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US: Kennett Square, PA – Jaw-Dropping Fountains Dance with Colors and Music
Located only 12 miles from Wilmington, Delaware, Longwood Gardens attracts visitors from around the globe to its 11,000 varieties of plants spread out across more than 1,000+ acres of gardens, meadows, woodlands and elaborate horticultural displays.
Longwood’s celebration of the Main Fountain Garden, which returned in 2017 after a $90 million, more than two-year revitalization. Renowned for its spectacular Festival of Fountains, the astonishing shows gather attention from far and wide, and are a favorite among visitors of all ages.
Watch in awe when the fountains dance to stirring music and water jets shoot up to 175 feet high. You don’t want to miss Longwood’s Illuminated Fountain Performances where you’ll see an infinite mix of color, sound and music. The fountains perform daily at 11:15 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 5:15 and extended hours for illuminated fountain performances on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:15.
In addition, the wildly popular Fireworks & Fountains return with new shows: September 29 at 8:15 pm: Solid Gold ’70s – Take a bell-bottomed step back in time to the disco decade featuring iconic music from The Bee Gees, Kool and the Gang, Donna Summer, and more cool cats you’ll really dig. For Tickets: Fireworks & Fountains 2018 
Festival of Fountains also features the Gardens in their summer splendor. The refreshed garden design invites guests to wander and discover new garden gems, including the Grotto, Pumphouse Plaza, and Historic Pumphouse display. Flowering annuals and perennials abound plus a breathtaking Waterlily Display that showcases aquatic plants from all over the world.
Take a hike in the expansive Meadow Garden or enjoy a shady stroll among Longwood’s historic trees. The outdoor Children’s Corner offers younger guests a garden designed just for them, while the Idea Garden is a showcase of plant combinations, innovative vegetable gardens, and unusual plant varieties to inspire guests to try at home.
Longwood Gardens allows a limited number of visitors per day, so purchase Tickets in advance to guarantee admission.
Illuminated Fountain Performances continue through October 27 and Daytime Fountain Performances continue through October 28 during Autumn’s Colors.
Photo Credit: Daniel Traub
Location: Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348
Dates: until – September 30, 2018 (check website for later schedule)
Time: Sun–Wed 9am–6pm, Thurs–Sat 9am–10pm
Tel: 610-388-1000
longwoodgardens.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitwilmingtonde.com
US: South Berwick, ME – A Celebration of Yoga, Music, Art, & Community at Wild Vibes Festival
The fifth annual Wild Vibes Festival, featuring a full day in nature It takes place at Spring Hill Farm in South Berwick, Maine which is just a short drive away from Portsmouth. It’s nestled in the lush landscape of the Seacoast on a family-run farm, with over 60 waterfront acres of rolling hills and beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.
Celebrated as one of New England’s favorite Yoga, Music, & Arts Festival, Wild Vibes features a diverse line-up of teachers, presenters, and performers. Experience a jam-packed day of live music, inspiring workshops, unique yoga classes including SUP yoga and paddle boarding, local artisans, Roots Village for tasty treats and refreshing beverages, and you can drop off your kids at Wild Vibes Kids Camp.
Enhance your natural state with the ultimate day of creativity, movement, music, art, wellness and community in this serene setting. Venture in the dreamers den, practice yoga on the water, and get your groove on under the open sky. Check out the schedule for amazing and inspiring workshops: wildvibes.org/workshop
A kid-friendly event, Wild Vibes Festival offers something for everyone. A portion of festival proceeds benefit Puresa Humanitarian Foundation and Yoga & Cancer SATYA. Kids ages 12 & under FREE.
Location: Spring Hill Farm, 117 Pond Rd, South Berwick, ME 03908
Date: Sat, July 28th, 2018
Time: 12pm – 8pm
wildvibes.org
For regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: portsmouthnh.com
US: Kennedyville, MD – Have a Grape Stomping Good Time at CrowFest 2017
Located in the rural heart of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the family-owned Crow Vineyard & Winery will be holding their 3rd annual CrowFest. It celebrates the bounty of the Eastern Shore and the beginning of the harvesting of their grapes on Sunday, September 10, 2017 from 11 – 5PM.
Spend the day enjoying the award winning Crow wines and the talents of additional Eastern Shore vendors. The event includes wine tastings, live music provided by Phil Dutton and the Alligators, food samplings, local vendors, cooking demonstrations, seminars, grape stomping (who wouldn’t love to stomp on grapes), hayrides through the vineyards and numerous children’s activities.
Local vendors will include: Painted Sky Alpaca Farm, Barrel Smith Designs, Beachin’ Glass, Melting Down Creations, Chainsaw Carving by Josh, and local food offerings from Haass’ Family Butcher Food Truck, Kilby Ice Cream MooTruck, Orchard Point Oyster Co., Chester River Aronia, Nolia Chocolates, Oksana’s Produce Farm, Red Acres Lettuce, and Lockbriar Farms.
Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking here. 
Location: Crow Vineyard & Winery, 12441 Vansant Corner Rd, Kennedyville 21645
Date: Sun, Sept 10, 2017
Time: 11 – 5pm
Tel: 302-304-0551
crowvineyardandwinery.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: kentcounty.com
US: Barberville, FL – Judge the Chili Cook Off and Ice Cream Churn Off
The Barberville Pioneer Settlement is celebrating the end of summer with the coolest hottest event ever – Fire & Ice. Feast on delicious chili and fresh-made ice cream at this exciting fall festival that occurs on a 30-acre historic site with a village museum and over 10,000 artifacts. 
Enjoy this FREE admission festival and for only $4 you get to sample and judge chili & ice-cream, where you can cool your tongues with homemade ice cream after voting for your favorite chili. Cash prizes to be awarded to People’s Choice.
With a plethora of activities sure to keep you entertained: FREE music workshops and jam session with volunteers teaching everything from the guitar and banjo to the dobro and dulcimer, community yard sale, antique tractors and engines display, and lots more, and of course the infamous Chili Cook Off and Ice Cream Churn Off.
Tastings are at noon, until it’s gone, so arrive early.
Location: Pioneer Settlement, 1776 Lightfoot Lane, Barberville, FL 32105
Date: Sat, Sept 2, 2017
Time: 9 – 4pm
Tel: 386-749-2959
pioneersettlement.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: daytonabeach.com
US: Falmouth, VA – Peruse Art, Home, Gardens and Studio of Gari Melchers
Gari Melchers Home and Studio – Belmont, typical of the Federal style, is over 200 years old. In 1916, renowned artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne bought the residence, and no expense was spared in the improvements to their country home. 
The Melchers accumulated a varied collection of antique furniture and carpets, fine china, paintings and prints by old masters on their extensive travels abroad. The grounds cover 27 acres of gardens, and you get to visit Gari’s huge studio too. Upon Corinne’s death in 1955, the estate was left to Virginia, and all of their personal possessions, including his beautiful paintings, remain as if they just left.
The Stafford County Visitor Center is in the interestingly stocked gift shop. The property, which is operated by the University of Mary Washington, is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark.
The Belmont Photo Exhibit “Through a Lens” – Belmont Portrayed: Through a Lens, an exhibition of photographs depicting the buildings, grounds and gardens of Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont, is open to the public on and will be on view until May 21.
The selection of 21 photos by 12 artists was chosen by Belmont Director David Berreth to represent a variety of photographic approaches to visually interpreting the 19th-century estate and its surroundings.
Location: Gari Melchers Home & Studio Belmont, 224 Washington St, Falmouth, VA 22405
Hours: Apr 1 – Oct 31, daily 10 – 5pm, From Nov 1- Mar 31, daily 10 – 4 pm
Tel: 540-654-1015
GariMelchers.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: co.stafford.va.us
fredericksburgva.com/VisitFredericksburg
US: Richmond, VA – Mother’s Day Fun or Just Stop and Smell the Roses at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is an oasis on a driving trip – 82 magnificent acres which started life as Powhatanhuntinggrounds and was at one time owned by patriot Patrick Henry.
In 1884, Lewis Ginter, who was orphaned at 17 and later became a millionaire from tobacco and real estate, developed a Wheel Club House here for Richmond bicyclists (now Bloemendaal House). His niece, Grace Arents, developed the gardens, and her original design is still here.
There are more kinds of gardens than we ever knew existed: four seasons, healing, Asian, rose, wetland, azalea and a community kitchen one where they grow food for the hungry. The children’s garden offers up a tree house and an activity center; there’s sidewalk chalk, hula hooping, digging and watering opportunities. They love the Kids Quest treasure hunt. For walkers, there’s a “walk on the wild side” and a bird trail, and as if all that wasn’t enough, there’s a lush indoor conservatory with exotic plants from around the world.
Featured Events:
A Million Blooms
Until Thursday, June 1, 2017 
A Million Blooms is included with Garden admission. A parade of blooms unfurls as the weather warms: daffodils, tulips, peonies, roses and more.
Butterflies LIVE!
Until Sunday, October 15, 2017
Experience the wonderful world of butterflies! Butterflies LIVE! is an indoor exhibit in the Conservatory and is geared for all ages. Get up close and personal as hundreds of tropical butterflies feed, flutter and take flight all around you. Explore their origins, preferred habitats and life cycles.
Mother’s Day Weekend
May 12, 13 & 14, 2017
Regular Garden admission
A three-day weekend with many opportunities to honor and spend time with mom. Enjoy the popular Butterflies LIVE! exhibit, shopping and dining:
- The long weekend kicks off Friday, May 12 with National Public Gardens Day.
- On Saturday, May 13, create the experience your mom would like. Stretch out on quilts in the Louise Cochrane Rose Garden and read favorite books. Explore woodland walks searching for fairies. Get down and dirty with digging activities. Help weave a Maypole, try the hula hoop and chase bubbles! (10 am – 4 pm)
- Sunday, May 14 is the popular Mother’s Day concert with Glenroy Bailey & Co. (1 – 4pm). Food available for purchase in front of Bloemendaal House. Guests are also welcome to bring blankets or lawn chairs but no outside food or beverage. Activities in the Children’s Garden include “make-and-takes” for mom (10am – 4pm)
Location: Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, 1800 Lakeside Ave, Richmond, VA 23228
Hours: Daily 9am – 5pm
Tel: 804-262-9887
lewisginter.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitrichmondva.com
US: Folkston, GA – Canoe, Kayak, or Boat the Black Waters of the Okefenokee Swamp
Nature enthusiasts will relish the natural unspoiled and virtually unmarked by man Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge that was established in 1937 to preserve the Okefenokee Swamp. The refuge encompasses over 400,000 acres of canals, moss draped cypress trees and lily pads which provide sanctuaries for hundreds of species of birds and wildlife.
Okefenokee has the great distinction of not only being a part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, but also the National Wilderness Preservation System. Swamp habitats comprise open wet “prairies,” cypress forests, scrub-shrub vegetation, upland islands, and open lakes. Wildlife species include wading birds, ducks, alligators and other reptiles, a variety of amphibians, bobcats, raptors, white-tailed deer, black bears, and songbirds.
To assist you on your exploration, Okefenokee Adventures offers a full range of tour options and is located inside the refuge on the historic Suwannee Canal. Canoe, kayak, or boat the mirrored black waters of the Okefenokee Swamp: You can join a regularly scheduled 90 minute guided boat tours, or reserve a 2 hour sunset tour or arrange a half or full day private excursion with an expert, professional guide. Their staff includes well-known authorities on alligator biology, wetland ecology, and Okefenokee cultural history. 
Experience canoe camping in the back-country wilderness of the Swamp interior, or head out on your own in a canoe or kayak. You can bike or drive the Swamp Island Drive, visit an authentic Swamp homestead or walk the nature trails and boardwalk and get bird’s eye views of the swamp from atop the observation tower.
Location: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, 2700 Suwanee Canal Rd, Folkston, GA 31537 , Tel: 912-496-7836 or 877-860-6787
Location: Okefenokee Adventures, 4159 Suwannee Canal Rd., Folkston, GA 31537
Hours: Open: ½-hour before sunrise every day,
Closed: 7:30pm – March 1 through Oct 31, Closed: 5:30pm – Nov 1 through end of Feb
Tel: 912-496-7156, 866-843-7926
okefenokeeadventures.com
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitkingsland.com
US: Manassas, VA – A History Lesson Given in a Cemetery – Manassas City Cemetery Tour
What better place to learn a piece of Manassas history than with a Cemetery Tour. Learn about “Important Citizens who Influenced Prince William County History”. The Manassas City Cemetery tour is a biographical tour of our predecessors which allows you to discover their contributions to society. 
The Ladies Memorial Association of Manassas (later to become the United Daughters of the Confederacy) created the Confederate Cemetery in 1867 on one acre of donated land. The land was given to hold the remains of Confederate soldiers “scattered over the Plains.”
Although the Bull Run Ladies Association reburied the remains of soldiers found on the battlefield in the Groveton Cemetery, there were many other remains recovered throughout Manassas. In 1911, the Association placed a bronze statue of a Confederate Soldier “At Rest” on the brownstone monument that had been dedicated in 1889. Legend has it that the soldier faces east to guard against attack from Washington. 
Each year for the cemetery tour a different theme is used. Tragic deaths (murders or accidents), women, cemetery architecture are just a few from the past. This year focuses on County and Community leaders: Sheriffs, politicians, school administrators,… This tour is done with the greatest respect to the cemetery and its “inhabitants”.
To purchase tickets visit: manassasechoes.com, or call 703-368-1873
Location: Manassas Confederate Cemetery, 9317 Center St., Manassas, VA 20110
Date: Fri, March 17, 2017
Time: 8pm – 9:30 PM
Tel: 703-257-8265
manassasmuseum.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: manassascity.org
US: Hope Mills, NC – Come Out and Learn Hollerin’
Learn a lost art from people who have been holding on to hollerin’ for over 47 years keeping the North Carolina staple “Hollerin’” alive at the Worldwide Hollerin’ contest on October 8th. 
“Hollerin’,” a traditional form of communication used in rural areas to convey long-distance messages, is considered by some to be the earliest form of communication between humans. “Hollers” exist for virtually any communicative purpose imaginable. The hollers featured at the World Wide Hollerin’ festival fall into one of these four categories: distress, functional, communicative or pleasure.
Enjoy a wide variety of fun activities and entertainment, including: the Hollerin’ Contest, Paradise Acres BBQ & Chicken, assorted food vendors, live music, crafts and Children’s activities. Visitors are invited to bring their chairs, blankets and coolers and enjoy the contest on the 12-acre Paradise Acres facility. 
Eighty percent of the proceeds from the event are donated to Wags4Tags.org , an organization that matches trained shelter dogs with veterans suffering from psychological and emotional injuries.
Location: Paradise Acres, 1965 John McMillan Rd, Hope Mills, NC 28348
(Exit 41 off the I-95)
Date: Nov. 5th, 2016
Time: 10 am to 6 pm
Tel: 910-633-4735
worldwidehollerinfestival.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants and Attractions: visitfayettevillenc.com