February 2019
Naked Man Festival, Okayama (Hadaka Matsuri)
The Saidaiji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri in Okayama, colloquially known as the naked man festival, is the largest of a series of similar festivals held around Japan. Thousand of naked men - well nearly naked, as they are wearing loin cloths - brave the cold February weather to compete for offerings thrown to them from the priests at the Saidaiji Kannon-in Temple in Okayama, in a frenzied take on the wedding bouquet rites. Saidaiji Kannon-in Temple worships the thousand-armed Kannon and marks the…
Find out more »Fête du Citron Menton (Lemon Festival) 2019
Situated on the Côte d’Azur in the Alpes Maritimes, the town of Menton could be forgiven for just becoming a playground for the rich, like neighbouring St Tropez and Monaco. Instead, however, it came up with the highly innovative and colourful La Fête du Citron (Lemon Festival), which attracts thousands of visitors annually and is an intensive labour of love for its citizens. The region of Menton is a producer of high quality lemons thus was the lemon festival conceived…
Find out more »Carnaval de Nice (Nice Carnival) 2019
Set on the glamorous Cote d’Azure, the Nice Carnival (Carnaval de Nice) is one of the largest and most famous carnivals in the world. Many of the world’s top film directors, such as Vadim, Truffaut, Cocteau, Hitchcock and Woody Allen, have contributed to the city’s fame by filming there in the renowned Victorine Studios, established in 1919. So, it is appropriate that the theme for the 2019 event is the King of Cinema. Nice is a city immortalised by Hitchcock’s…
Find out more »Venice Carnival (Carnevale di Venezia) 2019
Juxtapose one of the most beautiful cities in the world alongside one of the most colourful and exciting carnivals globally and it has to be a winning formula. Masked costumed revellers intermingling in St Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace, or sailing along the Grand Canal, create a spectacle not to be missed – the Venice Carnival. Origins of the Venice Carnival So how did one of the most famous carnivals in the world begin? It is thought the festivities…
Find out more »Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival 2019, Taiwan
Experience the magic of the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival when thousands of glowing lights float up into the ink black sky above the small hillside village of Shifen in northern Taiwan. A few years ago The Discovery Channel named the Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival one of the best festivals from around the planet while in 2016 National Geographic listed it among the 10 best winter trips worldwide. Taking place during the first full moon of the Chinese Lunar New Year…
Find out more »Transgrancanaria 2019, Gran Canaria
Fitness fanatics should head to the Canary Islands this February for Transgrancanaria. Held on Gran Canaria since October 2003, the race that will test your levels of endurance. Staged from 20 to 24 February, 2019, Transgrancanaria comprises of six different races – the 360º, the Transgrancanaria, Advanced, Marathon, Starter and Family Trans, making it available to everyone. Competitors must cross the island on foot passing through several aid stations, which allows the organisers to monitor participants' progress, ensuring their safety and comfort. The race is part of the Ultra-Trail…
Find out more »CAMRA Derby Winter Ale Festival 2019
February is the perfect time to visit the city of Derby, regardless of the state of the local football team Derby County’s fortunes. The 15th CAMRA Derby Winter Ale Festival will be held in the Roundhouse in the heart of the city from 20 to 23 February, 2019. In addition to more than 400 ales, ciders, bottled beers and mead, the festival will feature a Craft Keg bar as well as Blue Monkey gin bar. Entertainment will come in a…
Find out more »Santa Cruz Carnival de Tenerife 2019
They sure know how to throw a fiesta in Spain, and the annual Santa Cruz Carnival (Carnaval de Santa Cruz de Tenerife) is a shining example of a 12-day pumping party. As Tenerife’s alternative to the Sitges Carnival, this is a feast of colour, music, dance and a dazzling array of extravagance. Festivities kick off with the Gala Reina – selection of the Carnival Queens – on the first Wednesday of the fiesta. This features a line-up of girls adorning…
Find out more »Carnaval Sitges (Sitges Carnival) 2019, Spain
The Sitges Carnival (Carnaval Sitges) sees the Spanish coastal town brought to life with carnival fever as parties and parades take over the streets in the run-up to Lent. While the event is celebrated throughout Spain, Sitges has built up a reputation as the place to be, thanks to the city knowing exactly how to throw a week-long party. Situated on the Catalonian coast, southwest of Barcelona, Sitges is one of the gay capitals of Europe. Each year, the carnival…
Find out more »Cologne Carnival (Fastelovend), 2019
The Cologne Carnival, Fastelovend or 'Fasteleer' in the local dialect is one of the biggest street carnivals in Europe. Starting on 28 February 2019, the 'Crazy Days' continue until 6 March. Officially, the Carnival officially commences on the 11th minute of the 11th day of the 11th month the previous year, when the Carnival’s triumvirate of rulers — the Prince, the Maiden and the Peasant present themselves to the public alongside performances by musicians at the Alter Markt before thousands of…
Find out more »March 2019
Rio Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2019
Rio Carnival in 2019 begins on 1 March in the afternoon and ends on 6 March when the last reveller flops to the floor. Locals know where to go and what to do; however, as...
Find out more »Panama Carnival (Panama Carnaval), 2019
The Panama Carnival (or Carnaval in Spanish) is the biggest celebration of the year in the Central American nation. Here’s how it’s done. Bring your water pistol. During the day many Panamanians head off to the beach, of which there are many beautiful ones to choose from, though they are a little way out of the capital. It is in the night when the Carnival party atmosphere begins. There will be elaborately decorated floats, processions, music and a competition to…
Find out more »Carnaval de Binche (Carnival of Binche)
Eerie, identical wax masks, colossal ostrich plume hats, confetti in churches and orange throwing: the medieval Carnaval de Binche (or Carnival of Binche) is like no other in the world. In the land of René Magritte, the Carnaval de Binche definitely lives up to Belgium’s long-time love affair with surrealism. In this tiny town in French speaking Wallonia, hundreds of local males – from toddlers to grandfathers – come out at dawn and roam the streets like the undead woken…
Find out more »Battle of the Oranges, 2019, Ivrea, Italy
Referred to as the biggest food fight in Europe, the Battle of the Oranges takes over the town of Ivrea on the three days preceding Lent, from the Sunday to Shrove Tuesday. An estimated 9,000 tonnes of oranges are cast in a pitched battle between the townsfolk represented by nine teams of orange throwers and tyrannical orange-yielding soldiers in their carts. However, do not expect a backpacker throw-fest as in La Tomatina in Spain. The Battle of the Oranges is…
Find out more »Winter Golden Eagle Festival 2019, Mongolia
At Mongolia’s Golden Eagle Festival in winter, ethnic Kazakhs show off the breathtaking skills of their trained hunting eagles, alongside cultural displays of Kazakh...
Find out more »Trinidad Carnival, Port of Spain 2019
The World’s greatest party might be in Rio de Janeiro, but the Trinidad Carnival is a mix of centuries of tradition and solid fun. Officially, the Trinidad Carnival begins on the Monday before Ash Wednesday and finishes the following day. In 2019, this falls on 4 and 5 March. However, there is a series of great events around these dates in Port of Spain, and it could really be said to start a couple of days earlier. Sure, it’s not on…
Find out more »New Orleans Mardi Gras 2019
New Orleans Mardi Gras or ‘Fat Tuesday’ is one of the biggest parties in the USA and very distinct from the Rio Carnival or the Trinidad Carnival, Port of Spain. Processions and floats pass by, organised by krewes, many of which have been around for decades and have intriguing names like Bacchus, Endymion, or the Knights of Chaos. These floats may be visually stunning, or be aimed to make you laugh, or to satirise some human failing. They parade in…
Find out more »Olney Pancake Race, Buckinghamshire, UK, 2019
While people around the UK are celebrating the approach of Lent by tossing pancakes in the warmth of their own kitchen, the gentlefolk of one Buckinghamshire town take to the streets for the Olney Pancake Race. History of the Olney Pancake Race Dating back to 932 and mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, the town of Olney was originally not only famous for its lace-making but its annual pancake race, which has been run in the town since 1445…
Find out more »Camel Festival (Temeenii Bayar) Mongolia 2019
During the Camel Festival, held in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, nomadic herders show off their skills during the biggest camel race in the world, alongside cultural activities…
Find out more »Frozen Dead Guy Days, Colorado, USA
Over the first full weekend in March, Nederland in Colorado hosts one of the quirkiest festivals in the US, if not the world. Frozen Dead Guy Days features frozen festivities with dozens of live bands and such offbeat icy escapades as polar plunging in fancy dress costume and ice turkey bowling. Bredo Morstol and the Origins of Frozen Dead Guy Days Marking its 18th incarnation in 2019, Frozen Dead Guy Days promises to be something of an ice-cool spectacle. Almost certainly…
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