Annual Recurring Events 2027+
42+ major annual events worldwide — cherry blossom Japan, Songkran Thailand, Oktoberfest Munich, Rio Carnival, Diwali, Great Wildebeest Migration + more. Dates + planning tips for the next 2 years.
Festivals + parties
Oktoberfest Munich
The world's largest beer festival — 6 million visitors, 14 beer tents + 200-year tradition
Rio Carnival
The world's greatest party — samba school parades, street blocos + 6 days of carnival
La Tomatina
The world's biggest food fight — 150,000 kg of tomatoes across 20,000 people, 1 hour
Harbin International Ice + Snow Sculpture Festival
The world's largest ice festival — full ice cities, life-size buildings + 1M+ visitors
Notting Hill Carnival
Europe's biggest street festival — 2 million people, Caribbean sound systems + soca parades
Sapporo Snow Festival
Japan's biggest winter festival — hundreds of giant snow + ice sculptures across Sapporo
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
World's largest hot air balloon festival — 500+ balloons, 9 days + Special Shape Rodeo
Venice Carnival (Carnevale di Venezia)
The world's most elegant masked ball — 2 weeks of costumes, Piazza San Marco parades + gondola rides
La Mercè Barcelona
Barcelona's biggest festival — human towers (castellers), fire-runs (correfoc) + fireworks
Burning Man
The counter-culture desert festival — 80,000 people, radical self-reliance + The Burn Saturday
Running of the Bulls (Sanfermines)
The bull run of San Fermín festival — 8:00 daily encierro through Pamplona streets
Religious celebrations
Diwali (Festival of Lights)
Hindu festival of lights — 5-day celebration with fireworks, diyas + rangoli
Holi (Festival of Colours)
The world-famous festival of colours — powder-throwing celebration of spring
Semana Santa Antigua Guatemala
Latin America's most spectacular Easter — colored sawdust alfombras + Baroque church processions
Semana Santa (Holy Week) Sevilla
Spain's most intense religious spectacle — 60 processions + Palm Sunday to Good Friday
Bali Nyepi (Day of Silence)
The world's only 24-hour silent day — Bali shuts down completely for the Balinese New Year
Loi Krathong + Yi Peng (Thai Lantern Festival)
Thailand's most beautiful festival — floating lanterns on water + thousands of sky lanterns
Vesak (Buddha's Birthday)
The world's biggest Buddhist celebration — birth, enlightenment + death of Buddha commemorated
Cultural events
Songkran (Thai New Year)
The world's biggest water fight — 3-day Thai New Year celebration
Chinese New Year (Spring Festival)
World's largest annual migration — 3 billion trips + lion dances + fireworks
Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos)
Mexico's celebration of the dead — altars, marigolds, sugar skulls + midnight cemetery vigils
Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmärkte) Germany
Europe's classic Christmas experience — glühwein, gingerbread + 200+ markets across Germany
Thingyan Water Festival Myanmar
Myanmar's Buddhist New Year — 4-5 days of water throwing, similar to Thai Songkran
SXSW (South by Southwest) Austin
World's biggest tech + music + film convergence — 10 days, 5,000+ speakers + shows
Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)
Korea's biggest family holiday — 3-day harvest festival, ancestor rites + songpyeon rice cakes
Naadam Mongolia
Mongolia's national festival — wrestling, archery + horse racing across 3 days
St. Patrick's Day + Festival Dublin
The world's biggest Irish celebration — 4-day festival, parades + Temple Bar pub crawls
Cinco de Mayo
Mexico's Battle of Puebla commemoration — bigger in US than Mexico itself
Edinburgh Fringe Festival
The world's largest arts festival — 3,500+ shows, 25 days of comedy, theatre + music
Natural phenomena
Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Season Japan
The world's most anticipated flower season — 1-2 week bloom sweeping Japan south to north
The Great Wildebeest Migration
Africa's greatest wildlife event — 1.5M wildebeest + zebras crossing the Mara River
Iceland Northern Lights Season
The Aurora Borealis over Iceland — 8-month season with peak September-March
Cherry Blossom (Beotkkot) Korea
Korea's cherry blossom season — 2-week bloom, Jinhae's Gunhangje Festival + Yeouido tunnel
Whale Watching Sri Lanka (Mirissa)
World's largest blue whale gathering — Mirissa 6-month season, 95%+ sighting rate
Snow Monkey Season (Jigokudani)
Wild Japanese macaques bathing in a hot spring — 4-month winter season, iconic photography
Gray Whale Watching Baja California
Gray whale mating + birthing lagoon — 3-month season, close-approach whale encounters
Iceland Midnight Sun
The sun barely sets — 20-24h daylight, midnight golf + eternal dawn photography
Fall Foliage New England
America's greatest autumn colours — 4-week season sweeping New Hampshire, Vermont + Maine
Autumn Leaves (Kōyō) Japan
Japan's autumn colour season — rival to cherry blossom, less crowded but equally spectacular
Annual sports events
Wimbledon Championships
Tennis' oldest + most prestigious Grand Slam — 2 weeks of grass court + strawberries & cream
French Open (Roland-Garros)
The clay court Grand Slam — 2 weeks in Paris + Philippe Chatrier + Coupe des Mousquetaires
Tour de France
The world's greatest cycling race — 21 stages, 3 weeks + Champs-Élysées finale