Events for students in Europe

To see the maximum number of films in the minimum amount of time, head for the Hamburg International Short Film Festival, at cinemas citywide. Selected films push the boundaries of cinema and enable audiences to broaden their social and political perspectives.

The charming medieval castle of Burg Satzvey, near Bonn and Cologne, stages a series of Knights Tournaments over the Whitsun weekend. A medieval market and entertainment in the form of jugglers, court jesters and music keep the crowd happy.

Residents of Madrid's Moncloa-Aravaca district honour their patron saint, San Antonio de la Florida, with a vibrant fiesta. Men and women in traditional costume dance the choti and pasodoble in squares around the San Antonio de la Florida Hermitage.

The Pentecost Festival at the Theatron stage presents young rock and pop talent from Germany and abroad in Munich's green Olympia park. Four or five bands perform each day in a festival atmosphere and the steep auditorium provides wonderful lake views.

Celebrating the Polish defeat of the savage Tarters from the Golden Horde in 1241, Lajkonik is Krakow's annual procession through the Old Town, starting from 12th-century St Norbert's Convent. Ending in the Market Square, parties continue until the early hours.

Add a bit of flavour to your holiday at the Wieliczka Salt Festival, an event devoted to the most common of all condiments. The 700-year-old Krakow Salt Mine Museum hosts concerts, exhibitions and workshops about salt-production methods in Poland.

The sweet smell of roses infiltrates Avignon's Palais des Papes during this four-day exhibition dedicated to the bloom. Thirty new species of rose are presented each year and there are conferences and exhibitions around the theme of the much-loved flower.

The French Open, one of the four tennis Grand Slams, is one of France's biggest sporting events. For two weeks the world's best battle it out on Roland Garros' clay courts - watching matches live is the ultimate fashion statement!

Pretty port Binic, on Brittany's rugged coastline, hosts its annual Fête de la Morue, celebrating the local fishing industry and, in particular, cod. Expect traditional music and a specialist food market set against a picturesque backdrop of brightly painted boats.

Just north of Fort-de-France is Carbet. Its annual Madiflora Flower Fair is an explosion of colour and perfume - and also a lesson in botany. Come to marvel at exotic orchids and tropical plants, including vanilla and sugarcane.

The mammoth Rock am Ring festival at the Nürburgring near Koblenz features a host of bands on three main stages and a green area which turns into a camping village for the weekend. The slightly smaller Alternastage hosts up-and-coming talent.

Lille's Wazemmes district parties during its Accordion Festival. You're likely to come across impromptu performances, dancing and revelry in bars across town, but most major concerts take place at the Maison Folie de Wazemmes.

Two spacious concert tents take over Blonia, a grassy open space in central Krakow, for the Selector Festival. Live music fans arrive in their thousands for two days of gigs from top international bands and DJs.

Eating snails is not an exclusively Gallic phenomenon, as some 12,000 inhabitants of the Catalonian town of Lleida prove. Every May, locals are joined by gastropod enthusiasts for the Snail Festival, or Aplec del Caragol.

Aalborg plays host to a massive carnival parade each May. Around 25,000 people participate and more than 100,000 join in along the route. The big street party has been going strong since 1982.

Around 150 classic cars are rolled out for the 640km Hamburg-Berlin Auto Bild Classic rally along the River Elbe from Hamburg to Berlin. There are allocated pit stops along the way and plenty of events for classic-car fans.

Barcelona's Parc del Fòrum hosts the massive five-day, open-air Primavera Sound Festival, where top rock bands, DJs and leftfield acts get everyone's hands in the air. There's no camping, so festival-goers retreat to hotels when they're all danced out.

Balestro del Girifalco is a fabulous crossbow-shooting contest between the different districts of Massa Marittima, an unexpected little gem of a town in the wilderness of the Maremma. It is held twice a year, in May and in August.

Set in 77 acres of wooded park in Lisse, Keukenhof are some of the world's most spectacular flower gardens. Established in 1949 as a showcase for Dutch bulb-growers, every spring more than seven million buds reach to the sky.

Alcoi stages a spectacular re-enactment of the battle between the Moors and the Christians to honour regional patron Saint George. Head to outdoor squares Plaça Emili Sala and la Plaça de Dins for the liveliest celebrations.