Seasonal discoveries
Events & Festivals
Discover travel events, festivals, and cultural celebrations around the world.111 events
Cultural experiences
2 events
Date pending official confirmation
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival is an annual winter celebration in Harbin, Heilongjiang, where artists and builders turn ice and snow into large-scale sculptures and illuminated architectural displays. The event has grown from a primarily Chinese gathering into an international festival and competition. Visitors can explore snow sculptures at Sun Island, across the Songhua River from the city, and see Ice and Snow World’s full-size ice buildings lit after dark. Exhibitions generally run from late December to late February. Because opening periods and arrangements can change, check current official dates, access details, and operating information before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Hoi An Lantern Festival
Hoi An Lantern Festival is a monthly cultural tradition held on the 14th day of the lunar month in Hoi An’s UNESCO-listed Old Town. As electric lights are switched off, the streets and historic trading-port setting are illuminated by colorful silk lanterns, while floating water lanterns add a gentle glow along the Thu Bon River. The tradition reflects Hoi An’s long history of cultural exchange and the wider Vietnamese use of lanterns in festive life. Visitors can experience the atmospheric old town and observe lantern-lit scenes, though specific arrangements may vary. Check current official dates and arrangements before visiting.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn moreFestivals
14 events
Date pending official confirmation
Dubai Shopping Festival
Dubai Shopping Festival is an annual, month-long celebration of shopping and public entertainment across Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Stores offer discounts, while the programme can include daily car raffles, prize draws for items such as gold and cars, fireworks, family activities and live shows. The festival reflects Dubai’s role as a major retail and tourism destination, bringing commercial excitement into the city’s public life. Visitors can browse participating shops, enjoy family-oriented entertainment and watch scheduled shows or fireworks, although the exact programme varies. Check the current official dates, participating locations and arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Lunar New Year
In Vietnam, Lunar New Year is known as Tết, the country’s most important cultural celebration. It welcomes spring on the first day of the first Vietnamese lunisolar month, usually falling between late January and 20 February in the Gregorian calendar. Tết brings together traditional culture and family life; visitors may encounter family gatherings, cultural festivities, ancestor remembrance and acts of charity. Vietnamese Catholic communities may also mark the occasion with special Masses and thanksgiving. Because the date follows a lunisolar calendar, and local arrangements can vary, check current official dates and arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Advent in Zagreb
Advent in Zagreb turns Croatia’s capital into a festive winter setting from late November through January. This seasonal Christmas-market experience brings together ice-skating rinks, stalls serving mulled wine, artisan craft markets and illuminated displays across the city. Visitors can wander Zagreb’s central areas, using Ban Jelačić Square—a lively meeting point and hub in the downtown pedestrian zone—as a convenient urban reference, while the historic Upper Town adds atmosphere, including St. Mark’s Church and the Grič Tunnel, a public pedestrian attraction that hosts cultural events. The programme and opening arrangements can change, so check current official dates and details before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Sydney New Year Fireworks
Sydney New Year Fireworks is an annual New Year’s Eve event above Sydney Harbour, where barges in Port Jackson and landmarks including the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge form the setting for spectacular lighting and pyrotechnic effects. The celebration reflects the international tradition of welcoming 1 January with fireworks and makes Sydney one of the first major cities to greet the New Year. Visitors can experience an evening display involving Indigenous Australians, followed by the main midnight fireworks; some viewing locations, including parts of the Royal Botanic Garden, may offer ticketed seating. Check current official dates, viewing arrangements and access information before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Carnival Peru
Peru’s carnival season brings the pre-Lenten spirit of Carnival into public celebrations across the country, with regional traditions that vary widely. In February and March, visitors may encounter water-balloon play in Lima, while Cajamarca is known for elaborate dances and costumes and is widely regarded in Peru as a carnival capital. In Andean communities, the season can include yunza tree ceremonies and Huayno music, reflecting the cultural life of mountain towns and Quechua-speaking regions. Experiences depend on the place and year, so visitors should check current official dates, local arrangements, and practical guidance before planning to attend.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Carnival Portugal
Portugal’s Carnival season brings public celebrations, parades, costumes and a lively sense of shared festivity before Lent. In Ovar, the Carnival of Portugal is a major tourist event shaped by local traditions and modern parade culture: it has been organized in its current form since 1952 and has included samba-school parades since 1983. Visitors can experience the city’s traditional celebrations and colorful procession atmosphere, while remembering that Carnival timing and arrangements can vary. Check current official dates, programme details and local arrangements before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Carnival Veracruz
Veracruz Carnival is one of Mexico’s largest and best-known modern Carnival celebrations, held in the Gulf-coast city of Veracruz. Mexican Carnival is celebrated in many communities, with local traditions shaped by religious and Indigenous heritage; larger celebrations commonly feature floats, queens, and costumes. Visitors to Veracruz can experience the visual spectacle of these elements and the distinctive cultural setting of a major port city in a state known for diverse ethnic and Indigenous communities and cuisine shaped by outside influences. The current timing and arrangements may change, so check official dates and practical details before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Chinese New Year (Singapore)
In Singapore, Chinese New Year marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar and is one of the country’s gazetted public holidays. Celebrated primarily by Chinese Singaporeans, it traditionally brings families together for a reunion dinner and a fresh start after winter. Visitors may encounter red paper decorations, lanterns and customs associated with good fortune, happiness, prosperity and longevity. A distinctly Singaporean food tradition is yusheng, a raw-fish or vegetarian salad symbolising abundance and prosperity. The date changes each year, so check current official dates and local arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Chinese New Year (Malaysia)
Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, welcomes the new year according to the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar and marks the transition from winter to spring. In Malaysia, it is an important celebration for Chinese communities, whose traditions reflect the country’s diverse Chinese heritage. Visitors may encounter family reunions, festive red decorations, lion dances and fireworks, while some celebrations include yusheng, a raw-fish salad associated with abundance and prosperity. Customs can continue from New Year’s Eve through the Lantern Festival. The calendar date changes each year, so check current official dates and local arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Chinese New Year Spring Festival
In China, Chinese New Year—often called the Spring Festival—marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar. It is one of the country’s most important holidays, associated with welcoming spring, honouring deities and ancestors, and bringing families together. Celebrations traditionally run from New Year’s Eve to the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day. Visitors may encounter regional customs, reunion meals, red paper decorations bearing wishes for good fortune, and festive firecrackers, with traditions varying across China. The first day falls on a new moon between 21 January and 20 February, so check current official dates and local arrangements before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Cologne Carnival
Cologne Carnival, known locally as Kölner Karneval, transforms the city into a lively pre-Lenten celebration. Carnival season is traditionally proclaimed at 11:11 on 11 November, then resumes after Epiphany; the main street festivities begin on the Thursday before Lent and continue through Ash Wednesday. Visitors can expect costumed crowds, street merrymaking, and the familiar Kölsch greeting “Kölle Alaaf!” Rose Monday is the carnival’s highlight. In the streets, spectators may also catch sweets, chocolate bars, and praline boxes thrown into the crowds. Check current official dates and arrangements before travelling, as the calendar follows Lent.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Croatia Carnival
Croatia’s carnival season comes vividly to life in Rijeka, where the Rijeka Carnival is held each year before Lent, generally between late January and early March. Established in 1982, it has become Croatia’s biggest carnival, bringing public celebrations, costumes, masks and parade traditions to the city. Visitors may also encounter the distinctive Zvončari, or “bellmen,” whose centuries-old custom involves marching from village to village, making loud sounds intended to drive away winter’s evil spirits and awaken a new spring cycle. Check current official dates and arrangements before travelling, as the programme and timing can vary.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Greek Apokries Carnival
Greek Apokries Carnival is Greece’s pre-Lenten carnival season, a festive period of public celebration before the restraint of Lent. Across the country, visitors may encounter parades, street gatherings, entertainment, costumes and masks, which create a lively sense of shared participation. Food is also central: Tsiknopempti, or “Smoky Thursday,” is traditionally associated with grilled and roasted meat before the Lenten fast, while cheese-based foods such as gogges belong to the Apokries period in parts of the Peloponnese. Experiences vary by place and year, so check current official dates and local arrangements before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
New Orleans Mardi Gras
New Orleans Mardi Gras is the city’s Carnival season, rooted in French, Spanish, and Catholic traditions. It begins on Twelfth Night, January 6, and continues until midnight before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. Visitors can experience a lively run of parades organized by social clubs known as krewes, with the largest and most elaborate processions generally concentrated in the final five days. The season also includes krewe balls, some of them masquerade events, although many are private. New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indians add a distinctive Black American and Creole cultural tradition through elaborate suits and masking. Check official dates and arrangements before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn morePublic holidays
1 events
Seasonal experiences
1 events
Related reading