World Festivals
2010 Calendar

World Festival Tours | English Speaking

European Festivals | Arts Festivals

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CHINA Harbin Ice Festival & Chinese New Year - including magnificent, monstrous illuminated ice sculptures and icy sports. Beware extreme cold! Harbin Ice Festival Tour | China Map

BENIN Voodoo Festival in seaside town of Ouidah - a spiritual gathering at a beach to honour their slave ancestors, with colourful costumes, dance and religious ceremonies. Voodoo Festival Tour

JAPAN Yamayaki [Grass Burning on Mt. Wakakusayama], Nara. An annual New Year tradition, with spectacular burning of an entire hill and attendant fireworks. Nara Pictures | Japan Map

JAPAN Toka Ebisu nationwide, but especially Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka - a shrine oriented event with parades and lots of peculiar rituals.

MALI Festival Au Desert, Essakane, in the dunes 40 miles outside Timbuktu [Tombouctou]. A fantasy mix of traditional north African desert music, international musicians, camels, dance and sword play in stunning surroundings and with a mostly local Mali audience. Mali Pictures

INDIA Madurai Float Festival, held at Madurai, the oldest city in Tamil Nadu. Incredible temples and spectacular floats on the night of the full moon.

INDIA Bikaner Camel Festival at Bikaner, Rajasthan - much less touristy than February's Desert Festival, but in an equally gorgeous fortified desert town location. Endless colourful camel activities, including a beauty competition, but human fun stuff too - dancing, fireworks, music etc. India Guide

INDIA International Kite Festival. A zillion kites and fights in the lovely but busy cities of Jaipur or Ahmedabad, Rajasthan state.

INDIA Pongal [Harvest] Festival, Tamil Nadu state.

ETHIOPIA Timkat Festival, an Orthodox Christian festival to celebrate the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, with strange rituals and colourful processions. Timkat Festival holidays

3rd weekend of January

TURKEY Camel Wrestling at Selcuk near Ephesus - the camels wrestle, not humans vs. camels! Turkey Guide | Selcuk & Ephesus Pictures

MALAYSIA Thaipusam at Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur - a huge, Hindu procession into the caves, with many penitents pierced by hooks, skewers through various body parts. Similarly in Singapore, same day. Malaysia Guide | Malaysia Pictures

VIETNAM Tet [New Year] Festival nationwide - for one week, the most important annual event of the country and a wild and noisy time is had by all. Vietnam Guide | Vietnam Pictures

CHINA New Year Parade, Hong Kong - nationwide but especially vibrant in Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui East, as psychedelia hits the 'scrapers and parades hit the streets...this is the best Chinese celebration, with floats, musicians, dancers, explosions and dragons galore. Hong Kong Guide

INDIA Republic Day in Delhi - pompous but splendid parade and festival.

INDIA Desert Festival, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan - touristy but terrific location near the Disneyesque town of Jaisalmer under a full moon. Dance, music, local contests and camels. Nearest airport is Jodhpur, 280kms away.

29 Jan - 14 February

CANADA Carnaval de Québec in Quebec City - a vigorous winter celebration with parades, themed parties, ice sculptures and, bien sûr, winter sports of every description in a pretty Francophile city. Canada Travel

PERU Candelaria Festival [Virgen de la Candelaria], in Puno, not a pretty city but with amazing surroundings such as Lake Titicaca and the Altiplano. This colourful, local event offers vigorous dancing, music, masks and insane fireworks. And Cusco's not far by splendid train ride. Candelaria Festival Tours

MALI Festival of Masks and Puppets [Festival des Masques et Marionettes], also known as Festival on the Niger. Held in Sego this is an annual heritage celebration with both traditional and contemporary music, puppetry, dance, arts and boat races on the river. Festival on the Niger Holidays

JAPAN Sapporo Snow Festival - a mass of superb, huge, imaginative ice sculptures in this pleasant Hokkaido town. Hot springs and hot saké take the edge off the cold! Japan Guide, Sapporo Festival Pictures

5 - 21 February
weekends only

CANADA Winterlude Festival in Ottawa [Ontario], 3 weekends - features parades, dances, snow races, ice sculptures, sleigh rides and more, but especially skating on the 7km Rideau Canal. If skating is your thing, then this is your festival.

THAILAND Chiang Mai Flower Festival, at Nong Buak Hat Park in Chiang Mai. A must for floraphiles, this interesting city is bedecked by thousands of flowers, including 1,000 species of orchid. Parades and sculptures too. Thailand Guide, Thailand Map

CHINA Spring Lantern Festival, nationwide. Lanterns - many of strange design - are lit and carried all over China.

MEXICO Carnival, nationwide but especially Veracruz, Cozumel, Mazatlan and two towns near Mexico City - Huejotzingo and Tepoztlan - huge, wild party time with dance, music, masks, mock battles and parades. Mexico Guide

13 - 16 Feb. in Rio

11 - 16 Feb. in Salvador

Brazil Carnivals

BRAZIL Rio Carnival - it's wild spectacle for sure, but not in the street - it's in a huge stadium and thus not so involving; it's also expensive and caution is needed outside. So perhaps try carnivals in other cities which will be almost as wild but a lot more user friendly, touchy/feely - such as Salvador and Olinda in the north-east, both beautiful, lively and with good beaches nearby or even try Trinidad [island] see below. Brazil Travel, Rio de Janeiro Pictures

JAPAN Naked Festival [Saidai-ji Hadaka Matsuri] in Okayama Prefecture- a Shinto man strips off, is shaved completely then runs through the town while nine thousand semi-naked men in loin cloths try to touch him. Butt, butt...

EGYPT Abu Simbel Festival- 2 days a year [also 22 October] when the light is just right to illuminate the statues of Ramses, Ra and Amun, in this incredible temple complex. Just you and 1,000 other tourists!

TRINIDAD Carnival, [an island in the Caribbean] where the carnival is on the street and mad in the nicest possible way, though if you want a nice beach too you'll have to nip over to neighbouring Tobago.

INDIA Goa Carnival. An Indo-Latin fusion of music, Float parades, dance and wild revelry.

TIBET Losar [Tibetan New Year] nationwide. An extremely colourful occasion with stunning traditional costumes worn by monks and many fascinating rituals, though beware the altitude and cold. Tibet Pictures

INDIA Khajuraho Dance Festival, fine and fluid art among the staggeringly high porn temples.

1 - 14 March
[Same dates every year]

JAPAN Omizutori [Water-Drawing Festival] - at the Todai-ji temple in Nara - 1,200 year old Buddhist ceremonies, especially spectacular on the last night, full of huge, blazing torches and noise-making monks.

26 - 30 March

BHUTAN Paro Tsechu Festival - a magnificent and kaleidoscopic festival held in a spectacular location in the Himalayas, with hundreds of locals gathering to see the monks dressed in vivid robes performing masked ritual prayers and dances.

31 March - 4 April

MEXICO Semana Santa [Easter Week], nationwide but especially in Chiapas - processions, costumes, fireworks, music, dance and weird rituals. Mexico Travel Guide

1 March 2010
20 March 2011
Nepal, [Khatmandu] and India, [esp. Jaipur]

NEPAL & INDIA Holi [Festival of Colour]. The ultimate in psychedelic festivals without the drugs, everyone throwing coloured water or paint over everyone else, including you. It's an iridescent madhouse. Nepal Travel, India Travel

SPAIN Fallas de Valencia [image top left] - a wild and explosive [literally] carnival/fiesta combination that will blow your socks off. Locals spend 5 days partying - parades, pageants and moderate fireworks then on the last night, they turn off all the city lights and set fire to hundreds of massive papier-maché statues stuffed with fireworks around the city. Kaboom. Spain Guide

MEXICO Cumbre Tajin in Veracruz. A unique mind, body and soul celebration in the spiritually correct Tajin park. A mass of alternative therapies as well as art, music, dance and adventure sports [eh?]. Tajin website

MEXICO Kukulcan Snake God in Chichen Itza [Yucatan] - see the snake shadow appear during the first equinox in this spectacular Mayan pyramid complex, plus varied entertainments. A couple of days before and after too.

Late March to early April
[Dates are depending on weather and location]

JAPAN Sakura Matsuri or Hanami Cherry Blossom time especially in Tokyo's Ueno park or Aoyama cemetery as all over Japan pink and white cherry trees herald springtime and just about every Japanese person, including - or especially - office workers, gets totally blotto on beer and saké under the trees.

PHILIPPINES Crucifixion in San Fernando on Good Friday. Locals play out Christ's agony, all dressed up, beaten by whips and some finally nailed - for real - to crosses. Asia Map

4 April
1st Sunday in April

JAPAN Kanamara Matsuri [Iron Penis Festival] at Wakamiya Hachiman-gu Shrine in Kawasaki, between Tokyo and Yokohama. An hilarious, good-feeling event loaded with music, double-entendres, huge portable dongs and little willy lollies.
Kanamara Festival Pictures

MALI Mask Festival in Tireli, Dogon Country, with local masked antelope dancers. Spooky and crude animist event in spectacular, surreal surroundings. Mali Pictures

THAILAND Songkran Festival [New Year Water Festival] nationwide - especially lively in Chiang Mai. Four days of parades, fancy dress and water being thrown everywhere, including over tourists. Thailand Guide

CHINA Poshui Jie, Water Splashing Festival in Jinghong, beautiful Yunnan province. Much dragon boat racing, fireworks, dancing and throwing water over everyone, but everyone.

14 - 15 April
Also 9 -10 October
[Same dates every year]

JAPAN Takayama Spring Festival in ancient Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture near Nagoya. A dozen creaking, elaborate floats get dragged around the old town, with traditional music and massed, medieval costumes. Takayama Festival Pictures

24 April

INDIA Thrissur Pooram in Thrissur, Kerala. A day of fireworks, raucous music and fantastically decorated elephants continues way into the night during this, the biggest festival in Kerala.

MEXICO Feria Nacional de San Marcos in Aguascalientes [the North],. A large and long established celebration of Mexican music and machismo, with rodeos, bull fights, folk dancing, parades, mariachi and mucho more.

20 - 25 April 2010
10 - 15 May 2011
24 - 29 April 2012

SPAIN La Feria de Abril [April Fair / Spring Fair] in Seville - Seville's best party with traditional dress, parades, dancing and boisterous parties in a spectacular environment. Seville Guide

CHINA Cheung Chau Bun Festival on Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong. Yes, real, edible buns treated with enormous pomp in this fishing island with sky-high bun towers, bun parades and something to eat too. It coincides with the Buddha's Birthday celebration. Hong Kong Guide

MEXICO Cinco de Mayo in Puebla, just north of Mexico City - the glorious battle of Puebla [1862] is celebrated with military dress, parades and mock battles in the main square of the lovely town. Mexico Guide

INDONESIA Vesak [Waisak] Festival [the celebration of Buddha's Birthday] at Borobudur temple, the world's largest Buddhist structure. A quiet but stunningly spiritual event with acres of saffron-robed monks praying under the full moon at incredible Borobudur.

THAILAND Rocket Festival [Bun Bung Fai] in Yasothon [NE Thai]. Crazed rocket builders compete - with total disregard for safety - for the highest flier; it's shrieking lunacy. Thailand Guide

JAPAN Asakusa Sanja Matsuri in Tokyo - crowded processions of elaborate mini-shrines are vigorously carried around the streets near Tokyo's venerable Asakusa shrine, well fuelled by saké and beer.

JAPAN Grand Festival of Spring, Shunki Reitaisai and Sennin Gyoretsu in Nikko - a massive parade of samurai-dressed folk and dancers around a supremely beautiful shrine in a gorgeous country town of hot springs and waterfalls. Japan Photos, Japan Map

MADAGASCAR Famadihana 'turning the bones'. Reburying the dead ceremonies, fascinating but independent travel required. Madagascar Travel Guide, Madagascar Pictures

4 - 12 June

MOROCCO Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, in Fes [Fez] - not at all dull! Wide ranging music from Spanish gypsy laments to Sufi chanting in a perfectly evocative location in Morocco

CHINA Duanwu Dragon Boat Festival [Tuen Ng Jit in Cantonese] around Hong Kong's islands and rivers, but also some other Chinese towns/cities. Spectacularly decorated boats loaded with rowers and drums race. More info: Dragon Boat Assoc., Hong Kong Guide

INDONESIA Bali Arts Festival, Denpasar [near Kuta Beach]. A very exciting month of traditional song and dance embraced by the whole island, with processions and performances of all kinds all over the island.

PERU Inti Raymi Festival in Cusco. A traditional Inca sun worship festival colourfully performed in front of the spectacular Sacsayhuaman fort above the lovely town of Cusco. Inti Raymi Festival Tours.

30 June - 7 July TBA

TURKEY Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival in Edirne - 1,000 well-oiled fat boys get a good slapping. Turkey Photos, but not of Kirkpinar.

CUBA Fiesta del Fuego [Festival of Fire - Carnival]. Santiago - a gorgeous town with ever lively people goes bananas for a week. Havana - tatty but brilliantly stimulating does the same for longer but only at weekends. Cubans are noted for their natural music and dance ability, not to mention rum- though it's HOT during this month! Cuba Guide

11 - 13 July
[same date every year]

MONGOLIA, Naadam Festival is a traditional sporting event - wrestling, horse racing and archery - held nationwide but best at Ulaanbaatar. It's held during Mongolian national holidays and July is a fine time to be in this bleak and fascinating region. Mongolia Tours

6 - 14 July
[same date every year]

SPAIN, Pamplona, Los Sanfermines [Bull Running] - don't be bored, be gored! Six bulls are released into the streets every morning of this seven day Basque rite-of-manhood party. You too can battle the big horns. See the excellent Sanfermin site. Spain Guide

US Redneck Games in East Dublin, Georgia. Tongue-in-cheek competitions such as the Mud Pit Belly-Flop, Hubcap Hurl, Dumpster Dive. It will be hot and dirty!

9 - 18 July

CANADA Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta - a 10 day world-class rodeo riot, a wild yet comradely festival enjoyed by the whole of 'Cowtown'. Events include Chuck Wagon racing, rodeos, a spectacular parade, country music performances and free pancake breakfasts! Stampede vs Italy's Il Palio!

11 - 15 July
[Same date every year]

MOROCCO Marrakech Popular Arts Festival [Folklore Festival]- Morocco's most interesting city hosts the country's best arts festival, with Marrakesh's hyperactive Djamaa el Fna [square] going into orbit at this time.

mid July - mid August TBA

TUNISIA International Carthage Festival in Tunis, the country's biggest arts event, mixing local and international music in the old Roman amphitheatre. Tunisia Guide | Tunisia Pictures

INDIA Rath Yatra [Chariot Festival], Puri, home of Krishna. A juggernaut [literally] of a festival in the ancient holy city of Puri in Orissa state. Pilgrims pull 15m high chariots across the city.

INDIA Hemis Festival and Phyang Festival at monasteries in Ladakh - colourful Buddhist festivals with the monks performing in traditional tapestry robes and masks. Ladakh Festival Holidays

JAPAN Gion Matsuri at Yasaka-jinja Shrine in Kyoto - a citywide celebration with lots of street action, but the big day is July 17 with the Yamaboko Parade, a procession of monstrous but delicately decorated Hoko [two-story houses on wheels].

mid-late July TBA
Generally the last two Mondays in July

MEXICO the Guelaguetza [Los lunes del cerro] in Oaxaca - a lively and traditional folk dance, music, and costume festival in a pretty town.

JAPAN Tenjin Matsuri [Boat Festival] in Osaka - no, not a boat show. This event involves processions, costumes and hundreds of decorated boats with lights, a million spectators with torches and fireworks. Nirvana for pyromaniacs. Japan Guide

25 July
[Last Saturday in July]

JAPAN Sumida River Fireworks Display in Tokyo. Seriously big display, lasts for an hour. Get there early, you will not be alone [Then again, in Japan you never are...].

INDONESIA Funeral Rites at Tana Toraja [Land of the Toraja ethnic people] in south central Sulawesi, special invites needed [not hard to get by local travel agents] but these massive, peculiar ceremonies are enthralling, with new villages purpose built, effigies carried around, dancing and eating in very picturesque environments.

10 - 16 August, Nagchu
10 - 16 July, Lithang
[Same days every year]

TIBET Horse Racing Festival in Nagchu/Nakchu and in Lithang. A relaxed and kaleidoscopic Tibetan event with large numbers of locals displaying extreme horsemanship, but also enjoying folk songs and dance. Based in a brilliant tent town next to Nakchu. But beware - few hotels, high altitude.

JAPAN O-Bon Lantern Festival nationwide - the precise date depends on the local council. It's a Festival of the Dead with fleets of paper lanterns on water, candle ceremonies, kimonos in the streets, dancing...

INDIA Naag/Nag Panchami [Hindu Snake Festival] nationwide but best in Jodhpur.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA Mt Hagen Cultural Show - a gathering of PNG's clans, touristy but with sensational outfits [birds of paradise feathers, human hair, cat skins...], especially after a trip into the highlands to see the truly bizarre lifestyles. Hair schools for growing wigs, trench warfare, shell/pig/feather currency etc..

MOROCCO Imilchil Marriage Festival [Betrothal Festival] - 3 days of Berber instant marriages, a marital mind bender in the Atlas Mountains, with no shortage of exotic music and traditional costumes.

30 August - 6 September [Labor Day]

USA Burning Man Black Rock Desert near Reno, Nevada - a week of unique, liberal and artistic madness, culminating in the torching of many structures. It's expensive and organisation will be required, but this could be a life changing experience. Burning Man Pictures and Information | SW USA Map

27 August
[last Wed. of every August]

SPAIN La Tomatina at Buñol town in Valencia - a huge and incredibly messy public fight with 25 tons of tomatoes during one day. You can participate, in fact you should if you take the trouble to go there. Spain Guide | Spain Pictures

28 - 31 August TBA

ISRAEL Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat. Excellent open air music in a dramatic environment. Israel Guide | Israel Pictures

31 August - 10 September TBA

MEXICO International Mariachi and Charreria Festival in Guadalajara [Jalisco state] - flashy trousers, fat guitars and gritos galore in this celebration of Mexican music. 'Ayyy!'
Also in San Jose.

INDIA Onam Festival in Kerala, with boat racing, outrageous outfits, processions, dancing, music - the usual mad Indian jamboree. India Map

INDONESIA Funeral Rites at Tana Toraja [Land of Toraja ethnic people] in south central Sulawesi, special invites needed [not hard to get by travel agents] but these massive, peculiar ceremonies are fascinating - new villages built, effigies carried, dancing and eating in very picturesque environments.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA Goroka Show - a gathering of PNG's clans, touristy but with sensational outfits [birds of paradise feathers, human hair, cat skins...], especially after a trip into the highlands to see the truly bizarre lifestyles. Hair schools for growing wigs, trench warfare, shell/pig/feather, yam currency and so on...

12 - 16 September

BHUTAN Thimphu Festival - a colourful masked dance ritual held in the capital city of Bhutan, with hundreds of locals gathering to see monks dressed in traditional robes performing prayers and dances.

MEXICO Kukulcan Snake God in Chichen Itza [Yucatan] - see the snake appear at the year's second equinox in this spectacular Mayan pyramid complex, plus varied entertainments. Couple of days before and after too.

NEPAL Dasain [or Dashain] Festival mainly in Kathmandu, but also Bhaktapur and Patan for 10 days. The last few days will be the best. A very lively, blood-letting [mostly sheep], dancing, kite flying festival.

THAILAND Buffalo Races in Chon Buri, near Pattaya. All sorts of different water buffalo contests, including fancy dress.

INDIA Dasara/Dashera, also called Navaratri, nationwide but Navratri in Gujarat is probably the best. An important Hindu festival with ceremonies, fiestas and processions. The celebration often ends with Dussehra, the Festival of Joy which is notable for public battles between giant paper monsters filled with fireworks. Not for those of a nervous disposition...

9 -10 October
Also 14 - 15 April
[Same days every year]

JAPAN Takayama Matsuri Autumn Festival in pleasant Takayama City, near Nagoya - A dozen ancient, elaborate floats get dragged around the old town; with traditional music and costumes. Takayama Festival Pictures

PERU Procession of the Lord of Miracles in Lima. Celebrating Jesus Christ, aka Señor de los Milagros, the whole of Lima turns out to sing, dance, pray, wear purple clothes and watch parades. 

THAILAND Vegetarian [!] Festival in Phuket and Trang. Innocuous name... actually most of the event involves men piercing themselves with metal rods, strolling over red-hot coals and other apparently masochistic activities in the name of purification.

EGYPT Abu Simbel Festival- 2 days a year [also 22 February] when the light falls perfectly to illuminate the statues of Ramses, Ra and Amun in this incredible temple complex. Just you and 1,000 other tourists!

31 October - 2 Nov
[Same dates every
year]

MEXICO Dia de los Muertos [Day of the Dead] mainly in the states of Michoacan [esp. Patzcuaro] and Oaxaca - lots of different ceremonies to link the dead with the living, plus sand sculptures, fancy dress, decorated altars, sugar skulls and plenty of cardboard cadavers. Visit cemeteries late night Nov 1-2 to see the candles, flowers, music and family parties. In Oaxaca the more spacious new cemetery is livelier than the old one. Mexico Tours & Holidays

MEXICO Dia de los Muertos [Day of the Dead] see above.

ECUADOR All Soul's Day - one of the country's most colourful religious festivals, with flowers and offerings to ancestors. Everything closes! Ecuador Travel Guide

CAMBODIA Bonn Om Touk [Water Festival] - the country's biggest festival. Locals go bananas celebrating a natural phenomenon - the reversing of the current of Tonle Sap River - with wild, decorated boat races and fireworks. Nationwide but Phnom Penh and Siem Reap are best. Cambodia Travel, Cambodia Photos

18 - 21 November 2010 TBA

INDIA Pushkar Camel Fair in Pushkar, Rajasthan - a zillion camels gather to race, put on fancy kit, change owners, take tourists for rides and generally liven up this quiet little lakeside town beside the Thar desert. Singing, dancing and exotic foodstuffs for two-legged animals. Pushkar Camel Fair Tours.

THAILAND Surin Elephant Round-up in Surin, including elephant football, elephant tugs-of-war and psychedelic parades.

THAILAND Banquet for Monkeys in Khmer ruins near Lop Buri [central Thailand] - one day with 600 monkeys sitting down to lunch. It's a riot but without police.

MALI Crossing of the Cattle at Diafarabé - an ancient tradition celebrating, you've guessed it, desert herds crossing the river. Lively and fascinating. Mali Travel Guide | Mali Pictures

JAPAN Chichibu Night Festival [Yomatsuri] in Chichibu, a small town in Saitama Prefecture not far from Tokyo. In one of Japan's most impressive night parties teams of costumed men drag six massive, illuminated floats around the town's narrow streets while kids perform dances and dramas on board, all backed by drums, flutes, fireworks and fuelled by barrels of saké. Crowded of course, but the crowds are fun and friendly.

TURKEY Whirling Dervishes Festival, at the Museum of Mevlana, Konya - awesome spinning dance to trance in honour a Sufi saint, Mevlana. Attended by up to a million people. Turkey Guide

BRAZIL Christmas Festival in Salvador - a pretty, warm city loaded with decorations, music, parades, shows and kid's stuff. Brazil Travel

TUNISIA International Sahara Festival in Douz - camel racing and other colourful desert events, as well as varied music and merrymaking. Warm? Not at night! Tunisia Travel Guide, Tunisia Pictures

BRAZIL New Year's Celebration in Rio de Janeiro - Like Edinburgh, this is one of THE places to be at this time. Various curious seaside rituals dedicated to Iemanja - Goddess of the Sea and Carnal Pleasure - during the day, then wild parties on the beaches accompanied by samba bands at night...Brazil Photos