Tom Clynes

Would you like to witness a lavish vegetarian banquet for 600 monkeys in Thailand? How about a sloppy battle with ripe tomotoes in Spain? A "devil's carnival" in Bolivia? Or a zydeco festival in Louisiana?

You'll find all the details — what happens, how to get there, and who to contact — in Wild Planet: 1,001 Extraordinary Events for the Inspired Traveler — the first ever event-focused, worldwide travel guide, by Tom Clynes.

Wild Planet is a colorful collection of celebrations from more than 100 countries on every continent (there's even an event in Antarctica). This book captures the world's locales at their most brilliant, open, artistic, and musical — when they're most alive.

Inspired travelers will discover...
·Dance dramas performed by masked Buddhist monks in the shadow of Everest
·Elephant processions in Sri Lanka
·Maori war canoe regattas in New Zealand
·Extraordinary tribal festivals in places as diverse as Ghana, Madagascar, Southern China, Peru, and Papua New Guinea.

Travelers will also find fresh new angles on destinations like Europe, where cities and towns are alive with folklore and fun each summer. There are processions of papier-mâché giants in France and Belgium...bull stampedes and "wine wars" in Spain...Viking games in Scandinavia...Classical music in Budapest. Even England's wild side is exposed, with its beer festivals and giant reggae street parties.

Wild Planet demonstrates that one needn't venture to the world's geographic and cultural extremes to find unique and unusual events. In North America's cities and heartland you'll discover the Wilderness Woman Competition in Alaska...a microbrewery taste-fest in Oregon...a transvestite spoof on Woodstock in New York City...and summer music festivals galore.

Author Tom Clynes said he decided to write Wild Planet "to feed my own fascination for diverse cultures, and to provide access to the world's extraordinary events for travelers who want to participate in the life and culture of the places they visit." Through these events, he says, "you can experience the rhythms of local life when they're cranked up to their uninhibited peak."

Arranged by world region and illustrated by more than 200 photographs, the events in Wild Planet were chosen for their richness, authenticity, variety and degree of spectacle. Wild Planet also includes interesting sidebars covering everything from religion in Mexico and beer in Belgium to "America's Coolest Tourist Trap." There are tips on running with the bulls in Pamplona, enjoying a funeral in Bali, and arranging a meeting with the Dalai Lama in India.

"Festival Finder" indexes provide access to events by Subject/Interest, Date, and Event Name/Location. Readers can use the indexes to plan trips around events, or to work celebrations or festivals into a existing itineraries.

Wild Planet (1995, ISBN 0-7876-0203-5) is published by Visible Ink Press.