All studio concerts.

Wherever you’re traveling or living, attending arts festivals is a great way to support local culture and the arts.

In Iceland, the Reykjavik Arts Festival kicks off today.  The festival, from May 12-June 5, 2010, will include 60+ events and Icelandic and international artists, from music and dance to theatre and literature.

“This year’s focus will be photography, reflecting the importance of the photograph in today’s culture, in recording reality, in the arts and in all forms of communication,” say festival organizers.

Official festival sponsor Iceland Express is offering special packages which include flights and two to four nights’ accommodation in Reykjavik.

The 2010 festival program includes:

• Reality Check/Focus On Photography

• Leif Ove Andsnes

• Amadou & Mariam

• Kimmo Pohjonen

• Orquesta Chekara Flamenca

• Concerts in Visual Artists’ Studios

• Readings At Writers’ Homes

For the full festival program, go here.

Image courtesy of the Reykjavik Arts Festival

Are you looking at touring India?  There are many organized tour options for travelers like the India EcoArts Tour.

This tour will mainly take place in Spiti Valley, India, the Himalayan region bordering Tibet, says California-based EcoArts Tours.

Participants will tour regional villages and learn about their conservation efforts including solar power and endangered species protection.  The arts of Spiti will be highlighted with local experts in cuisine, temple architecture, artisan work and music.

An endangered dance form will be performed by a sect of Tibetan monks called The Bhuchens.  The EcoArts tour will conclude  with a day visit to the  Taj Mahal and a Gandhi Legacy Tour in Delhi led by Tushar Arun Gandhi.  Travelers will see the Trans-Himalayan landscape by jeep, yak safari, hike and mountain bike.

For more info, check out EcoArts Tours.

Image courtesy of EcoArts Tours

© VANOC/COVAN

Will the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games be one of the greenest games on record?  In coming weeks, travelinggreener will look at sustainability at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

This week, the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad will launch in Canada, leading up to the February event and run through March during the Paralympic Winter Games.

Says Burke Taylor, vice president of culture and celebrations for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC):

“We want all Canadians to feel they can share in the cultural celebrations surrounding the 2010 Winter Games in their own hometowns.  For our second and final Cultural Olympiad National Presentation and Touring Program, we’ve worked closely with our corporate, government and artistic partners to create an exciting lineup of Canadian projects that include ballet, theatre, up-and-coming musicians, and even puppetry. We invite everyone to come out when they stop in your area and enjoy a taste of the cultural excitement of the Games.”

Up-and-coming Canadian musicians, dancers and actors in the Cultural Olympiad will take part in a national touring program across Canada, featuring 40+ shows.   Performers and artistic companies will include The Alberta Ballet and its presentation of Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and The Drum, Quebec-based Compagnie Marie Chouinard and Cirque Éloize, Yukon’s Spring Breakup and more.

The Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad festival will also kick off January 22/10 in Metro Vancouver and British Columbia’s Sea to Sky corridor.  There will be hundreds of free and ticketed festival performances and exhibitions, some 200 projects from Canadian artists in music, theatre, visual arts, dance and digital programming.

For tour and festival info, check out the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad online.