Best Festivals & Events Around the World
The world’s greatest festivals and events — ancient traditions, massive celebrations, and gatherings worth planning a trip around.
Festivals transform places. A city you’ve visited before becomes unrecognisable during Carnival or Diwali - different energy, different rhythms, different people in the streets. Timing your travel around a major festival is one of the easiest ways to guarantee a memorable trip, as long as you book accommodation far in advance.
Some of these are ancient religious observances. Others are modern inventions that have taken on a life of their own. All of them are best experienced with a willingness to be swept up in something bigger than your itinerary.
The Essentials#
Planning around festivals means planning around dates. Some are fixed (Bastille Day is always July 14). Others move with the lunar calendar (Chinese New Year, Eid, Diwali). Here’s a rough guide to when the major ones fall.
Samba schools spend all year preparing for the Sambadrome parade - thousands of dancers, floats that defy engineering, and an energy that television cannot capture. The street parties (blocos) across the city are free and arguably more fun.
The festival of colours. Strangers throw coloured powder and water at each other in the streets. Mathura and Vrindavan celebrate the longest. Wear clothes you’re prepared to throw away. Leave your camera in the hotel.
Thai New Year and the world’s largest water fight. Every street becomes a battlefield of water guns, hoses, and buckets. Chiang Mai takes it most seriously. You will get soaked. This is not negotiable.
Not a Mexican Halloween - it’s a celebration of the dead with ofrendas, marigolds, sugar skulls, and cemetery vigils. Oaxaca and Pátzcuaro have the most elaborate traditions. Moving if you approach it with respect.
The festival of lights. Oil lamps, fireworks, sweets, and the sense that an entire country is celebrating simultaneously. Best experienced in Rajasthan or Varanasi for the most photogenic celebrations.
The biggest annual human migration on earth. Fireworks, lion dances, temple fairs, and the fact that literally everything closes. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Penang have the most photogenic celebrations outside mainland China.
150,000 kilograms of overripe tomatoes. 20,000 people. One hour. Wear goggles, old shoes, and nothing you care about. The entire town turns red. It’s absurd, messy, and over before you’ve processed what happened.
By Month#
If you’re building a trip around a festival, start with the month you want to travel. Some months are packed with options; others are quieter. Here’s what’s happening when.
January - February
- Chinese New Year: The biggest annual human migration on earth. Fifteen days of fireworks, lion dances, and temple fairs across China and Southeast Asia. Everything closes. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Penang have the most photogenic celebrations outside the mainland.
- Carnival: Builds through February and peaks before Ash Wednesday. Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome is the spectacle; Venice goes theatrical with masks and gondolas; Trinidad is sweatier, louder, and more participatory.
- Timkat: Ethiopian Epiphany in January. Processions with replicas of the Ark of the Covenant in Gondar and Lalibela. One of the most visually striking religious festivals anywhere.
- Sapporo Snow Festival: Japan’s Hokkaido fills with enormous ice sculptures and illuminated snow buildings. Early February, one week.
- Desert festivals: Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer and Pushkar festivals take advantage of the cool season - camel races, folk music, and turban-tying competitions.
March - April
- Holi: The festival of colours explodes across India in February or March (lunar calendar). Strangers throw coloured powder and water at each other. Mathura and Vrindavan celebrate the longest. Wear disposable clothes.
- Songkran: Thailand’s New Year (April 13 - 15) and the world’s largest water fight. Chiang Mai is the epicentre. Three days of citywide soaking - no bystanders, no dry clothes.
- Semana Santa: Holy Week processions in Seville and Antigua Guatemala. Hooded penitents, candlelit floats, and streets carpeted with flowers and coloured sawdust.
- Cherry blossom season: Hanami picnics under the sakura across Japan, peaking late March to mid-April depending on latitude. Tokyo’s Ueno Park and Kyoto’s Philosopher’s Path are the classics.
- St. Patrick’s Day: March 17 in Dublin. Multi-day festival with parade, music, comedy. More authentic (and less green beer) than the American versions.
May - June
- Inti Raymi: The Inca Festival of the Sun on June 24 in Cusco, re-enacted at Sacsayhuamán with hundreds of performers. The main ceremony needs tickets; the week of street celebrations is free.
- Vesak: Buddha’s birthday celebrated across Buddhist Asia - lantern processions, temple offerings, and acts of generosity. Dates vary by country and lunar calendar.
- Midnight sun festivals: Scandinavia celebrates the summer solstice with bonfires, maypoles (Midsommar in Sweden), and 24-hour daylight. Late June.
- Feria de Abril: Seville’s spring fair - flamenco, sherry, horse parades, and casetas (private tents) that spill out across the fairgrounds. Two weeks after Semana Santa.
- Eid al-Fitr: Marks the end of Ramadan. Three days of feasting and celebration across the Muslim world. Dates shift roughly 11 days earlier each year (lunar calendar) - check the current year.
July - August
- Edinburgh Fringe: The world’s largest arts festival takes over Scotland for three weeks in August. Thousands of shows across hundreds of venues. Quality ranges from genius to dire. Many are free.
- Bastille Day: July 14 in Paris. Military parade on the Champs-Élysées, fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, and neighbourhood parties (bals des pompiers) at fire stations across the city.
- La Tomatina: Last Wednesday of August in Buñol, Spain. One hour, 150,000 kg of tomatoes, 20,000 people. Wear goggles.
- Notting Hill Carnival: August bank holiday in London. Caribbean street carnival with steel pans, sound systems, and jerk chicken. Europe’s largest street festival.
- Palio di Siena: Bareback horse race around the Piazza del Campo. July 2 and August 16. Fierce neighbourhood rivalries, medieval pageantry, and 90 seconds of chaos.
- Obon: Japanese ancestral remembrance in mid-August. Bon Odori dances, lantern floating on rivers, and a quiet, contemplative atmosphere that contrasts with the summer heat.
September - October
- Oktoberfest: Late September to early October in Munich. Sixteen days, six million visitors, seven million litres of beer. The tents are the thing - brass bands, one-litre steins, people on benches. Book accommodation months out.
- Dussehra and Durga Puja: Two of India’s most dramatic festivals. Dussehra burns enormous effigies of the demon king Ravana. Durga Puja in Kolkata fills the streets with elaborate pandals (temporary temples) and all-night processions.
- Gerewol: Wodaabe courtship festival in Niger. Young men compete in beauty contests with elaborate face paint and hypnotic dances. September, after the rains. Accessible only with a local guide.
- Mid-Autumn Festival: Mooncakes, lanterns, and family gatherings across China, Vietnam, and Chinese diaspora communities. The full moon nearest the autumnal equinox.
November - December
- Día de los Muertos: November 1 - 2 in Mexico. Ofrendas (altars), marigolds, sugar skulls, and cemetery vigils. Oaxaca and Pátzcuaro have the deepest traditions. Not Halloween - something older and more affecting.
- Diwali: The festival of lights, October or November. Entire cities illuminated with oil lamps and fireworks. Varanasi’s ghats and Jaipur’s markets are the most photogenic settings.
- Loy Krathong: November full moon in Thailand. Candlelit banana-leaf floats released on rivers and waterways. Chiang Mai combines it with Yi Peng - thousands of sky lanterns rising simultaneously.
- Christmas markets: Late November through December across Germany, Austria, and France. Glühwein, gingerbread, wooden crafts, and the smell of roasting chestnuts. Nuremberg, Vienna, and Strasbourg are the standards.
- New Year’s Eve: Sydney’s harbour fireworks, Tokyo’s temple bells (108 strikes at midnight), and New York’s Times Square. If you’re going to be in a crowd, make it a good one.
Asia#
Asian festivals tend to be the oldest and the most immersive. Many are rooted in religious calendars that predate recorded history, and the celebrations haven’t been sanitised for tourist consumption. You don’t watch these festivals - you’re in them, whether you planned to be or not.
Chinese New Year
The biggest annual human migration on earth. If you’re in China, Southeast Asia, or any city with a significant Chinese community, the celebrations run for 15 days. Fireworks, lion dances, temple fairs, and the fact that literally everything closes. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Penang have the most photogenic celebrations outside mainland China.
Location: China & Southeast Asia When: Jan/Feb Duration: 15 days
Holi
The festival of colours. Strangers throw coloured powder and water at each other in the streets. Mathura and Vrindavan (near Delhi) celebrate the longest. Wear clothes you’re prepared to throw away. Leave your camera in waterproof housing or in the hotel. Chaotic, joyful, and absolutely not optional if you’re in India at the time.
Location: India When: Feb/Mar Duration: 2 days
Songkran
Thai New Year in April, and the world’s largest water fight. Every street becomes a battlefield of water guns, hoses, and buckets. Chiang Mai takes it most seriously. Bangkok’s Khao San Road is the tourist epicentre. You will get soaked. This is not negotiable.
Location: Thailand When: 13 - 15 April Duration: 3 days
Diwali
The festival of lights. Oil lamps, fireworks, sweets, and the sense that an entire country is celebrating simultaneously. Varanasi’s ghats lit with thousands of diyas, Jaipur’s markets overflowing with marigolds, and Delhi’s air thick with firecrackers. Best experienced in Rajasthan or Varanasi.
Location: India When: Oct/Nov Duration: 5 days
Lantern Festival
Fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year. In Pingxi, Taiwan, thousands of sky lanterns are released simultaneously into the night sky. In Taipei, enormous themed lantern installations light up the city. A genuinely magical visual spectacle.
Europe#
European festivals range from medieval traditions that have barely changed in centuries to modern arts festivals that attract global talent. The infrastructure is generally excellent - public transport runs extra services, temporary accommodation springs up, and the logistics of handling millions of visitors are well-practised.
Oktoberfest
Two weeks in late September and early October, six million visitors, seven million litres of beer. The beer tents are the main event - enormous halls with brass bands, pretzels, and people standing on benches. Weekday mornings are manageable; Saturday evenings are a scrum. Book accommodation months ahead. The beer is strong (6%+) and the litres add up faster than you expect.
Location: Munich, Germany When: Sep/Oct Duration: 16 - 18 days
Edinburgh Fringe
The world’s largest arts festival, every August. Three weeks of theatre, comedy, music, and street performance scattered across hundreds of venues. The quality varies from genius to terrible, which is part of the charm. The printed programme is a phone book. Ask locals and other festival-goers what’s good. Many shows are free.
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland When: August Duration: 3 weeks
Venice Carnival
Two weeks of elaborate masks, costumes, and masked balls in February. Less raucous than Rio’s version, more theatrical. The city becomes a stage set - masked figures appearing in fog on bridges, gondolas gliding through mist. Expensive, crowded, and genuinely atmospheric.
Location: Venice, Italy When: Feb/Mar Duration: 2 weeks
La Tomatina
The last Wednesday of August. An hour-long tomato fight involving 150,000 kilograms of overripe tomatoes. Tickets limited to 20,000 people. Wear goggles, old shoes, and nothing you care about. The entire town turns red. Absurd, messy, and over before you’ve processed what happened.
Location: Buñol, Spain When: Last Wed Aug Duration: 1 hour
St. Patrick’s Day
March 17. The parade is the centrepiece, but the city-wide festival runs for several days with music, comedy, and events. Dublin does it with more authenticity (and less green beer) than the American versions.
Location: Dublin, Ireland When: 17 March Duration: 3 - 5 days
The Americas#
The Americas blend indigenous traditions with colonial-era celebrations and modern inventions. The result is some of the most visually spectacular and emotionally intense festivals anywhere - from the samba schools of Rio to the ancestor vigils of rural Mexico.
Carnival
The samba schools spend all year preparing for the Sambadrome parade, and the scale of production is staggering - thousands of dancers, floats that defy engineering, and an energy that television doesn’t capture. The street parties (blocos) across the city are free and arguably more fun than the ticketed parade. Four days before Ash Wednesday.
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil When: Feb/Mar Duration: 5 days
Día de los Muertos
October 31 to November 2. Not a Mexican Halloween - it’s a celebration of the dead, with ofrendas (altars), marigolds, sugar skulls, and cemetery vigils. Oaxaca and Pátzcuaro have the most elaborate traditions. Deeply moving if you approach it with respect rather than as a photo opportunity.
Location: Mexico When: 31 Oct - 2 Nov Duration: 3 days
Inti Raymi
June 24. The Inca Festival of the Sun, re-enacted at Sacsayhuamán above Cusco with hundreds of performers in traditional dress. The main ceremony requires tickets; the street celebrations throughout the week are free and lively.
Location: Cusco, Peru When: 24 June Duration: 1 day (+week of events)
Mardi Gras
The weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday. Bourbon Street gets the attention, but the real Mardi Gras is the krewes and their parades through the Garden District and Uptown. The beads are tacky. The music, food, and energy are not.
Location: New Orleans, USA When: Feb/Mar Duration: 2+ weeks
Trinidad Carnival
Often overshadowed by Rio, but Trini Carnival is where soca music and the modern Caribbean carnival tradition originated. J’ouvert (pre-dawn paint and mud) on Monday morning and the costume bands on Tuesday are the highlights. Smaller, sweatier, and more participatory than Rio.
Location: Trinidad and Tobago When: Feb/Mar Duration: 2 days
Africa & Middle East#
African festivals are among the least commercialised major celebrations in the world. Many are tied to harvest cycles, ancestral traditions, or religious observances that have continued unbroken for centuries. Visiting during a festival offers a window into cultures that guidebooks can only gesture at.
Timkat
Ethiopian Epiphany, in January. Processions carrying replicas of the Ark of the Covenant through the streets, priests in full ceremonial dress, and mass baptisms in open-air pools. Gondar and Lalibela have the most elaborate celebrations. One of the most visually striking religious festivals anywhere.
Location: Ethiopia When: 19 January Duration: 3 days
Festival au Désert
Tuareg music festival in the Sahara near Timbuktu. Intermittently held due to security concerns, but when it runs it’s extraordinary - desert blues, nomadic culture, and music under the stars in one of the most remote inhabited places on earth.
Location: Mali When: January (when held) Duration: 3 days
Eid al-Fitr
The celebration marking the end of Ramadan. Three days of feasting, family gatherings, and charity. Istanbul, Marrakech, and Cairo are particularly vibrant. Travelling during Eid means full hotels and busy transport, but the atmosphere is generous and welcoming.
Location: Across the Muslim world When: Varies (lunar calendar) Duration: 3 days
Gerewol
A Wodaabe courtship festival where young men compete in beauty contests - elaborate face paint, white-eyed rolling expressions, and dances meant to display charm and stamina. Held in September after the rains. One of the most unusual cultural events in West Africa, accessible only with a local guide.
Location: Niger When: September Duration: 7 days