However – if you’re after a big UK style festival, but without all the mud and football hooligans hired as security guards, you might want try the Optimus Alive festival this summer in Oeiras, Portugal. That’s right: warm weather, beaches, cheaper food and drink and some bands you might like. What’s more, it’s just a short drive or bus ride to Ericeira if you want to catch the best waves Europe has to offer.

Optimus Alive Oeiras ‘12 is being billed as the ‘Greatest arts and music festival’. Dunno what the arts part is but some of the bands include the newly reformed Stone Roses, The Cure (newly reformed, resurrected, still huffing and puffing along, I don’t know…), Radiohead (geniuses, according to many people with thick, black glasses) and (wow) even Mazzy Star. Remember Mazzy Star? Sure they droned on a bit, but they were really good!

photo by Man Alive! (Flickr CC)

From UK Festival Guides:

To those that are new to the festival, Optimus Alive first launched in 2007 and traditionally features varied line-ups that give equal attention to stadium filling international headline live acts and DJs, alternative independent acts and home-grown Portuguese talent. With this year’s line-up set to total 90 acts, the five-stage, 55,000 capacity festival is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with on the international circuit; a statement that is enforced by NME who have cited it as one of the “best festivals outside the UK”. Previous artists to have played include Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Coldplay and Blondie alongside legendary electronic acts and DJs such as The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Deadmau5 and Simian Mobile Disco to name but a few.

Check out the Optimus Alive Oeiras ‘12 website for more info.

As I’m a bit lazy, I’m going to quote a couple of respected news sources and let the ‘liberal media’ do the talking.

A Reuters article entitled ‘48 hours in Bali’ cuts to the chase (I guess they have to if they’ve only got 48 hours) by spending most of the time in Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital:

Take in a traditional dance performance. There are about six different offerings each night, both in Ubud and in surrounding villages. Notable performances include dance troupe Semara Ratih, known for expressiveness, and Suara Sakti, a bamboo gamelan group that invites viewers up on stage at the end to feel the thunder of the giant instruments in their bodies.

I’m going to lay off any comments about feeling the thunder of a giant instrument in your body. Oh darn… The piece also mentions Uluwatu temple, but only briefly: cliff-top temple, monkeys who steal your sunglasses, etc. You know the score.

image credit Nepomuk (Wikimedia Commons)

Leave it to Ross Halfin to wax poetic about Uluwatu.

From a New York Times interview with the ‘celebrity photographer’:

Q. How do you compose a good travel photo?
A. You have to try and shoot things in a different way. Uluwatu Temple in Bali is on the edge of the sea. It’s on a cliff, actually, a thousand-foot drop. This way you’re looking at the sea dead-on, from above, and you get these amazing textures and colors; the ocean crashing into the shore; all these layers. I could go there and get different pictures every time.

Entrance into Uluwatu now costs a whopping $2.22 US dollars foreign visitors. That’s around €1.69. OK, it’s a price hike of 200% from before, but that’s a 200% increase on practically nothing. If any backpacker from a rich country wants to whine about that they deserve to get their glasses stolen by monkeys and maybe even tossed into the sea from atop those majestic cliffs. The view is amaaaaazing and worth the price alone.

Thank you guys again for an amazing time and a lovely message which brought
a smile to my face on this cold and rainy morning in London!

You all made me feel so welcome that it was like visiting good old friends!
Let’s keep in touch! If you or your friends travel through London or if I
can be of any assistance, please let me know. Maybe we could also find a
way of working together…?

In any case, it was a real pleasure to meet you and Maggie, you guys are
fab, run a great camp and have great people working with you! I look
forward to coming back!

Can’t wait to get back in the water… I booked a flight to Cornwall this
morning for a weekend in a few weeks.. I know it’s not enough but will have
to do for now…

Anyway, must sign off, being squashed on the packed rush hour tube train,
everyone hating my tan and the smile on my face….

Missing you all!
Lots of love to everyone.

Speak soon,
Jx
By: Janice

I think it was for me the best holiday ever and i come back so fast as I can! No more Words about this amazing place! I’m just speechless!

Thanks Josh, Simon, Maggi and the rest of the Rapture Team!

See U soon!

Markus
By: Markus Greth

Though Ireland has its own formidable waves, some of the Emerald Isle’s surf spots are quite frankly a bit dangerous. The lack of sun, abundance of rain and less-than-summery temperatures are a bit less likely to lure those just starting to surf or surfers who want to combine a sunny, pleasant holiday with catching a few waves.

An article in the Irish Times describes an Irish beginners surf holiday on Portugal’s sunny beaches:

Surfing can seem intimidating, but here, all levels of surfers share the same beaches, with beginners staying closer to the shore, while the braver head out to the large waves. There’s a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, which puts us at ease. Eager as we are to fling ourselves into the sea, the basics are best learned on land. We squeeze into our wetsuits, lie on our boards and follow Marcel’s lead as the “tak tak tak” mantra begins, each call signifying a change in position until we’re upright. When we’re surfing the sand like pros, it’s time to enter the water.

photo by Jorge Bras (Flickr CC)

And there’s no better place to sample Portugal’s top surf spots than Ericeira – Europe’s only World Surfing Reserve – which combines great surfing, a quiet, less-crowded atmosphere than most surf Meccas, and plenty of things to do apart from just surf.

This summer Ericeira will host Portugal’s first surf film festival, which will run from July 6th to 8th. The Portuguese Surf Film Festival will include feature length movies, short films and documentaries from all over the world. The final day of the festival is reserved for Portuguese films and a prize will be awarded to the best domestic product.

Check out the homepage for the 2012 Portuguese Surf Film Festival.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Surfcamp+Bali&fb=1&hq=Surfcamp&hnear=0x2dd141d3e8100fa1:0x24910fb14b24e690,Bali,+Indonesien&cid=11082615610733378921&ei=Q4cyT6D-I8LTrQeLzZCgBA&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=placepage-link&resnum=6&ved=0CHMQ4gkwBQ

By: Nora