| NEW YORK | LONDON | HONG KONG |
| NEW YORK | LONDON | HONG KONG |
According to Ovid’s poem Fasti, about the months of the year, June is named after Juno, Jupiter’s wife and the Roman goddess of marriage and the household. With this type of provenance, it’s unsurprising that June is famed for its plethora of nuptials. They say that in the best of romantic couplings, opposites attract, and this is perfectly illustrated by the workings of this month. In the northern hemisphere, 1 June heralds the beginning of the meteorological summer, with the longest daylight hours of the year. In the southern hemisphere, the same date signals the start of winter and the darkest days of the year. Wherever you are, we are sure you will find something here to brighten up your month!
A riot of noise and colour, don’t miss Hong Kong’s Dragon Boat Festival, on 23 June, in which heavily decorated teak longboats with carved dragons’ heads are paddled by a 20-to-22-strong team and race to the beat of pounding drums. Jakarta, meanwhile, hosts its annual Jakarnaval (25 June), a parade throughout the centre of the city, honouring the country’s vibrant arts and cultural heritage. And the Jakarta Fair (14 June to 15 July), an exhibition featuring a little bit of everything, includes a speciality food festival, artisan crafts, amusement rides and live music performances.
Blink and you’ll miss it: the world’s leading motorcycling tournament, MotoGP, takes place in Barcelona from 1 to 3 June. If speed is not your thing, you can chill out to the soporific sounds of Lana Del Rey, among others, at the Sónar music festival (14 to 16 June).
Pomp and ceremony rule in London during June, as the nation unites to salute Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, a weekend of events to commemorate HRH’s staggering 60 years on the throne. Highlights of the celebration, which runs from 2 to 5 June, include the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant – in which around a thousand boats will be sailing up the river – and the Diamond Jubilee Festival in Battersea Park (both on 3 June), and a concert at Buckingham Palace on 4 June. See more pageantry – and elaborate hat designs aplenty – at Royal Ascot, from 19 to 23 June. And perhaps catch a horse race or two, in between the people-watching.
Over in Paris, tennis fans will be entertained by the super-fast pace on the clay courts of the Roland Garros French Open championship, which runs until 10 June. Stateside, San Francisco hosts its 42nd spectacular and enervating Pride Celebration & Parade, from 23 to 24 June. And from 8 to 10 June, Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be home to the Electric Daisy Carnival. To tell us more about this and other electric activities in Las Vegas this month, I’m delighted to hand over to Melinda Sheckells, editor-in-chief of Vegas/Rated magazine and Wendoh Media’s fashion and style editor. Follow her on Twitter @melindasvegas and at vrated.com for updates on the hottest happenings in Sin City.
Zoë Manzi
Editor, MO magazine, The Condé Nast Publications
The Mojave Desert electrifies as the long, hot days of summer set in. Far, far away from reality, in a destination so legendary it’s sinful, Las Vegas springs alive with vibe. June in the city happens like this: hot weather, cold cocktails, leisurely days, wild nights and an all-round great experience.
2012 has been an eventful year for this neon playground, with a crop of new cultural offerings opening up downtown, a short jaunt north of the iconic Las Vegas Strip. As temperatures soar, take a trip back to the days of yore at the recently unveiled National Museum of Organised Crime and Law Enforcement, aka The Mob Museum. Curated by the team that developed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, this is the city’s first legit museum – and, ironically, it’s about illegitimate activities.
Meanwhile, get your art fix at CityCenter, which is located just a short walk via a skybridge from Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas. Installations, art and sculpture by some of the most celebrated artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Frank Stella, Maya Lin and Henry Moore, are on display in the public spaces as part of a permanent collection.
Also downtown, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, whose curtain rose for the first time in March, offers a stellar roster of performances, from Broadway musicals to jazz, in an intimate setting. In the Reynolds Hall, from 12 to 17 June, Million Dollar Quartet tells the true story of a recording session that brought together rock’n’roll luminaries Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. At the Cabaret Jazz theatre, catch The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, from 29 to 30 June. This group, named after the famed music venue located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, travels the world, perpetuating the art form of New Orleans jazz, and has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. While on The Smith Center campus, check out the works and installations of Vegas-based artists Tim Bavington, David Ryan and Shawn Hummel.
If you prefer the outdoors (and triple-digit temperatures), spend a day exploring the desert without leaving the city centre. Located 15 minutes from the Strip, the Springs Preserve is a 180-acre attraction dedicated to the pageantry of arid landscaping. Expansive botanical gardens and intriguing exhibit spaces, inside and out, are only two of the reasons to visit. Found-object artist Dave Thompson is a third, as he kicks off the Gardens Art Program with surprising installations in Trash to Treasure, running through to September.
Ready to dance like never before? Spend a night or three at the city’s largest music festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, which runs from 8 to 10 June. Attracting nearly 200,000 dance-music enthusiasts in 2011, this surreal take on the traditional carnival is a fun fest that offers revellers famous DJs, dancing, art installations – and amazing people-watching – from dusk till dawn. In true Vegas form (ie, over the top) the best way to get there is by helicopter. And many of the Strip’s hottest nightclubs will offer special VIP areas with table/bottle packages.
If the palate begs for something more sophisticated than carnival fare, look no further than Twist by Pierre Gagnaire at Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas. Here, at the famed French chef’s first restaurant in the US, enjoy a dinner expertly prepared by newly appointed chef de cuisine Ryuki Kawasaki. After a short walk to the adjacent Aria Resort & Casino, find chef Shawn McClain’s Sage, where the concept of farm-to-table cooking comes alive. McClain works with the Intuitive Forager, Kerry Clasby, to source fruits, flowers, vegetables, eggs and cheeses from California and various farmers’ markets. Finally, for a true taste of old-school Vegas, Piero’s is the name to know. And if you’ve never had a martini in the Monkey Bar, which celebrates 30 years in business, then you have truly never been to Vegas.
Melinda Sheckells, vrated.com
Photography by George Apostolidis
