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A musical journey to France
Bonjour! I am currently in Nantes, the sixth-largest city in France. I am here to attend a classical music festival known as La Folle Journée. Held annually since 1995, this year it is dedicated to Beethoven and celebrates the 250th anniversary of his birth. It takes place over five days between the 29th of January and the 2nd of February 2020, and the program features around 250 classical music concerts. I would now like to take the opportunity to take you on a musical journey to France, a country with a rich musical tradition, and the birthplace of some of my favorite composers: Hector Berlioz (born in the Isère department in southeastern France; 11…
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20 Festivals in London in 2020
A few weeks ago, Barack Obama shared his annual list of favorites — books, films, and music. The former US President reflected that ‘outlets like literature and art can enhance our day-to-day experiences’. As a Psychiatrist, I couldn’t agree more. In fact, one of the reasons why I love living in London is the number of music and film festivals, as well as other cultural events, available. Last year, I attended quite a few festivals and cultural events, and I subsequently published several posts about my favorite festivals in London. I particularly enjoyed the music festivals taking place in the summer, and the film festivals in the autumn. Here are…
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10 + 5 Music & Film Festivals in California in 2020
The Oscars 2020 nominations have just been announced and, as a film enthusiast, I’m already very excited about the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, due on the 9th of February 2020. But, as much as I’d like to write about my favorite films this year, today I’m going to follow on from last week’s post and make a list of music, as well as of film, festivals due to take place in California in 2020. So, without further ado, here are my lists of upcoming music and film festivals in California: Music Festivals in California in 2020 Most of the music festivals on my list are outdoors. This comes as no…
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20 Music Festivals in Norway in 2020
It is no secret that Norway is one of my favorite countries, and that jazz is one of my favorite music genres. Last year, I decided to combine the two and I traveled to Trondheim for the JazzFest. This year, I hope I go back to Norway for a music festival. To help me decide, I have made a list of upcoming music festivals in Norway (mostly, but not exclusively, jazz). In chronological order, here are 20 upcoming music festivals in Norway: Nordlysfestivalen (Tromsø, from 23 January to 2 February 2020) Nordlysfestivalen (also known as the Northern Lights Music Festival) offers a perfect opportunity to listen to different genres, such…
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Music, film & wine: 12 days in California
It all started in September when I went on a musical journey to California to attend the Kaaboo Del Mar festival. This is an annually held festival that takes place in Del Mar, a beach city near San Diego, in southern California. Getting there was easy; from LA, I took the train to San Diego and got off at Solana Beach (the journey took about two hours) where I stayed for the duration of the festival. After the festival, I returned to Los Angeles, and after spending a few days there, I rented a car and went on a road trip to California. My itinerary included Santa Barbara, Big Sur,…
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My California wine-tasting road-trip
I was certainly amused when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) asked me if I’d brought any alcohol into the US. Why would I do that, I wondered. I had just flown for 10 hours across the Atlantic and was about to embark on my California wine-tasting road-trip from LA to Santa Barbara and the Central Coast, and from there to Big Sur and San Francisco (with a detour to the Yosemite National Park). I was planning to drive on the Pacific Coast Highway and visit as many vineyards and wineries as I could (the fact that I would be driving was…
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Napa Valley: Wine, food & film
Worldwide famous as a fine wine-producing region, Napa County (not to be confused with Ayia Napa, in Cyprus), along with the neighboring Sonoma County and the perhaps somewhat lesser-known Mendocino County, is part of the so-called Wine Country, in Northern California. Napa County is part of the San Francisco Bay Area, which also includes San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and the Silicon Valley, Sonoma and other neighboring counties. Home to Michelin-starred restaurants and to the Napa Valley Film Festival taking place every November, Napa County is the perfect destination for foodies and wine fans with a love of the big screen. Even if you visit San Fran at a different…
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A cinematic journey to France
Inspired by the BFI London Film Festival I attended in October (it took place from the 2nd to the 13th of October 2019), I embarked on a cinematic journey around Europe. My first stop was the Nordic countries (‘A cinematic journey to the Nordic Countries’). I then continued my journey to East (Estonia, Russia, Poland), Central (Germany, Austria, Belgium) and South Europe (Spain, Italy, Greece). I now continue my cinematic journey to France, a country with a rich cinematic tradition. As both a cinephile and Francophile, I have always been interested in the French cinema, and naturally the French Film Festival UK (due to take place nationwide from 1st November…
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A cinematic journey around Europe
Inspired by the BFI London Film Festival I attended earlier this month (it took place between the 2nd and the 13th of October 2019), I embarked on a cinematic journey around Europe. My first stop was the Nordic countries (‘A cinematic journey to the Nordic Countries’). As well as attending mainstream film festivals, such as the BFI London Film Festival, and the Leeds International Film Festival (due to take place from 6th to 20th November 2019), I also attend lesser-known ones, such as the European Psychoanalytic Film Festival (EPFF). EPFF takes place in London every two years and is due to take place from 31st October to 3rd November 2019. Every…
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A cinematic journey to the Nordic countries
A keen traveler, I am also a music lover, and I particularly enjoy discovering and listening to music from different countries, often in languages I don’t understand. A few months ago, I published the post ‘Beyond Eurovision: A musical journey around Europe’, where I ‘visited’ 22 European countries, listening to some of my favorite musicians from each of these countries. This musical journey was followed by similar ones to Greece, Norway, Iceland, and California. But, I am also a film enthusiast, and as such I enjoy watching films from other countries, not always in English (as long as they have subtitles). To marry my love for cinema with my passion for…