Latest Fairs and festivals News

2024 Essence Festival to honor Frankie Beverly's 'final performance' with tribute

May. 20, 2024 18:05 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Organizers of the Essence Festival of Culture have revealed that legendary soul group Maze featuring Frankie Beverly will be recognized during this summer's gathering with “a star-studded tribute” that will “honor their final performance.” Maze, which is...

Brazil's Cavalhadas festival celebrates victory of Iberian Christian knights over the Moors

May. 19, 2024 17:03 PM EDT

PIRENOPOLIS, Brazil (AP) — People in the heartland Brazilian city of Pirenopolis took to the streets on Sunday in a procession of the traditional Cavalhadas festival. The tradition began in the 1800s with a Portuguese priest who wanted to celebrate the Holy Spirit — one of the...

CANNES PHOTOS: See the cinematic glamour of the first days of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival

May. 18, 2024 11:18 AM EDT

CANNES, France (AP) — Hollywood royalty is back at the Cannes Film Festival for its annual celebration of cinema along the French Riviera. Premieres bring an elegant parade of stars nightly and moments that become indelible Cannes images, whether it's Francis Ford Coppola's return...

PEN America, facing criticism over its response to the Mideast war, gathers for annual gala

May. 17, 2024 00:39 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Like a political convention held amidst an intra-party rift, Thursday night's PEN America gala was a call for unity, dialogue and a renewed sense of mission at a time when PEN's priorities have been called into question. “Our assembly is disassembling,” PEN...

How Cannes works, from the standing ovations to the juries to the Palm Dog

May. 15, 2024 17:05 PM EDT

CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival is hallowed ground in cinema but understanding its unique landscape can be confounding. The Côte d’Azur festival, which kicked off Tuesday, is a 10-day ballet of spectacle and film where even the photographers wear tuxedos, standing...

Cannes kicks off with a Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep and a post-'Barbie' fête of Greta Gerwig

May. 15, 2024 00:31 AM EDT

CANNES, France (AP) — Beneath intermittent rainy skies, the Cannes Film Festival opened Tuesday with the presentation of an honorary Palme d'Or for Meryl Streep and the unveiling of Greta Gerwig’s jury, as the French Riviera spectacular kicked off a potentially volatile 77th edition. ...

Trial for final wrongful death suit in Astroworld concert crowd crush is set for September

May. 14, 2024 12:56 PM EDT

HOUSTON (AP) — The one remaining wrongful death lawsuit filed after 10 people were killed during a deadly crowd crush at the 2021 Astroworld music festival has been set for trial in civil court in September, a judge said Tuesday. State District Judge Kristen Hawkins scheduled jury...

Katharina Wagner will lead the Bayreuth Festival for 5 more years

May. 14, 2024 06:09 AM EDT

BERLIN (AP) — The Bayreuth Festival in Germany announced on Tuesday that it is retaining Katharina Wagner as its director for another five years. Wagner, who turns 46 on May 21 and is a great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, became co-head of the festival in September 2008, along...

A combustible Cannes is set to unfurl with 'Furiosa,' 'Megalopolis' and a #MeToo reckoning

May. 13, 2024 20:27 PM EDT

The Cannes Film Festival rarely passes without cacophony but this year’s edition may be more raucous and uneasy than any edition in recent memory. When the red carpet is rolled out from the Palais des Festivals on Tuesday, the 77th Cannes will unfurl against a backdrop of war,...

AP PHOTOS: Lotus Lantern Festival draws thousands in Seoul to celebrate upcoming Buddha's birthday

May. 11, 2024 11:34 AM EDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Holding umbrellas and pink paper lotus flowers, thousands of South Koreans joyously filled the wet streets of Seoul in an annual festival anticipating Buddha’s birthday the coming week. Despite the rain, organizers expected a turnout of around 50,000...