Witness / Attend in April

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Seville is the most visually concentrated religious procession event in Europe. Each of the 60-plus brotherhoods (hermandades) processes through the city on a designated day between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, carrying elaborately decorated floats (pasos) of the Virgin and Christ on the shoulders of teams of costaleros hidden beneath. The processions move at a walking pace through streets lined with spectators, with bands playing saetas (flamenco laments) from balconies overhead. The Friday night procession of La Macarena is the emotional peak; the Madrugada (early hours of Good Friday) sees the most intense street atmosphere. The scale, color, music, and crowd feeling of Seville in Holy Week is unlike anything else in Spain.

Vienna is where classical music is still a living public institution rather than a museum piece. The Vienna State Opera (Staatsoper) runs productions nightly September through June with the Vienna Philharmonic in the pit. Standing room tickets (Stehplatz) sell at the box office on the day for under 10 euros, making some of the best opera in the world accessible at any budget. The New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic from the Musikverein Goldener Saal is broadcast to 90 countries; attending requires a ballot entered years in advance, but the Musikverein programs concerts year-round that require no special access. The Opera Ball in February is the most prominent of Vienna's 450+ annual balls, combining formal etiquette with genuinely extraordinary staging.