9 Best & Most Famous Festivals in Europe to Experience in 2024

Europe is quickly emerging as one of the top backpacking and affordable destinations worldwide. Thousands of people are expected to stream into the region, not to visit museums or game parks, but to attend and get a glimpse of the parties, nightlife, and festivals! So, if you are considering a trip to Europe, backpacking Europe, or a couples vacation, familiarise yourself with these 9 Best & Most Famous Festivals in Europe to Experience in 2024. You must add them to your list of places to visit and activities to do during your holiday, especially if you’re booking a Europe honeymoon package!

9 Most Famous Festivals in Europe

• Edinburgh International Festival – Edinburg, Scotland
• Halloween festival – Transylvania, Hungary & Romania
• Running of the Bulls, Pamplona, Spain
• La Fête Nationale, Champes Elysees avenue, Paris
• Sziget Festival, Budapest, Hungary
• Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
• La Tomatina – Valencia, Spain
• La Battala Del Vino – La Rioja, Spain
• Pinkpop Festival – Landgraaf, Netherlands

1. Edinburgh International Festival – Edinburg, Scotland

8th to 31st August

It brings the very best in classical music, dance, theater, visual arts exhibitions, and opera from across the world for three exciting weeks of August and is one of the best and the famous festivals to explore during your Europe Tour!

While you’re here, you’ll enjoy watching incredible street performances, amazing shows, and the globally renowned Military Tattoo right by Edinburgh Castle. The event also includes a variety of presentations and classes.

2. Halloween festival – Transylvania, Hungary & Romania

30 October – 1 November

Dracula’s Transylvania is the best place in Europe to celebrate Halloween. The renowned festival, held annually in October, features a masqueraded Halloween celebration at a mountain cabin nestled in the heart of the Transylvania Mountains.

At the festival, the mountain exudes a mysterious and eerie yet impressive vibe with attendees wearing elaborate costumes and fake blood streaming down their faces, as they trace Dracula’s path through mountain chalets, castles, charming villages, and fortified churches. If you are looking for a lifetime adventure, this festival is a perfect match for you.

3. Running of the Bulls, Pamplona, Spain

July 6 – 14

The famous Running of the Bulls event, held in Spain, is a beloved and well-known European tradition that happens every year from July 6 to 14. People run in front of bulls let loose on a specific path in the streets of Pamplona. The Chupinazo, also known as the inaugural event, usually occurs at midday on July 6 and sets it apart from other days of the festival. The event will showcase amazing fireworks and vibrant festivities beginning at 11 pm and continuing throughout the night. When organizing your Europe family vacation in July, make sure to include this activity in your itinerary!

4. La Fête Nationale, Champes Elysees avenue, Paris

July 14

La Fête Nationale, also called Bastille Day in English-speaking countries, is a well-known European festival celebrated on France’s National Day. The event includes the oldest and biggest military procession on the continent, which takes place on the morning of July 14th. The parade goes from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. You wouldn’t want to skip the public concerts and dances the night before, as well as the fireworks during the festival’s evening.

5. Sziget Festival, Budapest, Hungary

9 – 16 August

This is one of the largest cultural and music festivals in Europe that is held every August in northern Budapest, on the Old Buda Island (Budai-sziget) in the middle of the Danube River. Featuring over 1000 acts and performances, the festival has won several awards and is dubbed by many as the “European alternative to Burning Man”. For festival fans, this event is seen as an amusement park as it bursts with various colorful and exciting distractions from reality. You can book your Central Europe package and enjoy this wholesome experience!

6. Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany

16 September – 4 October

Oktoberfest Germany is the world’s most popular beer festival which takes place every year from mid-September to October in Munich Germany. While here, you’ll enjoy yourself with hundreds of other people drinking, singing, dancing, and having fun in beer tents. The festival is organised by Munich’s largest and most traditional breweries and is one of the best and most sought-after festivals in Europe. You’ll love drinking beer by the liter, but if you are a teetotaller, you don’t need to worry; water and sodas are available too.

7. La Tomatina – Valencia, Spain

 August 30

ZNMD made all its fans add La Tomatina as one the their bucket list experience. La Tomatina festival is a tomato (food) fight festival held in the Valencian town of Bunol, 30 km from the Mediterranean on the Wednesday of August every year, and goes on for a week. Considered as the world’s biggest food fight, the festival involves a battle in which participants throw hundreds of metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes in the streets. Additionally, the festival features parades, music, fireworks, and dancing and is one of the best and most famous festivals in Europe.

8. La Battala Del Vino – La Rioja, Spain

29 June

If you thought La Tomatina was the craziest festival in the world, then wait till you have a glimpse of La Battala. La Battala is one of the best and the most famous festivals in Europe that is held every year on the 29th of June, in which thousands of locals and hundreds of lucky tourists climb a mountain in the village of Haro, Spain, and throw wine on each other. Rather than drinking and savoring red wine, the locals prefer splashing it all over the place. Everyone gets wet and sticky as they turn into a beautiful shade of purple. You should book a European group tour around the time of this festival and experience the madness.

9. Pinkpop Festival – Landgraaf, Netherlands

3 – 5 June

The pinkpop festival is one of the best festivals in Europe which takes place on the grounds of a former horse-racing track in rural Landgraaf every year during the Pentecost weekend – the seventh Sunday after Easter (early June). The festivals involve creaming masses and guitars and frantic, electric performances. The participants dye their hair pink and wear pink T-shirts and pink plastic glasses, making the scene appear like a pink sea. While staying true to its guitar-shredding heroes, the crowd screams, sings, arms flail, and jumps up and down. This is must must-attend festival in Europe in June.

Don’t miss out on these Europe packages from different departure cities:

Europe Tour Packages from Pune | Europe Tour Packages from Hyderabad | Europe Tour Packages from Delhi | Europe Tour Packages from Mumbai | Europe Tour Packages from Bengaluru | Europe Tour Packages from Chennai | Europe Tour Packages from Ahmedabad

Inspired and ready to set off and take part in these famous festivals in Europe? Check out various Europe Packages and at Pickyourtrail and choose the one that suits you best and book away!

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