Veranstaltungen & Festivals

Hoi An Lantern Festival

On the 14th day of each lunar month, Hoi An's ancient town turns off its electric lights and glows entirely by the light of hundreds of colorful silk lanterns floating on the Thu Bon River. The monthly festival preserves a tradition dating back centuries and creates an enchanting atmosphere throughout the UNESCO heritage town.

Best Weather Season

Dry season for exploration

Athens Epidaurus Festival

Greece's premier cultural event presents ancient Greek tragedies and comedies in the perfectly preserved ancient theaters of Athens and Epidaurus from June through August. Watching a classical performance under the stars in the 2,500-year-old Epidaurus amphitheater is an unforgettable cultural experience.

Bali Arts Festival

The Bali Arts Festival (Pesta Kesenian Bali) is an annual month-long celebration of Balinese culture held in Denpasar, Indonesia, showcasing traditional dance, music, crafts, and rituals that reflect the island's rich artistic heritage.

Summer Music Festivals

Glastonbury and major festivals

Bastille Day

France's national holiday on July 14th commemorates the storming of the Bastille in 1789 with a magnificent military parade down the Champs-Élysées, followed by spectacular fireworks over the Eiffel Tower. Festivities spread across the entire country with public dances and celebrations.

Budapest Summer

Dubrovnik Summer

Dubrovnik Summer Festival

Croatia's most prestigious cultural event transforms the UNESCO-listed old city of Dubrovnik into an open-air stage each July and August, with over 80 theatrical, musical, and dance performances in spectacular historic venues. The 45-day festival has showcased world-class art within Dubrovnik's ancient walls since 1950.

Independence Day

The 4th of July lights up the night sky nationwide with spectacular fireworks and patriotic celebrations.

Osaka Summer Festival

Palio di Siena

The Palio di Siena is a historic bareback horse race held twice each summer in Siena's shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, where the city's contrade (districts) compete in a fierce, centuries-old rivalry amid pageantry and medieval tradition.

Rambu Solo (Toraja Funeral Ceremony)

Rambu Solo is the elaborate Torajan funeral ceremony of Sulawesi — a days-long rite of music, dance, processions and ritual sacrifice that is among the world's most distinctive cultural spectacles, drawing anthropologists and travellers from around the globe.

San Fermin Festival

Bull running and week-long party

Burning Man Festival

An annual gathering in the Nevada desert celebrating art, self-expression, and radical community each August.

Edinburgh Festival

World's largest arts festival

Edinburgh Fringe

Ferragosto

Italy's beloved mid-August holiday when the entire country takes a collective summer break, filling beaches, mountains, and historic towns with celebrating Italians. Originally a Roman festival honoring Augustus, Ferragosto is now a national holiday marked by fireworks, outdoor feasting, and community gatherings.

Indonesian Independence Day

Indonesia's Independence Day on August 17th is celebrated with patriotic ceremonies, traditional games, and community festivities across the archipelago. Unique neighborhood competitions like panjat pinang (greasy pole climbing) and sack races bring communities together in joyful celebration.

Kuta Beach Festival

La Tomatina

World's largest tomato food fight

Obon Festival

A traditional Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors, celebrated with bon odori folk dances, lantern lighting, and family gatherings across Japan. The festival typically spans three days in mid-August and features beautiful fireworks displays.

Singapore National Day

Singapore's National Day on August 9th commemorates independence with an elaborate parade at the Padang featuring military displays, mass performances, and a breathtaking fireworks show over Marina Bay. The annual celebration showcases the nation's progress and multicultural unity.

Singapore Night Festival

Autumn Foliage

Mountain colors

Mid-Autumn Festival China

Families gather under the full moon to share mooncakes and lanterns in this ancient harvest celebration.

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Vietnam's beloved Tet Trung Thu fills the streets with colorful lantern processions, mooncakes, and dragon dances celebrating the harvest moon. Children carry star-shaped lanterns through the streets while lion dancers perform to ward off evil spirits.

Mistura Food Festival

Lima's Mistura is Latin America's largest and most celebrated food festival, showcasing the extraordinary diversity of Peruvian cuisine from indigenous ingredients to Japanese-Peruvian nikkei fusion. The ten-day September event draws celebrity chefs, food artisans, and hundreds of thousands of food lovers from around the world.

Oktoberfest

World's largest beer festival

Pchum Ben

Cambodia's Festival of the Dead is a 15-day Buddhist celebration in September and October when Cambodians visit pagodas at dawn to offer food to the spirits of deceased ancestors. Believed to be when the gates of hell open, Pchum Ben is a deeply solemn and important occasion for honoring family lineage across seven generations.

Busan Film Festival

Dashain Festival

Nepal's most important Hindu festival, lasting 15 days in October, celebrates the victory of good over evil with family reunions, kite flying, and the ritual receiving of tika blessings from elders. The country comes alive with enormous bamboo swings, festive markets, and the sacrifice of animals to honor the goddess Durga.

Deepavali (Malaysia)

Festival of Lights

Deepavali (Singapur)

Hindu Festival of Lights

Diwali Festival of Lights

India's most beloved holiday, the Festival of Lights, fills the country with millions of clay diyas, colorful fireworks, and elaborate rangoli designs for five days in October or November. Families exchange sweets, worship Lakshmi the goddess of prosperity, and illuminate their homes in a nationwide celebration of the triumph of light over darkness.

National Day Golden Week

China's week-long holiday around October 1st sees hundreds of millions travel domestically to landmark destinations.

Tihar Festival of Lights

Nepal's five-day Festival of Lights honors crows, dogs, cows, and oxen before celebrating Laxmi puja with thousands of oil lamps illuminating homes and streets. The festival also includes Deusi and Bhailo singing traditions where groups go door-to-door performing songs in exchange for blessings and gifts.

Turkish Republic Day

October 29th marks the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 with grand ceremonies, military parades, and spectacular fireworks displays in cities across Turkey. Atatürk's memory is honored with solemn commemorations alongside joyful public celebrations and vibrant cultural events.

Advent in Zagreb

Zagreb's Christmas market has been voted Europe's best Advent destination multiple times, transforming the Croatian capital into a magical winter wonderland from late November through January. Ice skating rinks, mulled wine stalls, artisan craft markets, and spectacular light installations create an enchanting festive atmosphere throughout the city.

Athens Marathon

Bonfire Night Guy Fawkes

On November 5th, Britain lights up with bonfires and fireworks commemorating the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Christmas Season

Festive decorations

Day of the Dead

Mexico's UNESCO-recognized Día de los Muertos is a vibrant two-day celebration honoring deceased loved ones with elaborate altars, marigold-strewn processions, and cemetery vigils on November 1st and 2nd. Far from mournful, the festival is a joyful reunion with ancestors featuring music, food offerings, and the iconic calavera face paintings.

German Christmas Markets

Germany's enchanting Weihnachtsmärkte from Nuremberg to Cologne are the world's most beloved Christmas markets.

Loy Krathong

Festival of floating decorated baskets

Petronas Lights

Petronas Twin Towers light displays

Pushkar Camel Fair

The Pushkar Camel Fair is one of the world's largest camel fairs, drawing over 200,000 visitors to the sacred desert town of Pushkar in Rajasthan each November for trading, camel races, and cultural competitions. The five-day fair coincides with the Kartik Purnima full moon, making it both a commercial spectacle and a deeply religious pilgrimage.

Seoul Lantern Festival

Thanksgiving Day

America's most cherished family holiday on the fourth Thursday of November features turkey feasts and the Macy's Parade in NYC.

Water Festival Bon Om Touk

Cambodia's Water Festival celebrates the reversal of the Tonle Sap River with three nights of spectacular boat races on the Mekong River in Phnom Penh, watched by over a million spectators. The November festival marks the end of the rainy season and features illuminated boat processions, fireworks, and massive riverside crowds.

Yi Peng Lantern Festival

A magical northern Thai festival where thousands of paper lanterns are released into the night sky, creating a breathtaking spectacle above Chiang Mai. The glowing lanterns are believed to carry away bad luck and release wishes into the heavens.

Prague Christmas

Sydney New Year Fireworks

Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House is one of the world's most iconic celebrations, watched by over a billion people globally on television. The harbour transforms into a spectacular stage with two fireworks displays - a family show at 9pm and the legendary midnight extravaganza.

UAE National Day

The UAE's National Day on December 2nd celebrates the federation of the seven emirates in 1971 with spectacular fireworks, drone light shows, and patriotic displays across all seven emirates. The two-day public holiday sees streets and buildings draped in the national colors as residents celebrate with pride.

Vienna Christmas

Winter Snow Season

Skiing and winter sports