Kanamara Matsuri, Japan Penis Festival 2024
The Japan Penis Festival is arguably the country’s most amusing event when tens of thousands of revellers roam the streets of Kawasaki in April to pay tribute to fertility in an age-old ritual…
5 Japan Winter Festivals: Naked People and Sake
From naked men to setting off fireworks and lots of sake, here is our round up of Japan Winter Festivals ranging from the quirky to the strange. Matsutaki Festival…
Esoteric Worldwide Festivals for 2024
As we enter the new year, Mark Bibby Jackson provides a guide to worldwide festivals for 2024. From voodoo in West Africa to miraculous lords and Hampshire watercress, here is…
6 Exotic Festivals Around the World in 2020
As we enter the new year, Travel Begins at 40 selects six exotic festivals around the world to look forward to, from New Zealand to the US, and Japan to…
Nabana no Sato Winter Light Festival Japan 2023
Nabana no Sato, a botanical garden in the Japanese prefecture of Mie, is home each year to one of the country’s best and biggest winter light festivals. During several months…
Rocket Festival Thailand (Bun Bang Fai) 2024
Home-made rockets roaring into the skies, dirty humour, cross-dressing parades, mud fests and lots of rice wine – the centuries-old Rocket Festival Thailand, or Bun Bang Fai, held in May…
Phi Ta Khon Ghost Festival 2024, Thailand
The immensely popular Phi Ta Khon Festival – also known as the Ghost Festival – is the best reason to visit Loei, a Thai province rarely frequented by international tourists…
Setouchi Triennale 2022, Japan
Every three years the Setouchi Triennale, one of Japan’s biggest festivals of modern art, takes place in the south-west of the country. Come spring this exceptional celebration…
Cherry Blossom Season Japan 2024
The Cherry Blossom Season Japan or sakura is one of the country’s top highlights every year when locals and visitors gather to admire the stunning, blooming cherry trees in parks…
Sapporo Summer Festival 2019
Lasting a whole month from mid-July to mid-August, the Sapporo Summer Festival 2019 is packed with a variety of cultural, musical, gastronomical and fireworks events attracting…
