January events around the world
Africa
Festival in the Desert, Mali
Dancing and music festival held in the desert attracting Tuareg and travellers alike
Kaapse Klopse, South Africa
Cape Town’s largest carnival (also known as Cape Minstrel Carnival) is noisy and joyous and features marching troupes
Leddet, Ethiopia
Ethiopian Christmas and a good time to visit Lalibela, one of the great African religious and historical sites
Timkat, Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s most colourful festival, commemorating Jesus’ baptism, features parades and baptisms
Voodoo Festival, Benin
Vibrant and colourful festival held at Ouidah, the historic centre of voodoo worship – with much singing, dancing, chanting, drumming and gin drinking
Australasia & Pacific
Australian Open, Australia
Australia’s main tennis tournament, forming part of the Grand Slam
Big Days Out, Australia
Six different locations across Australia host this music festival-on-tour over successive weekends
Perth International Arts Festival, Australia
Internationally acclaimed festival of music and visual art performances as well as national, international and aboriginal dance
Sydney Festival, Australia
Australia’s leading arts festival, held at venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Royal Botanical Gardens and the Museum of Sydney, with performances of theatre, jazz, classical music, dance, opera, cinema and puppet shows
World Buskers Festival
A competition aiming to find the world’s best street entertainer, strangely held at one of the remotest corners of the globe – unicyclists, escapologists, comedians, mime artists and acrobats are just some of the acts battling it out
Caribbean
Barbados Jazz Festival, Barbados
Local, national and international jazz acts attract music fans from the world over
Junkanoo, Bahamas
Spectacular party where competing groups, or crews, set out at dawn, moving towards each other from all directions, resulting in singing and dancing chaos
Europe
Aurora Borealis, Sweden
Simply mentioned as January’s the best time to see the legendary Northern Lights
Camel Wrestling Festival, Turkey
Uniquely Turkish festival in which camels face-off against one another in sumo-like combat, with much feasting, drinking and dancing around the event
Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow, Switzerland
The world’s best polo players gather in St Moritz to play on a frozen lake in one of the top events in the polo calendar
Kiruna Snow Festival, Sweden
Europe’s largest snow festival takes place in the Lapland town of Kiruna, hosting winter- and space-related events, such as dog sledding, snowmobiling, star-gazing and snow sculpting
La Focara di Novoli, Italy
Marking the end of the agricultural year and honouring the patron saint of the town, Novoli, on Italy’s heel, holds a fiery festival in which 50,000 spectators gather by a huge bonfire, watch fireworks and enjoy music, food and drink
La Tamborrada, Spain
The Basque city of San Sebastian comes to life when drummers parade the streets thumping drums and barrels throughout the days and nights to wake the city’s patron saint
Monte Carlo Rally, Monaco
One of the most famous and traditional rallies sees drivers take to the streets and mountain roads to slug it out and see who is crowned fastest
Up-Helly Aa, United Kingdom
Up to one thousand people, often dressed as Vikings, take to the streets of Lerwick in the Shetlands to drag a Viking galley through the town, after which torches are thrown on board to raze it to the ground
Venice Carnival, Italy
One of the most spectacular settings for any carnival, Venice’s is renowned the world over – floats actually float along the canals, costumes are more ornate than anywhere else and the whole experience becomes a theatrical and visual delight
Viareggio Carnival, Italy
The Tuscan town of Viareggio hosts one of Italy’s most energetic carnivals, sees huge, intricate floats and costumed people take to the streets
Vienna Opera Ball & Season, Austria
The long held tradition of elegant dances, all silk gowns and top hats, continues in the Austrian capital, with the season of 300 balls running from January to March – the biggest being the Vienna Opera Ball the week before Ash Wednesday
Vogel Gryff, Switzerland
This very Swiss event sees three neighbourhood mascots from Basel float down the Rhine before being carried through the streets on a drawn out pub-crawl
Far East
Ati Atihan, Philippines
The most flamboyant and prolonged party in a country famed for fiestas is a quasi-religious Mardi Gras held in Kalibo, all beating drums and free-flowing local brews
Black Nazarene Procession, Philippines
The Black Nazarene – a life-size statue of Christ carved from ebony – is taken from Manila’s Quiapo Church and paraded through the streets, while barefoot men following try to touch it for its miracle-inducing properties
Chinese New Year, China
Although its celebrated around the world, the best parties take place in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, where glorious decorations fill the streets for a number of weeks – though most celebrations are family affairs
Dinagyong, Philippines
Iloilo City takes the chance to go crazy – and they really do – the week after Ati-Atihan in order to honour Santo Nino
Hadaka Matsuri, Japan
The ’naked festival’, a Shinto tradition, sees local men and boys strip down before doing something inappropriate for the time of year – jumping and chanting, swimming in the sea or dousing themselves in water – best seen on Honshu
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival, China
An exhibition of spectacular ice and snow sculptures, including life-size figures and exact reproductions of temples and major buildings
Tet Festival, Vietnam
Celebrations take place across Vietnam to bring in the Chinese New Year. Firecrackers are set off in the street to ward off evil spirits
Thaipusam, Malaysia
Malaysia’s biggest religious festival honours the Hindu gods of Lord Subriaman and Ganesh – penitents carry steel arches decorated with flowers and lights, and attached to their skin by hooks and skewers, up the 272 steps to the Batu Caves by Kuala Lumpur
Yamayaki, Japan
Commemorating an ancient feud between two Buddhist temples, the festivities are centred around setting alight not a bonfire, but an entire hill – Mt Wakakusa-yama
Indian Subcontinent & Indian Ocean
Bikaner Camel Festival, India
A festival devoted to camels in Bikaner sees the humped beasts take parts in races, tugs-of-war, pageants and dances, and win competitions for best decorated, best haircut, and most beautiful
Duruthu Perahera, Sri Lanka
Costumed performers, drummers, dancers and fire-breathers celebrate Buddha’s first visit to Sri Lanka – the second-most raucous event in the island nation
International Kite Festival, India
Incredible spectacle at Ahmedabad where thousands of kites fill the skies and take part in kite battles
Kumbh Mela, India
By far the biggest religious festival in the subcontinent – and indeed the largest gathering of humanity anywhere – Kumbh Mela sees 70 million pilgrims bathe in the Ganges near Allahabad, to wash away their sins (it occurs roughly every three years, with 2010’s event in March/April and 2013’s in January/February)
Losar, Nepal
Drinking, feasting and fireworks are at the centre of this celebration to mark the end of the Tibetan year
Losar Archery Festival, Bhutan
Festival celebrating Bhutan’s national sport, archery, in which the build up summons help from shamans, astrology and mantras and the crowd are then encouraged to put the archers off
Shivaratri, Nepal
A Hindu festival based around the Bagmati River in celebration of Shiva – some of the stranger activities, which seem fairly normal at the time, include yogis stabbing their flesh with tridents and lifting weights without using their limbs...
Latin America
Carnaval de Blancos Y Negros
One of the oldest festivals in South America, in which revellers keep alive a tradition of face painting or dusting, from a time when slaves’ masters painted their faces black one day, the slaves white the next
Middle East
Dubai Shopping Festival
Month-long shopping festival in a capital of shopping – expect special offers in stores and hotels and raffles and competitions for things you could never usually afford
Dubai World Cup
The horse race with more prize money at stake than any other, attended by anyone who’s anyone
North America
Mummers Parade, United States of America
Extravagant celebrations to herald the New Year, with marches down Philadelphia’s Market Street and Broad Street by people dressed in various costumes
Winter Carnival, Canada
The world’s largest winter carnival in Québec features night parades, ice slides, dog sledding, snow rafting, snow sculpting, snow baths and a canoe race across the frozen St Lawrence River
