The festival this year will be held from August 13-28, 2011 with an opening concert on August 12. If you're thinking about heading to Qingdao to get in on a little festival action, you will certainly see Qingdao at its most popular time of year. Thousands of Shandong Province locals flock to the beach city for some sunshine, beer and Qingdao's famous local dish of spicy clams. I took my family to Qingdao last summer and we had a great time checking out the city's heritage architecture, poking around the beaches, enjoying the abundance of seafood and of course, tasting Qingdao's finest: draft Tsingtao beer.