The Ladies of Hip Hop Festival

is a celebration of the female characters dominating the hip hop music scene. The mission of the organisers is to allow women to express, learn, and share their voice by giving them the freedom and space and support to do so. The festival places the women centre stage, challenging the traditional mentality that men own the hop hop scene.

Executive Director Michelle, while working in the industry on a number of music videos, studios and theatre productions, realised there were only small opportunities for women in the industry as they were often in the shadow of the men, so she created a safe and neutral zone which allowed women to express themselves and to create opportunities which don't discriminate against gender. Despite accomplishing so much in her career and being such an important character for women in the hip hop industry, Michelle has had no formal training, forging her own path, and has become a motivational example for women that proves that a strong and independent lady can become successful in the hip hop scene.

Originally a dance training programme in 2004, the group behind the festival have evolved to become a driving force for supporting women in hip hop culture. As well as running three different Ladies of Hip Hop Festivals, LOHHF offers workshops, performance opportunities, international artist exchanges and public seminars and talks. While focussed very much in America, LOHHF have started building strong international connections and even took the festival to Austria in 2011. They debuted over three sold out evenings of shows and panel discussions to critical acclaim and praise.

The New York festival occurs every July, although dates can fluctuate and it is best to check the website first for confirmation. The festival is a combination of music, dancing workshops, dancing performances, panel discussions about gender equality and about expanding the narrow lens which women in the industry are viewed, dance battles between some of the most talented female dancers from all over the world, female DJ sets and showcases.

There is also an event that the festival labels as “Ladies Battle” where female competitors from all over the world travel to New York to compete in a dance-off. There are six different categories - Hip-Hop, Waacking, House, Dancehall, Popping and Breaking, which all come with a $500 cash prize as well as the highly essential bragging rights of being able to proclaim yourself as one of the world's best female hip hop dancers. The music is provided for this event by a lineup of all female DJs playing a variety of different genres such as funk and house, and is judged by elite dancers from around the world. This takes place in The Knockdown Centre on Flushing Avenue.

The festival website (ladiesofhiphopfestival.com) includes information and ticket prices for the event, as well as a dedicated blog which connects fans of the art with some of the artists through specialised and intimate interviews. Here, they also promote tours and performances from friends of the festival and from female artists and up to date news about the company and about the upcoming events.

Yosemite, in Northern California, is one of the original three national parks that existed in the US. It is an area of immense natural beauty, including massive granite cliffs, luscious sweeping valleys of rich vegetation, sequoia trees and even wild black bears. The dramatic landscape has been formed over millions of years by volcanic activity allowing the granite to inflate and swell, only to be carved away by glaciers flowing through the valley. The iconic Half Dome (as seen on Apple desktops worldwide) is a prime example of this geology, and the amazing nature attracts millions of visitors every year. Since 1984, it has been recognised as a world heritage site.

While most visitors will merely rock up to the view points in this national park, just to take a few photos and admire the view, there are a number of ways you can scratch just below the surface to have a more genuine experience. This is very much subject to which time of year you decide to visit and what physical activities you are interested in.

Between mid December and March there are several winter trails available. You can navigate these with your skis and snowboards or snowshoes depending on the snowfall and which routes you decide to take. Normally there isn't enough snow to support skiing and snowboarding, but if you're lucky, you will get to experience the national park in ways that very few get the chance to. Yosemite is actually home to the oldest downhill skiing area in California, and lessons, rentals, lift tickets, tubing an sledding are all available in the national park. You can refer to the national park website (https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wintersports.htm) for more details.

If you visit in summer, there is no need to lament because there are a number of amateur astronomy clubs that observe the night sky from the Glacier Point Amphitheater, endorsed by the National park Service. Where Yosemite is so far away from the nearest city lights, when the clouds give way to what lies beyond, Yosemite offers some very clear, and some very awe inspiring skies. All along Glacier Point, especially on Saturdays, people set up telescopes to watch what is happening light years away from us. Bring along a star chart and spend a few hours inventing your own constellations and wondering what else could lie beyond our atmosphere. Astronomy walks also occur in Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows and Wawona.

For those interested in Art and Photography, as Yosemite is such an amazing place that offers endless inspiration to those who try to capture it, there are art classes offered in Spring through to Fall in the Yosemite Art centre which is situated near the village store. There is Museum Gallery which exhibits work during Spring and summer, and which also offers photography walks, workshops and classes throughout the year.

However you choose to experience Yosemite, it is worth a quick visit to the national park website to understand what is available when you go. If nothing else, you will experience an area of unimaginably amazing scenery and a point of essential history to the beginnings of the national park service in the US.

While many people will by tying their skis to the car roof and setting off for the Canadian border, there are plenty of great places to partake in winter sports in the USA.

One of the most popular and famous destinations for winter sports in the US is Aspen. Located in The Rocky Mountains in Colorado, it is a ski resort town at 7908ft elevation. While open for skiing and snowboarding in the winter months, it is also popular for hikers and mountaineers during the summer months, and boasts a plethora of outdoor activities all year. The area is a collective of two townships and four mountains, and can all be accessed using one lift ticket. Easy navigation and slopes of all abilities make this a fantastic winter destination.

For those wanting to get their adrenaline kicks in a unique fashion, it's worth spending some time this winter at Grand Lake in Colorado. This is the perfect location to try out snowmobiling, with over 300 square miles of terrain, 150 of which are specially maintained for those wanting a tame ride, and the other half are left more wild for those more experienced riders. There are trails that suit all abilities, all amongst the picturesque setting of the Colorado Rockies.

For those who love winter hiking and snowshoeing, the Glacier National Park in Montana has a numb er of trails, ranging between 6 and 40 miles long. The national park is filled with dramatic landscapes, glacier carved valleys and peaks, huge and colourful lakes, and if a great place to lose yourself in the rockies.

For those with younger kids, or who have trouble standing up on their skis and snowboards, Keystone in Colorado offers a fantastic tubing hill. This is where the rider sits in an inflatable ring and slides down the slope. Keystone is particularly good because there is a dedicated conveyor belt to carry riders up the hill and the slope is kept under the watchful eye of safety workers.

For those who are willing to travel a little further, the traditional pastime of dog sledding is very popular in Alaska. This was originally a form of transport, but now attracts many visitors every year who want to get their winter vibes in a unique way. Professionals travel to Anchorage every year in March to compete in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Beginners can take sledding tours which are particularly popular around Church national Park and Juneau.

One of the best rated skiing resort to spend your annual winter holiday at is Jackson Hole in Wyoming. With ski slopes for all abilities, an arial tram to admire the mountainous scenery from and a lively ski town with plenty of accomodation and entertainment, the mountain has everything you could possibly need for a perfect ski holiday.

For anybody who would prefer to have a warm winter, you can always spend a holiday in Miami to chase away the cold. You don't have to cross the northern border to experience a fantastic white winter every year.

The warped tour is a well established travelling rock festival based in the US including a few stops in Canada, and even the UK and a few other international locations on a few different occasions. It began in 1995 and has been an annual event ever since, making it the largest touring music festival in North America, as well as the longest running touring music festival in North America.

The festival encompasses a number of different genres of music from ska to hip hip, but the main focus is on rock, punk and metal. With so many once dedicated rock music festivals seeing a trend towards more popular genres of music such as pop and electronic, the Vans Warped Tour sticks very strongly to it's roots. The festival often includes performances from repeat artists such as NOFX, Anti-Flag and The Casualties, and other notable acts to grace the stage have been Echosmith, The Used, Yellowcard and The Dropkick Murphys. The warped tour is an important contributor the US music scene and has been attributed for bringing some now household names such as Paramore, Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance to the spotlight. There is a huge inflatable lineup at each festival that states the running order and stage locations of each artist which changes from city to city as no two festivals have exactly the same setup.

As well as traditional performances, there is a battle of the the bands on the tour every year, open for participants in lesser known or even completely unknown bands to enter. In 2005, over 10,000 bands entered. Those who are successful in the battle have the chance to perform the Ernie Ball Stage at the events. Some of the musicians performing on the tour like to give out music lessons to aspiring musicians in the crowds, and there is a dedicated mobile studio bus that helps with educating festival goers.

To coincide with the start of the tour, and to build up a lot of hype for the event, there is an official compilation album release which includes music from the 50 of the artists performing on the tour that year. This is simply called “Warped Tour Tour Compilation” and is distributed annually.

The festival also focusses a lot on charity and activism. There are opportunities to donate blood in exchange for for backstage passes, information and stands about non profit charities who are advocating their cause, and a strong encouragement to recycle. 25 cents from every ticket to the tour sold is donated to the Hollywood Heart charity, and the profits from the festival have also been contributed towards the Hurricane Katrina relief in the past. All festival busses uses bio-fuel in an effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the festival.

The tour stops at a large number of major cities all over America during the course of the summer, and local details can be found on the festival website (vanswarpedtour.com). The festival organisers allow children to take a parent with them for free, and all ages are welcome to the tour.