Festivals

Flip Flop Festival in Port Lavaca, Texas

Port Lavaca, Texas, is a Gulf town approximately an hour and a half northeast of Corpus Christi. The Flip Flop Festival occurs at the end of the summer on the Bayfront Peninsula. The festival uses its name to put on events such as a flip flop fashion show.

The Sequim Irrigation Festival in Washington

The Sequim Irrigation Festival is an annual celebration that has been going on in Sequim, Washington, since 1896. That's more than 100 years of parades, home cooking, music and entertainment. Officially, the festival honors the irrigation technology that made the farming town a possibility, but it's more than that. It's about the endurance of years of family, tradition and community.

Bull Moose Festival

The Bull Moose Festival is held every year in the Seattle neighborhood of Roosevelt. This street festival features live music, food and entertainment, and is a local staple. The daytime portion of the Bull Moose Festival features many things for children and families to do while the night time portion is more of a party-goers scene.

The WOW Midsummer Fire Festival

During the Midsummer Fire Festival, a World of Warcraft special event inside the game, players can chose to defend or desecrate bond fires throughout the game to earn points towards valuable items and weapons. Players try to earn "burning blossoms" by completing various tasks, such as daily quests.

NYC Horror Festivals

For aficionados of horror films and fiction or for those who simply enjoy Halloween, New York City offers a number of impressive celebrations each year. While many of the best, such as the Horror Film Festival, take place around Halloween, others, such as the Stoker Weekend, have dates earlier in the year.

Witch Festivals

Witch festivals occur throughout the country as well as worldwide. Most festivals celebrate the Pagan and Wiccan holidays while educating the public about the religions. However, other events focus on the witches and magic found in fairy tales and pop culture. It is quite typical that witch festivals occur around Halloween.

The Ash Lawn Opera Festival

The Ash Lawn Opera Festival (ashlawnopera.org) is a nationally recognized nine-week-long summer music festival located in Charlottesville, Va. Festival events include Music at Twilight, Summer Saturdays that feature family entertainment, and a five-concert series of classical and contemporary music. In 2009, the opera festival relocated from Ash Lawn-Highland to The Paramount Theater.

Shakespeare Festival in Port Huron, Michigan

The Shakespeare Festival, sponsored by the Port Huron, Michigan-based Enter Stage Right production company, is held on the banks of the St. Clair River, just a few miles from the Port Huron city limits. Dubbed "Will on the Water," this festival features strolling musicians in Elizabethan dress, swordfights and, of course, a number of Shakespeare's plays.

Kite Festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin

The Wings on Strings kite festival takes place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, each summer, offering an entertaining kite show for people of all ages. The city is known for its air shows and museum, making it a natural location for a kite festival. The festival features many kinds of kites, as well as activities in which patrons can participate.

Cowboy & Western Festivals in Georgia

The history of the U.S. state of Georgia includes some infamous figures, with the gunfighter John Henry "Doc" Holliday born in the city of Griffin during the Wild West era. Communities in Georgia still celebrate the Western heritage of America, with cowboy festivals staged in locations throughout the state each year.

The Clown Festival in New York City

Watching the goofball antics of clowns can bring a smile to any face, and most kids and adults will enjoy their performances. New York provides a chance to see clowns in action each year since 2006 when the city began staging the N.Y. Clown Theatre Festival. The Brick Theater in Brooklyn (bricktheater.com) hosts this entertaining event.

The Scotch Whisky Festival in Chicago

If sampling single malts, blended or liqueur whisky appeals to your taste buds, you might consider attending Whisky Week, held in April of each year in Chicago. There are many activities held at different venues throughout the city. However, the highlight of the week is WhiskyFest, a three-hour event held on Friday.

Sea Shanty Festivals in Florida

Sea shanties are maritime songs traditionally sung on large, square-sailed ships to coordinate the motions of the many crew members needed to operate the sails. Three different types of shanties were designated for different tasks according to rhythm and length. Short haul shanties were sung for the simplest and shortest of hauls. Halyard shanties were longer to accommodate work that required more set-up time between hauling. Capstan shanties were used for the longest, most repetitive tasks that didn't involve working with the lines. Shanties aren't used much as work songs today, but instead garner appreciation from folk musicians and modern seamen for their catchy tunes and ocean-faring themes.

Festivals in Grover Beach, California

Grover Beach is located in San Luis Obispo County on the central coast of California. The Oceano Dunes Recreational Area is the gateway to fun in the sun with a temperate climate that provides perfect weather for the area's annual festivals that attract both tourists and locals year-round.

The "Our Lady Queen of Peace" Festival

Our Lady Queen of Peace Festival is an annual summer event that takes places in Grafton, Ohio, as well as in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Titled after churches bearing the same name, the festivals are an opportunity for the congregations to present their communities with a family-friendly event. Attendees are encouraged to later visit a church service to discover what the parish has to offer.

The Jonquil Festival in Arkansas

Arkansans see yellow in March. That's the month when daffodils, jonquils or, if you will, narcissus are in full bloom. The state celebrates this harbinger of spring in at least three cities: Bigelow, Camden and Washington, with the biggest celebration taking place at the Arkansas Jonquil Festival at Historic Washington State Park in the southwest section of the state.

Weird December Festivals in Alaska

The state of Alaska, also known as "the last frontier" is home to eclectic communities that hold tight to their unique cultures and traditions. The site of multiple celebrations throughout the year, Alaska is filled with an array of unusual festivals in December. Each one reflects upon a way of life that is uniquely Alaskan.

The Sleepwalker Festival Parade in Rittman, Ohio

In the summer of 2011 the city of Rittman, Ohio, will celebrate the 42nd year of "The Sleepwalker Festival Parade," an annual multi-day gala event and beloved community tradition. The Sleepwalker is an inspired throwback to a simpler, more innocent life and time: It's literally a pajama block party -- and small-town hospitality at its most charmingly intimate.

Atlanta Shamrock Festival

Not to be confused with Washington, D.C.'s, giant music festival of the same name, Atlanta's Shamrock Fest is a somewhat smaller affair, though, still chock full of music, brews and green top hats. Atlanta's annual festival takes place at Park Tavern each year, thrown by self-proclaimed social club A Social Mess and attracting a large chunk of Atlanta's party-going crowd.