Getaway Calendar - September

August 27 – September 6: Venice film festival, Venice

The oldest film festival in the world takes place every year on the Venice Lido, an island just across from the main city. The glamorous stars of Hollywood descend upon Venice for a celebration of all things cinematic, which these days focuses mainly on European and international films as opposed to Hollywood blockbusters. The festival is comprised of four main sections: In Competition, Out of Competition, Horizons (feature-length documentaries) and Corto Cortissimo (short films). More than 20 films will be competing for the prestigious Golden Lion award, which last year was awarded to Ang Lee’s film Lust, Caution.

This year’s festival is again directed by Marco Müller and features a series of retrospective screenings, These Phantoms: Italian Cinema Rediscovered (1946-1975), a collection of 30 films made during the 30-year golden-age of Italian cinema.

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September 1 – September 7: Japan Fashion Week, Tokyo

Japan Fashion Week started in 2005 and has grown from a barely noticed, fairly insular event to a world-renowned international spectacle, with buyers and media from all over the globe coming together to celebrate and promote Japanese fashion. As well as the designer shows, there are special exhibitions for the public and other fashion-related events in venues across Tokyo.

Japan Fashion Week aims to provide a gateway for talented young designers who are interested in the world of Asian fashion. Designers showcasing their collections include Hiroko Koshino, a former colleague of Yohji Yamamoto, and Ato Matsumoto, whose designs were recently sported by Kanye West.

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September 11 – September 21: Pizzafest, Naples

While the history of the humble pizza is shrouded in mystery and speculation, there’s no doubt that its spiritual home is Naples. In 1889 Queen Margherita of Italy summoned Rafaelle Esposito, a local pizzeria owner, to the royal palace and asked him to bake a variety of pizzas. The crowning glory was a simple pizza of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil (red, white and green like the Italian flag). The queen loved the pizza and hence the Pizza Margherita was born.

Every September Naples hosts the world’s largest celebration of its most famous creation. The city is filled with the mouth-watering smell of fresh pizza as vendors line the streets with stalls selling margherita, napoletana, quattro stagioni and many more. With workshops, competitions and copious amounts of pizza eating, Pizzafest is a glorious homage to the world’s favourite food.

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September 20 – October 5: Oktoberfest, Munich

The greatest beer festival in the world, the Oktoberfest, was first held in 1810 as a celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The people of Munich were invited to join in the merriment on the fields in front of the city gates, which were renamed Theresienwiese in the new bride’s honour. Today’s festivities are still held on those same fields, often called d’Wiesn for short.

More than six million people descend upon Munich for the 16-day festival. There are around 30 tents at Oktoberfest, each offering a variety of food, entertainment and of course beer, specially brewed for Oktoberfest by six Munich breweries. Traditional Bavarian customs are preserved while retaining a lively party atmosphere, with men dressed in Lederhosen and women in Dirndls. Alongside the festival is an agricultural fair with Ferris wheels, rollercoasters and carousels galore, which adds to the family-friendly tone that pervades throughout the festival.

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September 28: Singapore Grand Prix, Singapore

Formula One’s first ever night race and the first street race in Asia hits the roads of Singapore this September. The floodlit 5.067km track runs straight through the heart of the financial district and the famously serene Padang Park. This is the first time the race has been held in Singapore since 1973 after a number of fatal accidents resulted in the fixture being axed from the F1 calendar.

The organisers of the Singapore Grand Prix are advertising it as the ‘Monaco of the East’, trying to create a track that will be wider, faster and even more exciting than the Monte Carlo spectacle.

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© Cheapflights Ltd Elena Chong