Current & Upcoming Festivals

Gloucester Cheese Rolling Despite constant threat of cancellation there's always some hardy souls willing to throw themselves down the hill after a large cheese! When: Spring bank Holiday Monday, 4th June 2102 Where: Cooper's Hill, Brockworth,, Gloucestser, England Every Spring bank holiday Monday at Cooper's Hill i...

Vesak day, China Celebrating the birth, death and enlightenment of Buddha When: Varies - May 24th 2013 Where: China (or anywhere in Asia and the Buddhist world) “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely ...

Anastenaria An unbelievable ancient Greek fire-walking ritual. When: May 20th to 23rd every year. Where: Northern Greece, Southern Bulgaria Having danced themselves into an trance like state, locals in the villages of this area of Northern Greece and Southern Bulgaria then dance across hot coals in hon...

Sanggutan Festival How to make red wine from coconuts When: 18th May every year Where: Barugo, Leyte, Philippines The Sanggutan Festival honors the ancient methods of coconut wine processing and takes the form of a dance that portrays the winemaking process during the old times in Leyte. A “sanggut” (or ...

Pahiyas Festival You can eat the decorations after this party! When: May 15th every year Where: Lucban, Philippines Pahiyas means "decor" and every May 15, the fronts of houses in Lucban, Philippines are are elaborately decorated with a brightly colored rice wafer, called kiping. Fruits, grain, vegetable...

Carabao Festival See who's the best dressed carabao in town? When: May 14th & 15th every year Where: Pulilan, Bulacan, Phillipines At the Carabao festival in Pulilan, Bulacan in the Phillipines, the farmers pay tribute to their water buffalos, (known as carabaos) by giving them a makeover for all their hard...

Yasothon Bun Bang Fai Rocket Festival Pack your crash helmet and may the best rocket win! When: May every year. May 12th - 13th 2012. Where: Phaya Thaen Park , Yasothon, Thailand. To the villagers of Yasothon firing ginormous rockets into the sky is apparently the best way to lure the rain gods, and things can get very noisy an...

Feast of San Roque All the single ladies dancing in the street When: May 12th every year Where: San Roque, Valenzuela, Philippines The single women of the town of San Roque, Valenzuela in the Philippines dance in a street procession lasting all day and all night. Legend dictates that if a girl wishes to f...

Beltane and May Day An early form of pole dancing may well lead to a hangover! When: April 30th & May 1st every year. Where: Europe. The earliest May Day festivities started long, long ago with the Festival of Floralia in Roman times, and the raucous Germanic / Scandinavian Walpurgis Night or Celtic Beltane ce...

Walpurgis Night / Beltane Fire Festival A night when bonfires are lit, witches meet, kids play pranks and copious amounts of sparkling wine is drunk (probably by their mothers!). When: April 30th every year. Where: Europe, especially Scandinavia and Germanic Europe. Rather like Halloween it is believed that the boundaries between...

Jindo Yeongdeung Festival A Moses style parting of the waves to escape the tiger ridden island When: Dates vary with the tides. March / April. 25th to 28th April 2013. Where: Gagye Beach, Jindo, Jeollanam-do Province, Korea Once a year in Jindo-gun, Korea the sea literally parts Moses style. The heart-warming story ...

Shibasakura A carpet of flowers at the foot of Mount Fuji. When: End of April - beginning of May every year. Where: Tokyo, Japan. The Fuji “Shiba-sakura” festival is a form of Japanese “flower viewing” festival held sometime during April and May when the flowers are blossoming. Incredible carpets of ...

St George’s Day A romantic guy at heart, St George is famous for slaying the dragon thus saving one very distressed princess. When: 23rd April every year. Where: England and other* countries. It seems we Brits are not alone* in our celebration of the life of the chivalrous St George. In Catalonia April 23r...

Hanami Picnic on sushi and sake underneath the cherry blossom trees When: January to May. Where: Japan. Hanami (flower viewing) is the Japanese tradition of picnicking under the beautiful cherry blossoms (sakura) which bloom all over Japan from mid January to early May. The blossom forecast is...

Gangaur All the single ladies - pray to Gauri for the husband of your dreams When: Varying. April 13th & 14th 2013. 2nd & 3rd April 2014. Where: Rajasthan, India Gangaur is one of the most important festivals in Rajasthan, held each spring in honour of Gauri, the goddess of purity, abundance and pa...

Songkran Festival Make a big splash and get a soaking for good luck! When: April 13th - 15th every year. Where: Yunnan province of China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia The Songkran Festival is the traditional Thai New Year where families and friends gather together to visit temples, sprinkle water on Buddha deiti...

Sechseläuten Exploding into Spring Swiss style! When: 3rd Monday in April Where: Zurich, Switzerland. The Sechseläuten is a traditional spring holiday in the Swiss city of Zürich. A straw snowman (or Böögg) filled with pyrotechnics and fireworks is burnt to welcome the start of Spring. Local guild me...

Shangsi Festival / March 3rd Festival A walk in the countryside and a song in your heart is all you need to find love When: The 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month. April 12th 2013. Where: China Originally Shangsi was all about rituals to ward off disaster, keep evil spirits at bay, to hope for marriage and pray to be blessed with ...

Hana Matsuri A flower festival and tea party for Buddha's birthday. When: April 8th every year. Where: Japan. Hana Matsuri (sometimes Hanamatsuri) is a Japanese celebration of the birth of Buddha. Shrines covered with flowers are built inside the temples and people come to pour sweet amacha (hydrangea l...

Kanamara Matsuri There's definitely no mistaking that this is a Japanese fertility festival! When: First Sunday in April. 7th April 2013. Where: Kanamara Shrine, Kawasaki, Japan A large, pink phallus bobs its way down the street carried on the shoulders of a dozen men in bandanas, to the sound of their rhy...