diary
MAY / JUNE 07
| Gay Pride – Berlin Gay-friendly Germans will be fluffing up their boas and buffing up their lederhosen for the annual glitz-blitz of its Christopher Street Day parade: the finale to a week of gay festivities. Verschiedenheit und Freiheit und Recht! (Diversity and law and freedom!) is the rallying cry, but partying, as much as political debate, is the main agenda. Expect spectacular floats, fun and fireworks. 23 June. www.csd-berlin.de |
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| Carnival – Aalborg Join 25,000 crazed carnival-goers at the 25th anniversary of the largest parade in Northern Europe. Revellers from around the world dress for excess at the (free) Grand Parade – the theme this year is ‘masquerade’. There’s also a Children’s Parade for pint-sized carousers and a not-tobe-missed party in Kildeparken. 26 May. www.karnevaliaalborg.dk |
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| Art Athina – Athens If you’re looking for an extra dose of culture in the seat of modern civilisation, visit this expansive exhibition that features contemporary art from Greece, Russia, the US and beyond. Don’t miss the work of the Guerrilla Girls (www.guerillagirls.com), a gang of monkey-masked art activists looking to reinvent the ‘f’ word – feminism, that is. 31 May – 3 June. www.art-athina.com |
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| Grand Prix – Barcelona For those who haven’t had their fill of automotive madness in the bustling Spanish capital, head to the Circuit de Catalunya to see Iberian F1 ace Fernando Alonso, Finn Kimi Räikkönen and their coterie of young, rich and extremely well-travelled opponents racing for the prix, or hang on for Monaco (27 May), France (1 July) or Britain (8 July). 13 May. www.formula1.com |
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| Red Cross Appeal Week – London It’s raining women – hallelujah! Breaking records, raising funds and inspiring awe at the same time, 72 female skydivers will be leaping from 5,500m and linking together to form the iconic Red Cross emblem as people across the city, from Oxford Circus to the London Eye, look to the skies. 11am, 5 May. www.redcross.org.uk |
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| Le Jardin Anglais – Geneva Away from the bank-filled, business-centric streets of Geneva, you can stop and smell the roses at this bucolic lakeside spot, a horticultural haven of brightly coloured, in-bloom buds. Check the time at the famous floral clock, a 50-year-old monument to the city’s watch-making heritage with the longest seconds hand in the world, which measures an amazing 2.5m. www.geneve-tourisme.ch |
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| Maggio Musicale Festival – Florence Returning for its 70th year, the oldest Italian music festival fills the Teatro Communale with the magic of classical maestros such as conductor Mariss Jansons and pianist Daniel Barenboim. Don’t miss the production of Ivan Fedele’s opera Antigone, or Zubin Mehta (below) and Fazil Say tackling Tchaikovsky overtures in the majestic Piazza della Signoria. Until 30 June. www.maggiofiorentino.com |
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| Cannes Film Festival – Cannes Diane Kruger – who, according to her screen role as Helen of Troy, possesses “the face that launched a thousand ships” – is launching the 60th Cannes Film Festival. Goggle at the glamour, glower at the jury’s decisions and see 33 world-class directors, from Lars von Trier to Wim Wenders, explain in three minutes flat what movies mean to them. 16-27 May. www.festival-cannes.fr |
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| Breakin’ Convention – Edinburgh Prepare to fall head over heels as the world’s finest break-dancers and bodypoppers bust all sorts of hernia-inducing moves at the International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre in the Festival Theatre. LA’s Electric Boogaloos join forces with local dance crews and graffiti artists for a limb-flinging show that’s Straight Outta Compton. Or, in this case, Sadler’s Wells. 11-12 May. www.breakinconvention.com |
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