This month Damascus welcomes world's best jazz musicians, Bregenz will summon opera fans, top golfers are on their way to St. Andrews, while sea wolves still have the time to prepare for Cowes Week.
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Damascus, Syria
July 8 - 13, 2010 When you mix oriental and jazz musical expression the only result you can get is a unique musical experience of "Oriental Jazz". This July world jazz names will come to the Jazz Lives in Syria which takes place in the Citadel of Damascus. They will perform ten concerts and teach about the music that touches every sense. This unique event is not aimed just at jazz lovers because it brings a full spectrum of events: from jazz performances in different styles to workshops for pros and amateurs.
During the festival a special event will enrich the festival: two children bands will play showing how they feel that swinging mood. This is a unique opportunity to leave your youngsters to enjoy jazz in company of children from different countries while you and your lady are gracefully swaying in front of the stage under the starry Arabian night. If names Lara Bello, Chilli Latin Big Band and Amr Hammour ring the bell, you know that you must be there. If not, just come - you'll remember them after the first listening.
St. Andrews, Scotland
July 15 - 18, 2010 St. Andrews is the place where golf was born and this July golf is returning home to the major men's championship. This year nine different courses will welcome the best golf players in the world at the British Open Golf 2010 for 139 years in the row. The number easily shows how significant this event is: even 156 players will come to St. Andrews. Most of them don't need to play qualifying rounds because they are among world's Top 50, they have won some other major tournament or they were among first 10 at the previous Open.
The true beauty of the event is the "Old Course", the court established in 1764 at which the first match of the standard golf has been played. That 18-hole court is a unique field with seven huge double greens and each of them has two holes. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club is located next to the first tee but it doesn't own the field. The old British royal families realized a long time ago that everyone should enjoy this exciting game and they opened it for public. So don't hesitate, come and see masters at work.
Bregenz, Austria
July 21 - August 22, 2010 You don't understand opera? Have no idea what they are singing about? Well, Austrian town Bregenz is the place for you. Because Bregenz Festival is not just a series of operas, this is a true spectacle of music and fun. In the Festival Opera House, before every performance, you can hear a detailed introduction to the work which will make you a semi-professional. After that you'll have the opportunity to enjoy performances on the world's biggest floating stage together with 7,000 music fans which will follow the best operas ever written.
If you are more into contemporary pieces, you can enjoy popular dramas like West Side Story. However, singing is not the only thing that the event - which draw more than 300,000 visitors to old Austrian town last year - can offer. The Festival-Lounge will welcome you with a glass of Champaign in Swarovski glasses, then you'll be taken to the back-stage tour and after that you can sit down and enjoy the culinary highlight - the festival dinner. Who says that opera can't be fun?
Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
July 31 - August 8, 2010 Back in 1827 King George IV approved Cowes Week, a race with seven yachts competing for the King's Cup. This year 8,500 competitors, from weekend sailors to world-class yachtsmen, will sail around Isle of Wight enjoying the "warmer race in the world". Every year 100,000 people are cheering like on the football field, creating a festival atmosphere only distantly connected to the first "nobility only" sea event. Cowes Week is one of the world's longest-running sporting events and July 31 is marked in bold letter on every sea lover's calendar.
Every day there will be 40 races for more than 1,000 boats and anything that can flow on the water can participate: from home-made boats to state-of-the-art multihulls. If you are on the shore, there are plenty of events for you, too. Live street performances, lessons for beginners, stands with yachting literature and barbecue points along the waterline are waiting for you. The climax of the event is the Cowes Week fireworks which closes the event and calls all participants to come next year for even more fun and excitement. ■
