These Five Fun Events Are Worth a Detour

Looking to add some real character to your summer travels? Atlas Obscura has rounded up five festivals worth the detour. In Amsterdam, the No Art Festival takes over a city park with experimental performances and boundary-pushing music curated by an independent label. Over in Chicago, the Chinatown Summer Fair draws more than forty thousand visitors each year to celebrate the neighborhood's cultural heritage with lion dances, kung fu demonstrations, and live performances. Meanwhile, Seattle's Seafair Weekend transforms Lake Washington into a racing arena where hydroplane boats push the limits of speed, alongside aerial shows and waterfront celebrations that define summers in the Pacific Northwest. For anime and Asian pop culture fans, Washington D.C. hosts Otakon at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, featuring cosplay, panels, concerts, and a dealer's hall that draws enthusiasts from around the world. And in Tokyo, the Washu Festival along the Meguro River celebrates Japanese sake culture each spring, with tastings from renowned breweries set against blooming cherry blossoms—a celebration that extends far beyond the sampling itself.

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