Another awesome season of festivals and vacays is breathing its boozy breath down our back. Winter is now surely on the retreat (especially here in Barcelona!) and we’re turning our attention to the spring and summer months and the boundless treats they hold. With such a plethora of party and travel options out there, we figured you’d be best served if we whipped up a handy blow-by-blow, clash-free guide to Stoke Travel’s 2017 season.
NB: most of these trips are a flat-rate €60 a day for all inclusive meals, accommodation, guides, good times, etc, and the €10 a day, open beer and sangria bar is available at all these destinations, that’s unlimited beer and sangria for 10 measly bucks.
1 Las Fallas. This one just sneaks in on the spring side of the cooler months, mostly because it’s down south in the Spanish city of Valencia, but also come mid-March we’re ready to party. This one is all things fire — fireworks and bonfires and the burning of 20-metre statues, all in the name of kindly asking winter to beat it. One of the most exciting Spanish festivals of the year, and surprisingly unknown to foreigners. One for the culture vultures, latent pyromaniacs, and thrill seekers alike.
2 Springfest. It’s Oktoberfest’s earlier, smaller, arguably more authentic cousin. We’ve got the same beers, beer halls (but less of them), beer servers, beer bands, beer carnival rides, beer-accompanying foods, but less tourists. This one is for purists and opportunists, those who won’t miss a beer fest, and those who want to experience one with a more local flavour.
3 Barcelona City Breaks. Available all year, but we recommend coming down during June to check out the city when it’s hot, but before it’s absolutely overrun by the July-August summer tourists. Long hot nights spent clubbing on the beach, boat parties, tapas tours, concerts and sea escapes. Also you can combine it with the next few festivals, on one of our packaged up roadtrip offerings.
4 San Vino. The wine fight of La Rioja, Spain’s world-class red wine region. The pretence is simple — a pitched battle on a hillside, surrounded by wine grapes, using only red wine as your weapon. Buckets of red wine, water pistols full of red wine, red wine hoses. Let it soak into your pores and pour it into your mouth and cut loose in another authentic Spanish fiesta.
5 San Fermines. The fiesta that’s infamous for its bull run is one of our favourite parties of the year. If you want to run, that’s up to you, but we’re here for the party. One week of sangria soaked nonsense in the streets of Pamplona. Huge nights and long days partying with the Navarrese locals and visitors from around Spain and the world. Also, Stoke Travel’s own Running of the Nudes, which is a less dangerous, more sexy, version of the road run. Combine this trip with San Vino, the Barcelona City Break, Bilbao BBK Live music festival, or the San Sebastian Surf Camp.
6 The San Sebastian Surf Camp. Beautiful Basque rolling hills and the Bay of Biscay’s breakers. Evening’s filled with delicious gourmet pintxos (Basque tapas), days on the beach in the sun learning how to surf, or honing your skills. Accommodation in our Basque farmhouse on the hillside behind the surf beach. Yes, this truly is paradise.
7 Sziget. Oh boy, this is a loose one. Join the Stoke crew for their favourite music festival in Hungary for a week of dancing and mayhem, getting weird and making out with strangers. This is as wild as it gets, and Stoke Travel will be there egging you along all the way.
8 Ibiza Beach Camp. Set just outside the mayhem so your days are spent relaxing and recovering in the ocean and on the hammocks, the Ibiza Beach Camp is an affordable way to enjoy the world’s premier party island. We hit whichever club is the best by night and spend our waking hours enjoying what really is one the natural wonders of the world. Warm, blue ocean and perfect weather combine to give you that loose party/relaxing vacation you’ve been craving.
9 La Tomatina. Our second favourite throwing festival, after San Vino, La Tomatina is high on your bucket list, and for good reason. There’s something strangely therapeutic about hurling a salad vegetable at a stranger’s face, knowing that not only will they not mind, they’ll enjoy and reciprocate in kind. If you haven’t yet been to see what all the fuss is about, trust us, you won’t be disappointed. And it’s close to Ibiza, too, so maybe double it up with a spell at our beach camp.
10 Oktoberfest. This is the big daddy on the Stoke calendar, three weekends (and the weekdays between them) filled with beer-fuelled merriment. We draw our biggest crowds to this festival, and that’s in no shirt part to the show we put on outside the beer halls. We’ve got stage shows, drinking games, DJs and bands, and thousands of travellers to enjoy it all with.
And this isn’t even the full list! With over 20 destinations to choose from it’s easy to see why more and more travellers are opting for the Stoke Travel Passport, that gives you four all-inclusive trips, three nights at each, for only €550. 2017 is gearing up to be wild with Stoke Travel, so pick out the trips you’ve just got to do and get in contact with us.
