Tanglewood Music Festival – Lenox, Massachusetts

The oldest music festival in the United States, Tanglewood is a 210-acre estate in the Berkshire Mountains that serves as the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The surroundings offer a perfect setting for spreading out a gourmet picnic, which can be ordered in advance, and enjoying world-renowned music. In addition to the orchestra, Tanglewood offers jazz and pop performances, chamber music, contemporary music and musical theater, attended by more than 300,000 people each summer.

The Tanglewood estate was named for author Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote “Tanglewood Tales” at a small cottage there in 1853. In 1936, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave its first outdoor concert at Tanglewood. Four years later, Boston’s conductor Serge Koussevitzky started a private school for pre-professional musicians there. In the 68 years since then, Tanglewood Music Center has provided musical training, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra has performed in the amphitheater known as the Koussevitzky Music Shed.

“The Tanglewood Festival is one of the ‘must-see, must-hear’ experiences during a visit to New England in the summer,” says Larry Meehan, vice president of tourism with the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The grounds are incredible. They are located on an estate that faces west for spectacular sunsets. There is nothing for miles around to interfere with the music. It’s one of the richest cultural destinations in the world.”

Montreal Jazz Festival – Quebec, Canada

This exciting summer celebration features 11 days of nonstop musical entertainment in the heart of downtown Montreal. Approximately 2.5 million people each year venture to this cosmopolitan Canadian destination to enjoy the festival’s 700-plus concerts — including 450 free outdoor performances. Three thousand artists from 30 countries perform, with sounds ranging from jazz and blues to Brazilian, African, reggae, contemporary and electronica. Recent years have seen such big names as Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and Steely Dan.

“It’s not only the best way to catch some of the world’s most renowned artists,” says publicist Hugo Leclerc, “but it is the best place to discover new musicians from the world over. We bring to Montreal a variety of music that people can’t find anywhere else; it’s the ideal destination for music lovers.”

The 25 stages and venues are all within a five-minute walk of each other, and the downtown location makes it easily accessible to visitors. A quadrant of blocks is closed to traffic during the festival, creating a cultural oasis of cafés and bistros, street performers, an art gallery and a separate play area for children.

The first Festival International de Jazz de Montreal was held at the 1967 World Fair site and proved a successful media event, attracting more than 12,000 spectators. Three decades later, it has become the largest jazz festival in the world, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2009. The milestone will inaugurate the opening of two extraordinary new facilities: the Maison du Festival de Jazz, which will focus on music promotion and conserving the festival’s heritage, and the Place du Quartier des Spectacles, a revitalized site capable of holding larger crowds and providing a permanent Montreal tourist attraction.

Leclerc’s best advice is to order your festival tickets early. “Leonard Cohen’s three performances were sold out within a week, and Van Morrison’s 2007 concert sold out in 10 minutes,” he says.