Monday February 8, 2010
Chinese New Year is coming up on February 14th, with parades, Lion Dances, fireworks, lantern festivals, in cities around the world.
New York City has giant parades, with Korean and other East Asian participation too; LA, Vancouver, Paris, Sydney... Not to mention the incredible pyrotechnics and other festivities in China, the country that invented fireworks centuries ago.
About.com's Guide for China Travel has this roundup:
Celebrating the Year of the Tiger Around the World. Check dates carefully; Chinese New Year celebrations don't always take place on the exact New Year day. New York City's big parade in Chinatown, for instance, is on Feb. 21 2010.
Thursday February 4, 2010
February's an interesting month in 2010, as a bunch of holidays happen within a couple of days. Chinese New Year falls on February 14th, (which of course is also Valentine's Day); President's Day is Monday, February 15th, and lots of schools take a week-long break; and Mardi Gras is Tuesday, February 16th.
Check out
February Getaway Ideas, including family-friendly Mardi Gras celebrations, and Valentines Day getaways for families. (Yes, these experiences do exist.) In addition of course to all-inclusive resorts, ski trips, and other February ideas.
Beale Street Historic District. Photo courtesy of Official Memphis site.
February is also
Black History Month in the US and Canada; click for some great places to visit, that honor African-American history. Depending on ages and interests, families might focus on music history (like visiting Beale Street, right, the birthplace of the blues), or on museums and destinations that highlight civil rights history.
President's Week Getaway Ideas |
More February Getaway Ideas |
More Holidays Through the Year
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Wednesday February 3, 2010
Mardi Gras is often associated with wild parades in certain (in)famous cities, but families can get in on the act as well.
Even New Orleans has sections of parade routes that are all about families. And Trinidad and Tobago -- which has a legendary grown-up Mardi Gras -- has a Kiddies Carnival before that bash.
Families can also catch some Mardi Gras vibes on many weekends at the Universal Orlando theme park: with a 10-block parade, live music, and more -- and all part of regular park admission. Headliner acts for 2010 include: Heart, Blondie, Aretha Franklin, Beach Boys, Sheryl, Crow, Chicago, and that's not all.
And for more about
Carnival and Mardi Gras Festivals world-wide, see a round-up at About.com's Guide for Italy Travel. Venice is famous for its "Carnivale", but you might not know that Greece and Germany have Carnival celebrations too! And the
Quebec City Carnival (featured just below) is a true Mardi Gras carnival, i.e. a last party before the somber months of Lent start, in the Catholic religious year.
*Photo courtesy of Universal Orlando.
Tuesday February 2, 2010
Ouch. 2010 could be a fierce hurricane year...
Every year, experts at the
Tropical Meteorology Project at Colorado State University issue long-term forecasts for hurricane season. Their 2009 forecast predicted "slightly below-average activity for the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season" and indeed 2009 was a good year for vacationers taking advantage of the low rates at beach resorts during the hurricane months.
Win McNamee/ Getty Images
Unfortunately, the forecast for 2010 isn't cheerful: "We foresee an above-average Atlantic basin tropical cyclone season in 2010 and anticipate an above-average probability of U.S. and Caribbean major hurricane landfall."
Hurricane season officially starts June 1. Read more:
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