Seasonal discoveries
Events & Festivals
Discover travel events, festivals, and cultural celebrations around the world.24 events
Cultural experiences
2 events
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 more
Date pending official confirmation
Ramadan Iftar Season
Turkey’s Ramadan Iftar Season centers on iftar, the evening meal that ends the daily Ramadan fast at sunset and the Maghrib call to prayer. Ramadan is a month of fasting, communal prayer, reflection, charity, and stronger community ties for Muslims. In Turkish cities, municipalities may create large communal tables in public squares, where residents gather to share food and prayer. Visitors may also encounter evening food markets, traditional entertainment, and the call to prayer from historic mosques. Customs and public arrangements vary, so check current official dates and local arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn moreFestivals
16 events
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
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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 more
Date pending official confirmation
Nice Carnival
Nice Carnival, known in French as Carnaval de Nice, is a major annual carnival on France’s French Riviera. Held in February, and sometimes in early March according to the movable Christian Carnival calendar, it brings a lively pre-Lenten tradition into the streets of Nice. Visitors can experience colourful parades featuring giant floats, confetti and flower parades along the Promenade des Anglais, with an atmosphere shaped by spectacle, artistry and public celebration. As the timing can shift from year to year, check the current official dates, parade arrangements and visitor information before planning your trip.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Bali Nyepi
Bali Nyepi, also known as the Day of Silence, is a Balinese Hindu holiday marking the Saka New Year, observed according to the Balinese calendar. Its central practices are silence, fasting, and meditation; the following day is celebrated as New Year’s Day. Before Nyepi, visitors may encounter Pangrupukan processions featuring ogoh-ogoh, striking sculptures that represent negative forces or human weaknesses. These figures may later be burned as a symbolic act of removing negativity. During Nyepi itself, expect a markedly quiet atmosphere and approach local observance with respect. Check current official dates and local arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Cherry Blossom Season
Japan’s cherry blossom season is a spring tradition centered on hanami, the appreciation of flowers—especially sakura—and their fleeting beauty. Across the country, people gather beneath blooming trees for outdoor parties and picnics, by day or, in some places, at night for yozakura, when lanterns may illuminate the blossoms. Blooming generally travels from late March to early May, while Okinawa can see flowers from January; each display may last only a week or two. Visitors can enjoy blossom viewing in parks and gardens, but timing varies by region and year. Check current official blossom forecasts, dates, and local arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Dublin St Patrick's Day
Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day celebrations mark Ireland’s religious and cultural holiday honouring Saint Patrick, the country’s foremost patron saint, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Traditionally observed on 17 March, the occasion also celebrates Irish heritage and culture. Visitors may encounter public parades and festivals, céilithe, green clothing and shamrocks, while some Christians attend church services. The day’s festive character reflects traditions that developed around the holiday, including the historic easing of Lenten restrictions. As the current programme and arrangements can vary, check official Dublin information for up-to-date dates, events and practical details before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Holi Festival of Colors
In India, Holi—the festival of colours—welcomes spring, marks winter’s end and invokes a good harvest. Its Hindu traditions celebrate the love of Radha and Krishna, while also recalling the triumph of good over evil through Vishnu as Narasimha. During this joyful night-and-day celebration, people may sing, dance and playfully throw gulal, the traditional coloured powder, along with water. Across India, streets and public spaces can become vivid, communal places of celebration, though customs vary. Holi falls around mid-March by the Gregorian calendar; check current official dates and local arrangements before planning your visit.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
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Holi Nepal
Holi Nepal is Nepal’s exuberant celebration of spring, colour and love. Rooted in Hindu tradition, Holi recalls the devotion of Radha and Krishna and the triumph of good over evil, while welcoming the end of winter and hoping for a fruitful spring harvest. Visitors can encounter lively street celebrations, throw vibrant powdered pigments and join water play, while respecting local customs and personal boundaries. Holi traditionally begins on the evening of the full moon in Phalguna, usually around mid-March. Check current official dates and local arrangements before travelling, as the timing follows the Hindu calendar.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Las Fallas Valencia
Las Fallas de Valencia is the city’s traditional annual celebration, held principally from 15 to 19 March. Neighbourhood commissions create enormous satirical monuments known as fallas, while daily Mascletà pyrotechnic performances run from 1 to 19 March. Visitors can explore the colourful installations, experience the lively public celebrations, see processions and floral offerings, and sample regional paella at neighbourhood gatherings. On the final night, the monuments are burned in the Cremà, the festival’s dramatic conclusion. Recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage since 2016, Las Fallas is a deeply communal tradition. Check current official dates, programme details and arrangements before travelling.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
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Lisbon Fado Night
Lisbon Fado Night offers an introduction to fado, the Portuguese music tradition traced to Lisbon in the 1820s. Often shaped by mournful melodies and lyrics about the sea, hardship, longing and fate, fado expresses the Portuguese feeling known as saudade. Visitors can listen to singers accompanied by the Portuguese guitar, an instrument closely associated with the genre, and experience a music tradition whose history has been passed down largely through oral memory. As the current programme and arrangements may change, check the latest official dates and details before making plans.
Data updated: 2026-07-08Learn more
Date pending official confirmation
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
The Melbourne Food & Wine Festival is an annual March celebration of Melbourne and Victoria’s food and wine culture, held since 1993. Its purpose is to showcase the region’s produce, culinary talent and lifestyle while highlighting Melbourne as a food-and-wine destination. Visitors can choose from a varied program that may include cooking classes, tastings and banquet-style lunches, with events developed in collaboration with Victoria’s food and wine industry. As the program and arrangements can change from year to year, check the current official dates, listings and booking information before planning your visit.
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