airways, bmibaby, bmi, Ryanair.

© Cheapflights Ltd Sabrina Wolfe

Comments

[jon b]

That Cheung Chau festival is the best thing I've ever seen. Before I die, I need to scale a tower made of buns.

[Avril Banks]

I love the sound of that Stilton-rolling festival. I never knew they used a block of wood though. I don't suppose Stilton would hold together very well at high speed. Thanks for the tip and the hotel information too. Very useful.