For an alternative winter sun getaway why not consider Funchal on the island of Madeira. The typical winter sun locations like Malta, Egypt or the Canary Islands like Tenerife, Gran Canaria or Lanzarote are all popular destinations for those seeking to spend a week or two escaping from the UK winter weather, but the island of Madeira is also a great option.

Continue reading... Funchal For February

While many towns and cities across Spain are gearing up for their annual carnivals during February and March, the island of Mallorca steals a march on them with its Fiesta of San Sebastian during January.

Continue reading... Celebrate San Sebastian in Mallorca

An unusual exhibition that uses art to highlight awareness of whales and the impact of environmental changes on their habitat first saw the light of day at Loro Parque on Tenerife in 2008 but a new larger version of the exhibition opened at the Tenerife Espacio de las Artes in Santa Cruz at the beginning of September 09. This new location gave the public until 4th October to go and see the amazing sculptures.

Continue reading... End of Orca Expo in Tenerife

Barely a day goes by in Larnaca without some kind of cultural, artistic or sporting event taking place, even during the quieter months of the holiday season. We have already reported on the classical music concerts being performed by the island's Symphony Orchestra and the visit by one of China's best-known international dance troupes, both were in early October.

Continue reading... October Culture in Larnaca

The island of Mallorca and its capital Palma , like many places in Spain, prepare for a traditional Christmas and New Year that centres around four main events. Christmas Eve is important with concerts and Midnight Masses held in many churches, including the famous Seu Cathedral in Palma itself. Christmas Day is a time for relaxation and spending time with family. New Years Eve sees another excuse for celebration, with parties and fireworks displays illuminating the island's skies and then finally the celebration of the Epiphany on January 6th sees children receiving gifts in much the same way as UK children do on Christmas Day.

Continue reading... Mallorca Beyond New Year

A spectacular kite flying day took place in San Antonio, Ibiza on the 25th January 2009. This traditional event is part of the town's month-long fiesta programme and sees hundreds of kites, of all shapes and sizes, take to the air from the town's beaches.

Continue reading... Ibiza Kite Flying Day

The 17th December, was the shortest day of the year in Funchal on the island of Madeira in 2009, dusk arrived at 4 minutes to five in the afternoon only 600 minutes after sunrise. Compare that to London whose shortest day came a day or two later and was only 470 minutes long. So a winter break on the island of Madeira will not only provide more sun and warmer temperatures, but the days will be over two hours longer too.

Continue reading... Funchal's Shortest Day

The island of Tenerife offers photogenic landscapes all year round, but once the busy beaches of the summer take on a quieter Autumn feel the island reveals a slightly different side to the many photographers who attempt to capture the beauty of the island through their lenses. A special exhibition is taking place in Tenerife at the moment to showcase the works of hundreds of photographers. FotoNoviembre, as it names suggests, started during early November, runs through the whole month and on to 10th January.

Continue reading... Photography Exhibitions on Tenerife

The famous Disney Parks near Orlando in Florida are a lure to children and their parents at all times of the year, but at Christmas they take on an added attraction as the magic of the festive season provides a reason for the parks to put on extra special events.

Continue reading... Christmas Spectaculars in Orlando

As a holiday island that relies on tourism for much of its commercial activity, the authorities in Mallorca have a responsibility to their business community to provide a continuing stream of events and attractions that help bring visitors to the island all year round. Mallorca has slowly developed a tried and tested seasonal shift that sees the springtime favouring the activities of cyclists and athletes, who come to the island for warm weather training. Then the long summer panders to the millions of sun and beach lovers who enjoy the island's many perfect resorts. Autumn sees a switch to sailing and also culture that brings art and music festivals to the island. At the end of the year Christmas provides a perfect bridge to the golfing season that takes over in the New Year.

Continue reading... Mallorca's Seasonal Shift

For many the Christmas period presents the perfect opportunity to take a short break and get away for a little rest and relaxation. For some a cosy chalet in snow covered mountains is the ideal break while others yearn for some warm sunshine. Being only a short flight from the UK, Lanzarote offers the combination of convenience and value for British tourists seeking some warmer weather.

Continue reading... Lanzarote Christmas

The normally quiet town of Inca, lying 17 miles north east of Palma on the island of Mallorca, suddenly became the centre of attention during November. The Autumn fairs of Inca are traditional events that go back many years and attract huge crowds over the 4 weekends which started on 24th October.

Continue reading... Dijous Bo on Mallorca

For the first time Banjul,in The Gambia, will host its Fine Arts Festival to run for two weeks from 4th January 2010. The organiser of the event, Yusupha Kula, claims to be taking a small, local art show and transforming into a fine art festival that will attract up to 150,000 visitors and showcase talented and emerging artists from all over the world.

Continue reading... Banjul Fine Arts Festival

New Years Eve celebrations seem to be getting bigger and bigger every year. London now stages a major public fireworks display, centred on the London Eye on the Thames, while TV news broadcasts always show the New Year being welcomed in different parts of the world. These reports usually show fireworks displays in Edinburgh, Paris, Sydney, Copacabana beach, Hong Kong and or the million or so revelers who converge on Times Square in New York. The New York celebrations are interesting as they first started in 1904 to commemorate the opening of the New York Times' new offices, when 200,000 people came to enjoy an all-day party put on by the newspaper. It is now estimated that 1 billion people worldwide watch the Times Square celebrations.

Continue reading... New Years Eve on the Algarve

A beach together with a bucket and spade will normally lead to some sort of sand castle eventually, but have you ever seen a professional sand sculptor in action? They are able to create things you would not have thought possible. We've seen them in places like the beaches of Cannes and Mallorca, but now Antalya in Turkey has its own Sand Sculpture festival which has proved to be very popular.

Continue reading... Sand Castles in Antalya

The town of Sa Pobla is one of the larger towns in Northern Mallorca, but being situated around 20 miles to the north of Palma and set inland it doesn't receive much attention from tourists visiting the island. This is a town populated largely by native Mallorcans, without the abundance of holiday homes that are a feature of some of the more picturesque parts of the island. The main industry around Sa Pobla is agriculture and the flat countryside around the town is a patchwork of well cultivated fields growing all kinds of produce.

Continue reading... Sa Pobla Autumn Fair

One of the more esoteric events on Tenerife this Autumn was the Tenerife Tattoo Fest, which took place for the second time this year on the 7th and 8th November.

Continue reading... Tenerife Tattoo Fest

Colourful skies were promised at the annual Fuerteventura Kite Festival in November this year.

Continue reading... Fuerteventura Kite Festival

Gran Canaria in October is much the same as Gran Canaria in September and November. The usual warm Autumn weather, lots of tourists arriving on the island for a late summer break and plenty of things going on. However the first weekend of October this year did seem to have an unusual combination of events on the calendar.

Continue reading... Cheese, Rock and Art Celebrations

Vintage car events seem to be ever more popular these days and the Historic Motoring Festival on the Algarve during October is one example.

Continue reading... Algarve Historic Motoring Festival

During the summer months the resort of Alcudia on the northern coast of Mallorca transforms into a buzzing beach location, fringed with a huge selection of luxury hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes and one of the best sandy beaches on the island. Once the peak months of the summer are gone, everything starts to move at a slightly slower pace, although the resort doesn't quite return to the peaceful, quiet rural zone it once was before tourism discovered it.

Continue reading... Alcudia Fair in October

September is a wonderful month to spend some time in Cyprus and this year was no different. The very hot days of the high summer are gone and milder weather, together with a wide selection of cultural events, make the island a pleasant place to spend a week or two.

Continue reading... September Events in Cyprus

Another top cultural on Tenerife spot is The Museum of Nature and Man (Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre). This collection includes some of the best examples of objects from pre-Hispanic Canary Islands history.

Continue reading... Tenerifes Cultural and Natural Treasures

The night clubs are well known but dancing of a different type took centre stage on Ibiza during August.

Continue reading... Dance and Celebrate on Ibiza

The beachfront area in Palma, Mallorca played host to an exciting surf event at the end of August.

Continue reading... Mallorca Surf Action 2009

In a move that appears to be bucking the trend experienced in other parts of Europe, the Greek Islands are seeing improved tourist figures for the first four months of the year.

Continue reading... Greeks Islands Proving Popular

Visitors to the island of Lanzarote next weekend will have the opportunity to sample the Festival of Arrecife, a series of musical events taking place at different venues around the city on Friday and Saturday.

Continue reading... Lanzarote Festival in Arrecife

Situated on the Algarve coast between Lagos and Faro, the town of Portimao is no stranger to high adrenalin sports events. Kitesurfing, motorcycling and powerboat racing have all used the location on the southern coast of Portugal for professional calibre competitions.

Continue reading... Blue Skies over Portimao

The annual Kataklysmos Fair starts on 5th June in Larnaca, Cyprus with a performance of Greek dancing and music on the seafront stage, followed by a fireworks display. The word "kataklysmos" means flood and the celebration is unique to Cyprus, coinciding with the Greek Pentacost. The celebrations are thought to link back the birth of Aphrodite who emerged from the waves and turned the ground around her into a sea of flowers. The flood is celebrated as something that cleanses mankind and enables new life, and is a event marked in a similar manner in many cultures around the world.

Continue reading... Annual Kataklysmos Fair in Larnaca

The coastline around Bodrum has a rich history dating back many through thousands of years of rule by Persians, Ancient Greeks, Crusader Knights and the Ottoman Empire. All that has left the area scattered with enough relics and artifacts to keep today's archaeologists very happy and the museum in Bodrum is a popular attraction for them.

Continue reading... Return of Artifacts to Bodrum

Keen to showcase the natural and raw beauty of the their islands, the Canary Islands Tourist Board has sponsored a garden at this year's Chelsea Flower Show. The tourist board responsible for promoting the Canary Island Archipelago is working hard to maintain the strong ties between the island group and visitors from the UK. Tourists from the UK have always formed the majority of visitors to the seven Spanish islands located off the North African coast which include Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

Continue reading... Canaries come to Chelsea

The popularity of Egyptian resort location Sharm el Sheikh seems to be continuing while some other destinations are feeling the effects of the global slowdown. Reports suggest that visitor volumes to Sharm are showing increases of up to 20 per cent this year and building development projects are underway to cope with the extra tourists.

Continue reading... New developments open in Sharm el Sheikh

On May 23rd this year the skies over the Port of Hania (Chania) in Crete will roar to sound of fast jets as the RAF Red Arrows come to town to put on their flying display to help mark the 68th anniversary of the Battle of Crete that took place in 1941.

Continue reading... Veterans to See Red in Crete

For wine regions around the world the harvesting of a new vintage is the most important period of the year and many, including the Spanish region of Andalucia, celebrate with a range of traditional festivals.

Continue reading... Celebrate the New Vintage in Andalucia