Summer might be over but don't let that quell your seasonal thirst. Here are four last minute trip ideas for this September (and a little bit of October). There's a definite theme.
Oktoberfest
Every year, six million beer fanatics pull on their lederhosen and descend on Munich for Oktoberfest. It is, officially, the largest beer festival on Earth. The majority of the festival takes place at the end of September. Let’s face it though, Septemberfest doesn’t pack the same Germanic punch. A dizzying 7.7 million litres of beer was consumed last year in Munich alone. Given that thousands of themed bars concurrently spring up all over the world, it is hard to quantify how much Oktoberfest-related beer is collectively quaffed. Good luck repeating that last sentence after four 'steins'.
Kentucky Bourbon Festival
The 24th instalment of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival will take place between the 15th and 20th of September. According to the brilliantly named festival Chairperson, Davis L. Huston III, “69 percent of the world’s bourbon is made around the Nelson County area... Bardstown is indeed the bourbon capital of the world”. Bourbon sampling obviously provides the overarching theme for the weekend but there are also lots of intriguing subplots too. There's the World Championship Bourbon Barrel Relay (barrel-chested locals pushing barrels), a bourbon style cooking school and much more.
Monterrey Jazz Festival
The most famous Jazz Festival in the world is actually a non-profit organization. They have donated all proceeds to musical education since its inception in 1958. The amount of genre-defining artists to have played here is astonishing: Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Etta James, Louis Armstrong and George Benson have all bopped around the Monterrey main stage. To do a bit more name dropping, Hollywood megastar Clint Eastwood is also on the board of directors and has been since 1992. More than 500 top jazz artists will perform across nine stages between September 18th and 20th.
Budapest International Wine Festival
The wine market is a tough one to crack and emerging producer Hungary is still well behind established European neighbours Italy, France, Spain and Germany. The climate lends itself to wine production though and popularity is certainly on an upwards trajectory. According to festival organisers, the country’s eponymous Wine Festival has grown steadily year-on-year. Situated in the idyllic Buda Castle Hill, they have invited along Italian suppliers for the first time in 2015. Who better to rub shoulders with than experts from Italy, the country that producers more wine than any other.
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