Festival calendar
Every festival we cover, month by month. Filter to plan your year.
January
Up Helly Aa
Vikings, torches and a burning longship in the depths of winter.
Harbin Ice & Snow
A whole city of illuminated ice palaces in deep winter.
Timkat
Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany, a dazzling water celebration.
February
Quรฉbec Winter Carnival
The world's largest winter carnival, led by Bonhomme.
Sapporo Snow
Colossal, breathtaking snow and ice sculptures.
Chinese New Year
Lion dances, lanterns and fireworks welcome the lunar year.
Venice Carnival
Elaborate masks and Baroque costume along the canals.
Battle of the Oranges
The whole town divides into teams and pelts each other with oranges.
Pingxi Lantern
Sky lanterns carrying wishes over the mountains.
Mardi Gras
Beads, brass bands and float parades before Lent.
Rio Carnival
Samba schools, sequins and the biggest street party on earth.
March
Cape Town Jazz
Africa's grandest gathering of jazz.
Nyepi
Bali's Day of Silence โ the whole island stops.
Holi
The festival of colours โ pigment thrown in joy at the arrival of spring.
St Patrick's Day
A city (and a planet) turns green for a day.
April
May
Cannes Film Festival
The most glamorous week in world cinema.
Vivid Sydney
The harbour and Opera House transformed by light and projection.
Cheese Rolling
Chase a 4kg wheel of cheese down a near-vertical hill. Injuries expected.
June
Fes Sacred Music
Sacred and spiritual music from every faith and continent.
Napoli Pizza Village
The home of pizza throws a giant seaside celebration of it.
Inti Raymi
The Inca festival of the sun, re-enacted at Sacsayhuamรกn.
Glastonbury
Five days of music and mud on Worthy Farm โ the home of the British festival.
Gnaoua
Hypnotic Gnaoua trance music on the Atlantic coast.
Primavera Sound
Cult indie and electronic line-ups by the Mediterranean.
El Colacho
Costumed 'devils' leap over rows of babies. Yes, really.
July
Tomorrowland
The world's most spectacular electronic-music festival.
Roskilde
Northern Europe's largest music festival, non-profit and gloriously muddy.
Boryeong Mud
Two weeks of gloriously messy mud pools and wrestling by the sea.
San Fermรญn
The running of the bulls through the old town at dawn.
Naadam
The 'three manly games': wrestling, horse racing and archery.
Wife Carrying
Race an obstacle course carrying a partner. Prize: her weight in beer.
Fuji Rock
Japan's biggest festival, set in stunning mountain forest.
Gion Matsuri
Kyoto's grand month-long festival of towering floats.
Montreux Jazz
Legendary lakeside jazz (and far beyond) since 1967.
August
Edinburgh Fringe
The world's largest arts festival โ thousands of shows across a whole city.
Burning Man
A temporary city of radical art that vanishes without a trace.
Sziget
A week-long 'Island of Freedom' on the Danube.
La Tomatina
One hour. 150,000 tomatoes. The world's largest food fight.
Lollapalooza
Four days of headliners in Grant Park.
Notting Hill Carnival
Europe's biggest street festival, a Caribbean explosion.
September
October
November
Dรญa de los Muertos
Marigolds, sugar skulls and joyful parades honouring the departed.
Pushkar Camel Fair
50,000 camels, traders and pilgrims in the desert.
Monkey Buffet
A lavish feast laid out for thousands of temple monkeys.
Yi Peng
Thousands of glowing sky lanterns released into the night.