November events around the world
Africa
Festival of the Oases, Tunisia
Several thousand desert nomads camp out among the undulating sand dunes south of Tozeur for this festival of events which include horse racing, whip-cracking, snake charming, knife-throwing and camel-spitting
Caribbean
Fete Gede, Haiti
This festival is Voodoo’s version of Day of the Dead, but a little more raucous – believers converge in the capital’s main cemetery to honour the Gede and Baron Samedi with rituals and gifts, dancing follows
Mombassa Carnival, Kenya
East Africa’s largest port and Kenya’s second city, Mombasa, holds this multicultural festival each year, with a focus on two parades featuring floats, costumes and dancers and music from afropop to religious songs
Australasia & Pacific
Melbourne Cup, Australia
This is one of the world’s greatest horseracing meetings, with a prize for the Cup of AUS$5 million – needless to say, spectators in the paddock are high society, quaffing expensive champagnes in the best couture
Europe
Festa del Cornuto, Italy
This festival in Rocca Canterano honours those cuckolded, to give them a bit of cheer – actors on floats moving down the main street recite compositions about betrayals and bust-ups
Leeds Castle Fireworks, United Kingdom
Thousands gather around Leeds Castle in Kent for an awesome firework display accompanied by projected images, music and numerous oohs and aahs
Lewes Bonfire Night, United Kingdom
Bonfire Night is celebrated with gusto across the UK to mark the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot – but nowhere is quite like Lewes, who get out barrels of burning tar and have torch-bearing processions leading up to a massive bonfire and firework display
Far East
Bonn Om Tuk, Cambodia
Cambodia’s biggest festival celebrates the end of the rainy season – head for Phnom Penh for the biggest party, complete with boat races on the Tonle Sap river and a firework display
Loi Krathong, Thailand
Millions of tiny boats made out of flowers and leaves carry candles out into the rivers and harbours across the country to seek forgiveness from the Mother of the Waters for any pollution – the best events are at Sukhothai
Lopburi Banquet, Thailand
This feast is put on in the jungle town of Lopburi to give thanks to the primates that are supposed to guard its well-being – and naturally enough the fellow diners are several hundred long-tailed macaques
Perang Topat, Indonesia
Hindu and Muslim residents of Lombok come together at this harvest festival to throw boiled rice at one another
Surin Elephant Round-Up, Thailand
Several events are held at Surin to celebrate the elephant, including shows featuring over one hundred of them, parades with them in medieval warfare outfits, demonstrations of hunts, elephant football and tug of war – however the festival is becoming more and more commercialised
Tori-No-Ichi, Japan
Festivalgoers head for Otori shrines to request abundant harvests and excellent sales – booming markets now surround these shrines and buzz with atmosphere
Indian Subcontinent & Indian Ocean
Diwali, India
The Hindu festival of lights, symbolising health, wealth and all things positive, celebrates the return of Rama and Sita in the Ramayama and is the biggest annual event in India
Nanak Jayanti, India
Sikhs visit temples across Punjab to celebrate the religion’s founder, with the most spectacular celebrations at Amritsar’s Golden Temple – processions wind their way through the old city and a huge feast is held in the dining hall in the evening
Pushkar Camel Fair, India
More than 50,000 camels, with their owners dressed in beautiful traditional costumes, come to Pushkar, a small pilgrimage town on the edge of the Thar Desert, for this livestock market and the camel racing and beauty competitions
Latin America
Day of the Dead, Mexico
Mexico’s most distinctive festival is a time to remember lost loved ones and celebrate the eternal circle of life – at night graveyards come to resemble roadside restaurants, with picnic tables and chairs around graves, with the smell of fried tortilla and tequila in the air
La Diablada, Peru
Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, celebrates its liberation from the Spanish and pays tribute to the lake’s ancient spirits by dressing in spectacular costumes and parading through town on a route led by the devil
Middle East
Eid al-Fitr, Syria
The Muslim world celebrates the end of Ramadan with most gusto in Damascus, with fireworks, music, fairground rides, dancing and food before sunset
North America
Thanksgiving, United States of America
One of America’s most renowned festivals, Thanksgiving is on a par with Christmas as an excuse to gorge on fine food and wine and laze by the telly – the celebration commemorates the Pilgrim Fathers first harvest and their thanks to the aboriginal people in helping them settle and sees patriotic parades run through all major towns, with the biggest in New York
