VFS Global, in its continuous endeavour to offer a holistic solution to its Client Governments, has set up full-fledged 360* Tourism Services function within the organisation. There have been numerous projects where VFS Global has worked with various Tourism Boards and Embassies across the world to promote the respective destinations. Currently, VFS Global has its presence across 140+ countries and has been associated with 12 tourism boards globally, providing them a wide range of sales and marketing solutions.

There really is nothing like the Great British Festival. And I’m one of many who would argue that you’ve not really experienced true British culture at its finest until you’ve been to one – and that means camping there too!

Music festivals have been an important staple in the culture for decades. Ever since the swinging 60’s and 70’s Britain has been home to world famous festivals such as ‘The Isle of White Festival’, ‘Leeds and Reading Festival’ and ‘Glastonbury’. Ever since the peace and love era, the demand and popularity of festivals in the UK has only grown and now we see a staggering variety of festivals to choose from, with new independent festivals being born all the time!

Whether you want to max out and go ‘Glamping’ at Glastonbury, or on a shoestring budget, you can find something truly magical.

The summertime is without a doubt the best time to visit the UK. In a country plagued with freezing rain and wind for almost all months of the year, Brits really do live for the summer. And it’s no coincidence the summer season is Festival season!

Being at a festival is like stepping into another world; a world of freedom and completely unbridled creativity; a place where kookiness and art unashamedly come to life.

If you’re travelling to the UK this summer, visiting one of its music festivals is the perfect way to explore the gorgeous British countryside as well as get a feel for the great creative culture. Our feature article on the UK’s best and most affordable independent Fests will help you find the right place for you.

1) Love Saves The Day Festival – Eastville Park, Bristol

Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th May 2017

Bristol is one of the UK’s famous art capitals. This city is a hotbed of Artists, Activists, Musicians and performers; it makes a perfect destination for anyone wishing to travel to the UK.

Love Saves the Day Festival is set in the easy to access ‘Eastville Park’ just north of the city.

 

Here’s the festival creators description of the event “After years filled with attending festivals and club nights, days spent trudging sound systems through muddy fields and even more nights occupied on sweatbox dance floors, the ideas behind Love Saves The Day Festival finally got their first home as a one-day event in Castle Park back in 2012.

 

Fast-forward 6 years and the original experiences which spurred the festival’s beginning now have a story of their own, as Love Saves The Day aims to combine the best of Bristol’s thriving underground with pioneering artists from across the globe, showcasing a huge variety of different genres and musical styles in one amazing space.”

 

Love Saves The Day festival hosts an impressive variety of national and international artists on its Main Stage as well as 5 other areas around the site.

 

Tickets and further information are available at http://lovesavestheday.org/

 

Day tickets as well as full weekend tickets are available.

 

How to Travel There

 

Bristol is easily accessible via train from all major cities in the UK, and advance train fairs can be found at very reasonable prices. Rail travel is incredibly easy to plan through the UK’s national rail website http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

 

Eastville Park is accessible via bus (Number 47) or taxi from the centre of Bristol, and takes around 5 – 10 minutes.

Where to Stay
If you want a genuine experience, pitch up a tent for the weekend. However if you really don’t want to brave the outdoors for the weekend then local B&B (Bed and Breakfast) accommodation can be found from as little as 18 GBP per night.

2) Nozstock – The Hidden Valley. Herefordshire, West Midlands.

21- 23^rd July 2017

“Amid the emerald fields and raggle-taggle farmhouses of Herefordshire’s ruralest countryside lies Nozstock The Hidden Valley”- Nozstock website.

 

Nozstock is set in the beautiful Herefordshire countryside in the West Midlands. A truly family friendly haven of creativity, at Nozstock you’ll find a wonderfully eclectic mix of music, performance art, dance, comedy, film and just about anything else you can think of! Each year Nozstock surprises festival goers with adding something new and exciting to the mix. With its themed weekends, festival goers have the opportunity really dress the part and become immersed in the world of Noz.

Here’s the creators description of Noz:

“Curated by the father and daughter duo of Noz and Ella and a huge extended family who work across the entire festival, there’s a unique charm and energy to Nozstock unlike anything else in the country. Reaching its 19^th year in summer 2017, Nozstock is an enchanting adventure nestled in gorgeous rolling hills.  

 Set on a beautiful working farm in the heart of the Herefordshire countryside, the reassuringly welcoming and independent event has evolved from 50 friends gathered at the inaugural gathering and flourished into an intimate musical odyssey. Joining the dots between pop, ska, folk, funk, soul, indie, drum and bass, psytrance, house and a whole lot more, plus interactive adventure and performance for big and small kids of all ages, Nozstock is a playground for everyone, from seasoned festival goers to newbies setting out for their very first time.

 The festival features a huge range of entertainment, activities and inspiration for families and kids. Nozstock embraces a whole family festival experience from beginning to end, and the Children’s Space is a friendly welcoming environment for both parents and little ones alike.”

 

Day tickets as well as full weekend tickets are available at www.nozstock.com

How to travel there

The location of this gorgeous festival is slightly remote (which adds to the magic!) but the good news it it’s completely accessible via public transport. The festival site is on the outskirts of a small town called Bromyard in the beautiful rural Herefordshire countryside.

The closest train stations to Nozstock are in Hereford and Worcester. A limited amount of local buses also run from Hereford and Worcester to Bromyard Pump Street bus stop on Friday, Saturday and Monday. You can then catch the free shuttle bus running from The Conquest Theatre Bromyard or Bromyard Rugby Club to the festival site. Coaches straight to the site are also available from both Worcester and Herefordshire train stations. All travel information is available at http://nozstock.com/about/directions/

Where to stay

You can bring your own tent and pitch up at the festival campsite, or opt for a pre-pitched tent or glamorous ‘Zoobell’ tent which can be booked through the festival website.

3) Secret Garden Party –  Abbots Ripton (near Huntingdon)

20th – 23rd July 2017.

The festival was launched in 2004 as an alternative to the well established mainstream festivals, Secret Garden Party has increased in size since it first started and is now a popular spot for those wishing to step away for the mainstream crowd for a weekend.

Day tickets and full weekend tickets are available on the website http://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/tickets/secret-garden-party-2017/10041476

How to travel there

The Secret Garden Party is 70 miles out of central London in the East Anglia countryside near Huntingdon. The nearest train station to the site is Huntingdon, and there are also bus services and taxis running to the site. More travel details are available on the festivals website http://www.secretgardenparty.com/whats-what/travel-transport/

Where to stay

The most affordable option is to bring your own tent and pitch up at the festival campsite, however an impressive variety of alternative and boutique camping is through the festival website http://www.secretgardenparty.com/boutique-camping/

4) Barefoot Festival – Leicestershire

Barefoot Festival is set in the Leicestershire countryside at Pretswold Hall, Pretswold.

It’s a weekend full of eclectic music, yoga, meditation, alternative therapies, workshops, dance and much more. There is a real family friendly vibe at this festival so perfect if you have young children.

This festival is by far the most affordable weekend festival featured here, and with the number of workshops and events it has to offer, is fantastic value for money.

Here is the organizers description of the Fest  ”Barefoot Festival™ is all about getting back to basics, getting grass in between your toes and taking time out from the pressures of modern life! Try something you’ve never done before, spend quality time with the family and meet likeminded new friends. You won’t find big fancy sponsors at Barefoot Festival™, we’re a grassroots community gathering and all profits are ploughed right back into improving the facilities at our events. Relax, unwind and refresh yourself with a weekend in the beautiful great British countryside!”

Day tickets as well as full weekend tickets are available at http://www.barefootfestival.com/barefoot-festival-buy-tickets.php

How to travel there

The nearest train station is Loughborough with good rail and bus connections to both the north and south. More travel information can be found at the festival website http://www.barefootfestival.com/barefoot-festival-essential-info-getting-to-barefoot.php

Where to stay

It’s recommended to camp at the site for the duration of the festival, you can bring your own tent or opt for a pre-pitched tent via the website.

5) End Of The Road – Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset

31 Aug – 3 Sep 2017

End of The Road festival began in 2005 as a dream of music lover and festival goer Simon Taffe, who wanted to create an environment where the love of music was the key feature. To this day the festival has remained true to its roots, having no theme, just presenting artists they feel passionate about, and creating a unique, relaxed and friendly environment. The gardens it is set in only contributes to the magic, creating an Oasis away from normality. Each year End of the road festival features art installations and unique decorated spaces.

Tickets can be purchased on their website http://endoftheroadfestival.com/tickets/

How to get there

End of The Road Festival is located at Larmer Tree Gardens, near Blandford, in Dorset.

An affordable way to get to the site is via National Express coaches where you can receive group discounts for groups over 4.

The nearest train station is Salisbury from which there is a direct shuttle bus service to the festival site. More travel information can be found at http://endoftheroadfestival.com/information/travel

Where to stay

There are 6 campsites at End Of The Road festival, including family camping, disabled campsite and quiet area. More information can be found on the festival website http://endoftheroadfestival.com/information/general-information/

 6) Boomtown Fair – Winchester

10 – 13^th August 2017

Boomtown is a music and arts festival, which since its inception in 2009 has grown rapidly to become one of the top 10 most popular festivals in the UK. The elaborate mythology behind the creation of Boomtown Fair is a huge part of the Festival, informing it’s themes of aliens and monsters, Aztecs and cowboys. The festival is set in a makeshift town created especially for the event.

Here’s Boomtowns overview of the event:

“Boomtown is one of the UK’s most innovative independent festivals, leading the way in terms of set design and production values. Offering its 60,000+ attendees a fully immersive, theatrically-led experience, with hundreds of actors bringing the nine uniquely themed districts to life and the mega stage sets create a festival experience unlike any other.  From the mind-blowing stages to backstreet mini-venues, Boomtown offers over 120 music venues to discover a soundtrack consisting of a huge spectrum of musical genres; including folk, dub, soul, funk, reggae, world, drum and bass”

How to travel there

Discounted coach tickets are available thorugh the Big Green Coach company, which run coaches from 55 different locations throughout the UK. More information of travel can be found on Boomtowns website http://www.boomtownfair.co.uk/info/travel/ with travel available from the UK, France and Switzerland. The closes train station to the event is Winchester, and a shuttle bus service operates from Winchester Train Station directly to the site.

Where to stay

There is general and family camping available at Boomtown, along with options for ‘Boutique’ camping available through the website.

 

On a shoestring budget? 

For many of us who are feeling the pinch this year in terms of budget, a fantastic way to enjoy festivals for free is by volunteering at them.
Almost all festivals, large scale and independent, accept volunteers who all contribute to the vibrant atmosphere at these events. There are many type of volunteers at festivals from bar work to stewarding, and most take a commitment of a few hours work per day.
If you are a performer or have a skill you can show off, many festivals, especially smaller independent types, accept applications for walkabout performers.
Just check out the festival websites for volunteer opportunities.

 

From West to East: Travel Interview

For decades India has been a most sought after holiday destination for westerners.  Since The Beatles made their first pilgrimage to Transcendental Meditation retreat in Riskikesh in 1968, India has been ever popularised and its image imbued with a sense of exotic mystery, spirituality and an essence of the unknown. Indian aesthetics are used throughout western popular culture and fashion, with designers in film, television and the music industry looking to India’s rich and beautiful culture and have woven it into western contemporary culture. To the western mind, India is a land rich with oriental magic, the ultimate escape for those wishing to ditch the overcast cold which plagues the UK most of the year.  Advancements of globalisation mean it is now easier than ever to make these long haul journeys across the world to experience it firsthand.

Travel and Deal interviews Raj Singh Gore, a young British National of Punjabi origin about his recent trip with friend Sophie (also a young British National) as they travel to various destinations in Northern India.

On the banks of the Ganga (photo credit – Raj Singh Gore)

 

T+D:  So first of all, tell me why you chose India as a holiday destination. What in particular drew you to travel here?

 

RSG:  I traveled to my family home in Punjab earlier last year, in April, to attend the wedding of a family friend. I spent time with my cousin as he showed me around Punjab, and after seeing how amazed I was by the sites and scenes in Punjab said to me “If you think this is good, just wait until you see the rest of India!” and urged me to travel to other areas. I was just so intrigued by how vast India is, and amazed at how such a variety of cultures, landscapes and wildlife can exist within the same country. I mean, you’ve got beaches, snowy mountains, deserts, forests, hill tops and flat lands all in the same country.  And the weather is so different from North to South. I wanted to explore different places in India and experience the rich variety the country has to offer, rather than only going to Punjab.

 

T+D: So as you’ve told me, this isn’t your first time travelling to India. How many times in the past have you visited?

 

Previous to this trip, I have been twice. Once when I was very young, I don’t remember much of that trip, and then again last year. The first two trips were with family, and this time I traveled with my friend Sophie.

 

T+D: As you mentioned before, this was Sophie’s first time travelling to India, and your first time without your family; did you have any concerns about that?

 

RSG: I was very nervous on the flight to India from the UK, but also excited at the same time. As soon as I arrived in India I realized that I had to learn to be independent, and the whole experience definitely has taught me that.

 

T+D: How did you travel once you arrived in India?

 

Our flight departed from Heathrow Airport in London, and our connecting flight was from Bahrain straight to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

While in Delhi we took the metro to travel around the city, which was absolutely amazing! The Delhi metro system is even better than the London Underground! It is much easier to use and more efficient.

We originally planned to stay at a hotel in Paharganj, but our hotel wasn’t as nice as it seemed on the website and we wanted to escape the hectic atmosphere of Delhi. So we found a tourist information center and booked a tourist taxi straight to Jaipur, Rajasthan. Once in Jaipur we used a mixture of public transport like trains, buses and rickshaws, and also walked wherever we could. I was lucky as a few of our rickshaw drivers spoke Punjabi, so language was less of an issue.

 

T+D: What did you do first once you arrived in Jaipur?

 

We only spent two days in Jaipur, and in that time we tried to see as many of the frequented tourist attractions as possible. First we visited Amber Fort in Amer, we were captured by the beautiful architecture of the building and the gardens. After visiting Amber fort we went to the famous Galta Ji ‘Monkey Temple’.

 

(The pink city – photo credit Raj Singh Gore)

However our favorite site during our time in Rajasthan was Pushkar. We explored the whole of Pushkar including the famous Jagatpita Brahma Mandir and were stunned by the vast rolling desert landscapes. Pushkar really stood out as my favorite place in Rajasthan, the atmosphere there was just so peaceful. I have seen a lot of the congested, chaotic side of India, particularly in Delhi which is known for its intense traffic and constant hustle. Pushkar was like an oasis of calm for me. There was just something about the place, something completely tranquil. It was refreshing to see places of worship of so many different religions all on one place; there were Gurdwara, Jain temples, Hindu Mandirs all in the same vicinity. You could really sense that this was a spiritual place; there was an almost holy presence there. I would definitely recommend going. Just hop on the train and go!

(Pushkar -Photo credit – Raj Singh Gore)

T+D: And after Rajasthan, what was next?

 

RSG: We went from Rajasthan to Varanasi by train.

 

It was just out of this world. I don’t even know how to explain how amazing it was! Soon after arriving there, we just sat on the bank of the Ganga River, not even doing much; we just sat there for hours on end. And what’s best is that we got to spend Diwali there! The fireworks were breathtaking, and we must have been out until 2 am joining in with the festivities.

 

One of my best memories of my entire trip to India was going to the Ganga Aarti in Varanasi, which was absolutely magical. It’s difficult to convey in words how brilliant it was. You just have to be there to really understand it.

 

T+D: How did the reality of India differ from your preconceptions of how it would be? And this goes for Sophie as well, what was her perception of seeing India for the first time as a UK national.

RSG: I really love India, I have been twice previously and already had an idea of what to expect, and this trip has only led me to appreciate it more. But I think Sophie found it a little more difficult to adjust. She found it very hectic, and the food didn’t agree with her. She found certain things shocking, for example the living conditions of the poorest in society, which is visible in the majority of places you go in India, and also the stray dogs and the condition many of them were in.

(Photo credits – Raj Singh Gore)

T+D: What did you find to be the most different culturally?

RSG: Definitely the driving! And the fact that people seem much friendlier in India. I think that was mainly due to the fact people knew we were tourists from the UK, but we found everyone to be so helpful.

T+D: Has your recent trip to India influenced where you would travel next?

RSG: Yes of course. It’s made me realize the possibilities of travelling alone, without family. So I am going to travel more of India, and hopefully more of the world! I think my next trip will be to South India.

 

 

 

Strolling in a market place with or without the intention to shop is an enriching experience. With the arrival of mall culture, the neighbourhood markets and shops are becoming a thing of past. Markets are memory zones, observers Sushma Sabnis taking her experience of visiting markets in India and abroad as a point of departure.

There is the damp sweet smell of a flower market that hits you as soon as you get into the overcrowded, jam packed bustling marketplace in Borivili West, Mumbai. This place probably has been here since eons, as far as public knowledge goes. When one has walked into these complex network of fruits vegetables flowers and all kinds of ware sellers, interspersed with the odd Mangalore store run by a man from Hyderabad who sells, sambar shallots, Kerala acchapam and Tamilian Karuvepalli thokku, along with any and every type of ghatia, sev , bhakarwadi and muruku. This market place resides as much in one’s being as it does in reality.

A smell or an odour brings to mind a plethora of memories which never leave even when  the mind is stressed about the work to be done for tomorrow and day after, somehow suddenly the mind wanders into an old pooja samaan gully, where the heady perfumes, incense sticks, smell of kumkum, haldi and camphor intermingle and all things auspicious including little black stuffed dolls, look at you with some kind of plea, ‘please buy us, we are tired of hanging on this string, we’d rather burn and colour a human forehead or hang off the main door of a hut than sit here and take in any more smells of rotting fruits and flowers.’ A peculiar cry reminds me of the tender coconut vendors who sit in the hot sun with skin glistening with sweat beads like diamonds on Hirst’s skull. They defy the sun by reflecting their attitude of industriousness. There is the exquisitely wrinkled, nine yards clad woman from Vasai who sells pockets of ginger, chillies and garlic, her wrinkles are the  advertising industry’s best kept secret, because everyone runs to help the poor old woman with wrinkles who sells the same products a bit higher priced than the wholesale market two feet away. But she in her ‘sales get-up’ emerges a winner every day.

A market place is in a child’s imagination a beautiful possibility to possess things.   One would remember going to the market with their parents and then alone or with friends as a teenagers. One would want everything on display. The colours, the smells, the tastes, the cute shopkeeper who stares, last time even with a smile, was he just being coquettish or is that his way of getting customers to buy something from the shop? Earrings trinkets and bangles, were the hottest selling commodity in those days.  Then during the working- earning days, it was cosmetics and trinkets, earrings, clothes and bangles.

For today’s generation, it is mostly mobile phone recharges, blasphemous apparels (one cannot qualify them as clothes) and friendship bands. One could see a market place as a place to covet things. If one approached malls with the same kind of perspective, one can get saturated up to one’s twelfth auric layer with the maul-ness of malls! Fake, mostly momentary pleasures can be very misguiding.

If one has had the opportunity to go through many market places in the world, one would notice that a country’s truth surfaces in a market place.

The noises, the voices, the buying culture, the produce of the land, the openness of the country / people to accept trade, hence accepting other non-indigenous products, the selling culture, the way people make a sale, the way they speak to the customer even if they are merely selling 10 peanuts, all this contributes to culture. Then sometimes the quality of a product has no bearing when the sale is being made.

Coming back to market places that flourish, in Thailand, the markets are one of the places  one looks forward to visiting. From fruits, to vegetables to fish,  meats to sweetmeats, from clothes to lingerie, from ornaments to traditional Thai clothes, to fake Prada (Prado) purses, to rambutan and durians sold by the kilo. The beauty of the market place in a country where one doesn’t know the local language, the point of engagement with the seller is highly interesting. In China and in Hong Kong communication between locals and tourists happens with the use of a calculator. Numbers are apparently an ice breaker of language and words and also precise and to the point. In Hong Kong the local markets have people who speak broken English and one could accosted by the incessant ,‘You, you liiikkee?’ question. Sometimes however, signs and hand gestures can be very misleading.

In a village market on a 10 deg C Friday afternoon, in Nairobi, the Swahili speaking masai -mara folks wearing Nike shoes often come across as intimidating, they have disarming smiles and the red of their robes is enough warning of their hunter instincts. But they sell beautiful beaded

ornaments, wooden sculptures and figurines of animals and birds, true to the natural surroundings they come from. But they are very difficult business people. Nature has taught them never to bargain.

The evolution of today’s human kind can be seen in the way the market place has gone from a physical entity of a shop with wares which all the five senses can interact and experience, to a screen presence on a laptop with a shopping cart and a favourites’ list. Online shopping / marketing has revolutionized the whole concept of buying itself.  When it did start, it faced a few glitches, but later security of websites, etc have made online shopping an experience far too simple and less time consuming.

But with the advent of online markets, does the traditional market die out slowly like everything else? There is a purpose of a traditional brick and mortar, odour ridden, colourful market place, the purpose of such a place is to bring humanity together. A market place is the only place where a vegetarian and a non vegetarian can shop side by side without offending each other’s principles, urging human interactions of all strata and status levels at a simple transactional platform..

The online market place is an isolated experience. One sees a product and buys it at discounted prices but what actually gets discounted is human interaction. This in the long run may harm the society as a whole. If people do not interact with each other, the building block of communities will vanish. People may get more depressed with this kind of self imposed isolation. A healthy balance may be able to keep the whole system form toppling over.

Sushma Sabnis

When it’s the Wies’n – local speak for Oktoberfest – in Munich, the Bavarian capital, around seven million people make the pilgrimage to Theresienwiese. This is the world’s biggest beer festival, so the catering is on a massive scale: millions of roast chickens are eaten and a veritable herd of spit-roast oxen is washed down by several million towering mugs of beer. Dating back over 200 years, the Oktoberfest is a hallowed tradition that, despite its size, still spells out what it means to be Bavarian.

It has millions of international fans and has spawned many imitations around the world – but there can only ever be one original Oktoberfest. Ever since Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese in 1810 and a grand horse race was held in a field on the edge of the city, the site has been known as Theresienwiese – and the Oktoberfest as the Wies’n. Traditionally the festivities begin on the dot of noon on the first Saturday after 15 September, when the mayor of Munich taps the first keg and yells “O’zapft is!” Once the Oktoberfest is officially open, a twelve-gun salute signals to the bar staff to get the beer flowing and then there’s no holding back. The 10,000 seats in the beer tents start to fill up, the fairground rides whirl, the band strikes up and it’s party time. Be sure to book your hotel room well in advance because, like the seats in the beer tents, they’re few and far between at Wiesn time.This year too the festival would be a grand event with official opening by the mayor of Munich On Saturday 21 September 2013 followed by  a Procession of brewers and their families to the Oktoberfest .On Tuesday 24 September children and parents could enjoy a family day outing with everything offered at reduced prices Saturday 28 September would celebrate the fun Italian weekend when it is Flirt-time at the Oktoberfest
Sunday 29 September would observe the Half time of the Oktoberfest by having a
Concert by Wiesn bands on the Bavaria statue steps
followed by Prosecco- Wiesn in the Fischer-Vroni tent on Monday 30 September.
Sunday 6 October 12 noon would be marked by Traditional gun salute on the Bavaria statue steps

©GNTB.