North America
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (USA)
A Floating Festival
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is literally a floating festival celebrating balloon flight! It's hard to imagine a more colorful spectacle with 700 rainbow balloons taking flight over the southwest deserts of New Mexico.
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Aloha Festival, Hawaii (USA)
Island Styling
Each year, Hawai’i celebrates the Aloha Festival with a colorful and lively display of the islands rich cultural history. The festival spans six weeks on all six islands, but the premier event is Aloha Week in Honolulu.
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Banff Film Festival, Canada
Celebration of Mountain Culture
The annual Banff Film and Book Festival takes place in Banff, Canada late fall every year. It's a celebration of mountain culture and has a film, photography and book competition.
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Bluesfest, Chicago (USA)
I’ve Got the Windy City Blues
Each year, the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office of Special Events hosts the Chicago’s Bluesfest in Grant Park. Featuring some of the biggest and hottest blues artists, this free summer festival near the shores of Lake Michigan demonstrates why Chicago has been referred to as the “Blues Capital of the World”.
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Bonnaroo, Tennessee (USA)
Make Rock and Roll History
For four days in early June, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival brings together the best musical performers from a multitude of genres to a picturesque Manchester, Tennessee farm. Rolling Stone magazine named the festival one of the “50 Moments That Changed The History Of Rock ‘N’ Roll” and the best U.S. festival overall. To see why, make the journey to what may be the best popular music festival America has to offer.
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Burning Man, Nevada (USA)
Burn Baby Burn!
For just over a week each year, nearly 50,000 people gather in the Black Rock Desert, 127 miles outside of Reno, Nevada to live in a Mad Max-style community encouraging radical expression and self-reliance. Participants freely express themselves in every conceivable way including art projects, gifts, performances, themed camps, informational workshops, and music that attracts top DJs from around the world.
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BYOBW Big Wheels Race (USA)
One Weird Race on the World’s Crookedest Street
Easter Sunday might convey images of hot cross buns, Easter egg hunting and church. But not in San Francisco as every Easter Sunday, there is a race of epic proportions down the steepest and crookedest street in the city.
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Calgary Stampede, Canada
Cowboy Up
The city of Calgary in Alberta, Canada hosts the annual Calgary Stampede. This 10-day event features the world’s largest rodeo, concerts, and more.
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Calle Ocho, Miami (USA)
One Big Block Party
Calle Ocho is a block party of epic proportions held in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The Kiwanis Club of Little Havana has been pivotal to hosting and promoting the event since 1977, which the official website heralds as “the world’s largest street party”
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Camp Bisco, New York (USA)
The Disco Biscuits Present: Camp Bisco
Jam band The Disco Biscuits hosts the annual Camp Bisco festival in the small town of Mariaville, featuring a diverse musical lineup and an infamous party raging into the wee hours.
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Coachella, California (USA)
The Biggest Names in Music Under the California Sun
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival brings nearly 75,000 people to California’s Inland Empire desert to see some of the biggest names in music perform under the sun and stars. Each year the festival takes place for 3 days in April and has drawn mega-artists including Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, Beck, Paul McCartney, Rage Against the Machine, Prince, and Radiohead.
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Comic-Con (USA)
Where Superheros go to party
For 4 days in July, the San Diego Convention Center overflows with more than 100,000 comic and pop-culture enthusiasts for the largest comic book convention in North America: The San Diego Comic-Con.
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Creators Project, Worldwide
Art and Technology Unite
The organizers of "The Creators Project" which include an unlikely union of VICE magazine and computer giants INTEL value both art and technology. It's a touring festival that brings technological art pieces and cutting edge music to the masses.
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Dia de los Muertos, Mexico
Celebrate the Living by Honoring the Dead
For Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Mexican families pay respect to the dead and welcome them with celebration and gifts of food and drink►.
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Electric Daisy Carnival, (USA)
A Festival to Rave About
Electric Daisy Carnival is America’s answer to European electronic music festivals. Since 1997, this music festival has been giving thousands a chance to dance into the night during the last weekend in June.
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Electric Forest (USA)
Lightning in a Forest
The Electric Forest is held in an enchanted woodland near Rothbury, Michigan filled with lights, spirits and electric beats by some of the most talented electronic wizards of the wooden realm.
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Fantasy Fest, Key West (USA)
10 Days of Halloween: Trick or Treat
For the week building up to Halloween, Key West hosts the raucous Fantasy Fest► when the streets overflow with costumes and fun. Enjoy outrageous parades, masquerade balls, costume contests, drag queen pageants, live music, and even pirate-themed parties around every corner!
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Frozen Dead Guy Days (USA)
Fun From Beyond – I’m Dead Serious
Each March, the town of Nederland, Colorado plays host to one of the most bizarre cultural festivals around- the Frozen Dead Guy Days!
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Gay Pride, New York (USA)
The Most Fabulous Parade in the Galaxy
Gay Pride Week culminates with the spectacular Gay Pride Parade. While New York is a sparkling center of the Gay Pride events, cities worldwide have their own celebrations. The most famous celebrations are in San Francisco and Sao Paulo, Brazil (which is the rainbow heavyweight with over 2.5 million attendees).
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Gilroy Garlic Festival (USA)
Vampires you have been warned
The Gilroy Garlic Festival provides music, cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts, Miss Gilroy Garlic, and of course tons of garlic-infused foods at this three-day event. This July 29th-31st, 2011 over 100,000 attendees are expected to sample treats featuring the stinking rose at this Northern California food festival►.
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Halloween, Worldwide
Trick or Treat
Halloween is a world-famous holiday celebrating the macabre and the supernatural, most vigorously observed in the United States. It happens every year on October 31st. The are many customs and traditions associated with this old holiday including carving pumpkins, trick or treating and costume parties. Halloween’s roots have been traced to an old Irish Celtic holiday and to the Roman Empire.
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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (USA)
Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park
Every October, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival takes place in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. A Bay Area native, philanthropist, and music lover Warren Hellman funds the festival as a gift to the city. The concert is free, held in the largest urban park in the US, with 3 days of performances across 5 concert stages by the best acts in rock, folk, bluegrass and pop. The title can be misleading as there’s an impossibly diverse range of genres on display at the festival.
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High Sierra Festival (USA)
4th of July Mountain Jam
Each year around the 4th of July, the small mountain town of Quincy, CA plays host to the High Sierra Music Festival for four days► in the picturesque foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
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Iditarod, Alaska (USA)
The Last Great Race on Earth
This is arguably the greatest adventure race on the planet across some of Mother Nature’s most impressive landscapes. Dog sled teams of 12-16 and a “Musher” race over jagged mountain, across icy rivers, tundra, and the Bering Sea coast. This is all done in Alaskan winter weather, though warmer temperatures have threatened the race route that is dependant on snow.
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Jamcruise, Caribbean
Festival at Sea
Jam Cruise combines the luxury of a cruise line with a roving music festival. The festival sets sail the beginning of January from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and takes festival-goers to beautiful locations in the Bahamas, Central America, and Mexico.
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Jazzfest, New Orleans (USA)
Celebrate the Birthplace of Jazz
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, or Jazz Fest, has been celebrating the musical styles of New Orleans with a culturally rich music festival for over 40 years!
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Joshua Tree Music Fest (USA)
Desert Rock
Joshua Tree is a national park not far outside of Los Angeles off the desert route near Palm Springs. It is a magical place worthy of a visit where for the ninth year in a row, the Joshua Tree Music Festival will be providing an intimate desert festival experience where you can dance under the sun and the stars.
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Kentucky Derby (USA)
“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”
On the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby Festival culminates in a spectacular display of fashion and sport at Churchill Downs for a horse race that has been called “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”► This first leg of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing takes place the first Saturday in May and is watched by millions worldwide.
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Las Vegas Pool Party, (USA)
Top Off a Weekend In Vegas at the World’s Best Pool Party
For a wet, wild, and sexy time, head to the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel pool in Las Vegas during the hottest time of the year and join the fun at Rehab. This is the best of the pool parties in Sin City and it takes place every Sunday during pool season.
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Lightning in a Bottle (USA)
Southern California Lightning Storm
Lightning in a Bottle Arts and Music Festival is a 4-day electronic dance party set in beautiful Southern California over Memorial Day weekend in May.
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Lollapalooza, (USA)
The Godfather of American Festivals
Perry Farrell founded the first Lollapalooza in 1991 as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction. It was also envisioned as a traveling roadshow featuring big names, while showcasing the up and coming. It even featured Shaolin monks and a freakshow.
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Mardi Gras, New Orleans (USA)
Fat Tuesday
New Orleans’ Mardi Gras has become an iconic celebration taking place during the weeks surrounding Fat Tuesday. Parades fill the city as this party overflows beyond Bourbon Street and the French Quarter►.
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Moogfest, USA
Everybody Moog to the Music!
Each October, around Halloween weekend, the streets of Asheville, North Carolina are filled with music lovers catching acts by some of the hottest names in electronic music as part of Moogfest.
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Moscow High Heel Race
100 meters and dashing!
Russian women are famous for having tremendous skill negotiating winter weather, cobblestone streets and everything else with grace in high heels.►
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New Year's Celebrations
Happy New Year!
The beginning of the year is a time to clear out the old, bring in the new and celebrate. Not all calendars are the same but here are our picks of some of the best New Years celebrations.
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Outside Lands, (USA)
Golden Gate Festival!
Outside lands is a new San Francisco music festival bringing an eclectic mix of music and good times to our favorite hometown park- Golden Gate Park!
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Pitchfork Music Festival, (USA)
Hipsters Unite
Why are Hipsters like Farmers?
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Rainbow Gatherings, Worldwide
Hippies Worldwide Rejoice
This year “someplace in the state of Washington” a Rainbow Gathering will form a temporary open and free community built on consensus in the early part of July. Upwards of 30,000 “non-members” are expected to participate in this year’s gathering. Though no official rules, structure, or leaders exist, participants arrive as early as a month beforehand to set up “Seed Camp” and prepare for the Forest Service permitted gathering.
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Redneck Games (USA)
Olympic Hick
The Summer Redneck Games of East Dublin, Georgia may have began as a joke, but they have grown into one of the most fun and silliest festivals taking place this year.
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Reggae on the River, (USA)
Roots Rock Reggae
In it's 27th year Reggae on the River is back in it's great location in Northern California. It's always been set on the banks of the gorgeous Eel River in Garberville California. However there is a new location at the Benbow Lake Recreational Area which is beautiful too.
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Santa Fe Folk Market, (USA)
Support Local Craft and Worldwide Culture
Since 2004, Santa Fe, New Mexico annually hosts the largest multi-cultural artisan fair in the world. The festive market lasts 2 days, and features over 120 select artists from over 45 countries. Artists produce beautiful crafts from their native villages in Peru, India and Africa, and get to keep 90% of the profit.
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Sasquatch Music Festival (USA)
The Legend of Bigfoot
The Sasquatch Music Festival brings the hottest names in music and newest up-and-coming rockers to one of the most beautiful venues on earth over Memorial Day Weekend.
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Shambhala, Canada
Kootenany Shakedown
Shambhala Music Festival brings together the most exciting names in electronic music at this naturally blessed Canadian festival. Tucked into the gorgeous West Kootenany Mountain Range, festival-goers can look forward to five days and four nights packed with music.
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Star Trek Convention (USA)
Live Long and Prosper
Beam yourself up to the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas this August. Creation Entertainment produces the four-day convention as a chance for the biggest fans to celebrate their love for Star Trek and meet their favorite actors, writers, and directors.
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Sturgis Motorcycle Ride (USA)
Harley Riders Unite for the Mother of all Rides
The Sturgis Motorcycle Ride brings over half a million bikers to the Black Hills of South Dakota for a motorcycle rally spanning the first full week of August. Started as a small single race event in 1938, Sturgis experienced multiple waves of expansion before becoming the behemoth event it is today. The rally gained notoriety for its highly-entertaining races and stunts in the early years. Today, the rally brings out families in search of a ride and a good time. Check out this video of the 2010 event.►
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Summerfest, Milwaukee
The World’s Largest Music Festival
For 11 days in summer, the shores of Lake Michigan at Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s Henry Maier Festival Park transform into the self proclaimed “ World’s Largest Music Festival” attracting nearly a million music fans! With over 700 bands playing at 11 stages on a 75-acre venue, Summerfest is sure to entertain you.
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Sundance Film Festival (USA)
Snow, Film, Fashion and Fun
Every January since 1981, independent filmmakers from across the U.S. converge on the small town of Park City, Utah to exhibit films made outside of the traditional Hollywood system. The primarily independent films compete for exposure and a chance to be touted as the next big thing.
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SXSW, Austin, Texas (USA)
Yeeha! South by South West
South By Southwest Music and Film Interactive (SXSW) brings countless musical performers, tons of films, compelling presentations, and networking opportunities to Austin, Texas for a music industry extravaganza.
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Taste of Chicago (USA)
Brews, Blues and BBQs in the Windy City
The Taste of Chicago is the largest festival the Windy City hosts each year. The 10-day festival in Grant Park features numerous food vendors, music, beer, wine, and other entertainment. This popular festival occurs around July 4th each year, so be sure to plan your trip in advance.
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Testicle Festival, Montana
Rocky Mountain Oysterfest
Off of route 90 in Montana you’ll find this balls to the wall festival where testicles have been celebrated Montana style for over 30 years. It’s all the balls you can eat and it can get rowdy and raunchy. People are friendly and expect to see a lot of skin from people of all shapes, sizes and levels of intoxication.
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The Super Bowl (USA)
A New American Holiday
The champions of the National Football League will be crowned every year to a roaring crowd and millions viewing from home. The Super Bowl game transcends the sport of football and has become a part of American popular culture.
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Toronto Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is a publicly attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues. In the last few years, total attendance at TIFF has exceeded 260,000, with 287,000 public and industry admissions in 2009, and a further 239,000 from the free programming scheduled at Yonge-Dundas Square.
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Treasure Island Festival (USA)
Arrrrrrr Youuuu Scurvy Dog
This alternative rock, indy and electronic music festival features hip, upcoming artists on an island framed by the stunning San Francisco Bay.The gorgeous views towards the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Skyline are best enjoyed from the ferris wheel.
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Tribeca Film Festival, USA
Big Screen Big Apple
The Tribeca Film Festival was founded as a response to the impact of the September 11, 2001 attacks on Lower Manhattan and the neighborhood of Tribeca. Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff were the principle founders and inspiration behind the creation of Tribeca in 2002.
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Ultra Music Festival, (USA)
The New Heavyweight of American Electronic Music Festivals
The lineup for the 2011 Ultra Music Festival was stellar. Headlining this urban, outdoor electronic music festival in downtown Miami were Deadmau5, Moby, the Chemical Brothers and Duran Duran. The roots in the UMF lie in the Winter Music Conference which attracts over 300,000 music professionals to the area.
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Valentines Pillow Fight (USA)
World’s Largest Pillow Fight
Saint Valentine’s Day was established in AD 496, named after a Christian martyr. The myth has flourished over time and interpretations of love, hearts and arrow-slinging winged babies called Cupid are the most well-known modern day myths. Religious controversy around the world has come with this holiday and the Catholic church banned it in 1960. Learn more about the history of Valentine's Day here (Youtube)►
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Vancouver Film Festival
Pacific Northwest Film Fest
The Vancouver International Film Festival occurs during the fall in British Columbia, a beautiful time of the year. Not only is it a showcase event for Canadian and North American filmmakers but the largest Asian film festival outside of Asia. The Dragon and Tiger awards cater towards Asian cinema.
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Voodoo, New Orleans (USA)
Vood-you Like to Go to Voodoo?
Voodoo Experience, or simply Voodoo, is a 3-day music extravaganza held on the weekend nearest Halloween (October 31st) in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Wakarusa, (USA)
Mulberry Mountain Hop
Eclectic music mix in this down home rock out near Ozark, Arkansas. It's been growing every year now with sell-out crowds exceeding 60,000.
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Wanderlust Festival
Music and Mats
Wanderlust is a one-of-a-kind festival bringing together the world's leading yoga teachers, top musical acts and DJs, renowned speakers, top chefs and winemakers, and much, much more -- all in a setting of breathtaking natural beauty.
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Wife-Carrying Championships
Carrying your Spouse's Weight
The ancient tradition of wife carrying has many different names and appears to have originated in Sonkajärvi, Finland.
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Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Where Activists Get Inspired
Each year, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival draws top filmmakers, celebrities, leading activists, social innovators and well-known world adventurers to the historic downtown of Nevada City, California. The theme for the 2013 festival is “A Climate of Change”. Along with our usual line-up of beautiful, engaging and eye-opening films, we will have a particular focus this year on climate change, as well as highlighting the change makers who are creating a more livable future.
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