Book NOW for $1 £1 €1 • Flexible Payments • No Change Fees • Private Departures Available
Festivals Experiences for Travellers
Few events encompass the core values and most traditional features of a culture quite like a festival. Whether it be celebrations bursting with passion and colour that last long into the night like the Rio Carnival or a peaceful affair dedicated to symbolism and natural splendour like hanami in Japan, these events present the ideal scenario in which to immerse yourself into a culture entirely unlike your own. Festivals act as a vivid depiction of the history, beliefs and people that built the foundations on which each culture stands in contemporary society. More often than not, experiencing a cultural festival will become the centrepiece of your trip and the first memory that comes to mind when reminiscing about your adventures, regardless of whether you’re there to soak up tradition or party hard.
Internationally Renowned Festivals
Rio Carnival, Brazil
For many, the mere mention of Rio de Janeiro instils mental images of excitable street parties, free-flowing caipirinhas, outfits of immeasurable flamboyance and an entire city dancing into the early hours of the morning. The world’s largest carnival, it is a veritable hotspot for anyone looking to immerse themselves in the most vibrant of foreign festivals and truly let their hair down. Our tours take you right into the heart of the festivities, staying close to the biggest Rio Carnival event of them all - the Sambadrome.
Discover Brazil on a group tour:
Rio Carnival City Experience
Duration:6 Days
Route:Rio de Janeiro to Rio de Janeiro
Tour Code:RBCCE
Savings:40% off
Songkran, Thailand
(& Thingyan, Myanmar)
From April 13th-15th of every year the entirety of Thailand becomes drenched as it plays host to the world’s largest water fight. A celebration of the Thai New Year and symbolising purification from all the negatives of the year that has passed, Songkran sees locals and tourists alike take up arms in the form of water pistols, buckets and hoses before soaking each and every person that crosses their path. Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand sees the country’s most extravagant celebrations of the festival erupt in street after street of aquatic chaos and smiling faces. Myanmar celebrates its national equivalent, Thingyan, at the same time of year.
Discover Thailand on a group tour:
Thailand in Two Weeks
Duration:13 Days
Route:Chiang Mai to Phuket
Tour Code:ICT2
Savings:31% off
Customise your trip around Songkran on a Tailor-made tour:
Dia de los Muertos
(Day of the Dead), Mexico
Despite coinciding with Halloween, Dia de los Muertos (or Day of the Dead) is in fact an event of joy and celebration rather than horror and gore. The festival is a tradition dating back to pre-Colombian times in Mexico and is a time to remember ancestors who have passed away. Whilst the theme of death and skeletal decorations may suggest a somewhat macabre tone to most, the festival is in fact based on the belief that passed loved ones return to our world for the day and therefore we should greet them with vibrant displays of love and happiness. The colourful celebrations run from 30th October to November 2nd every year.
Discover Mexico on a group tour:
Highlights of Mexico
Duration:8 Days
Route:Mexico City to Playa del Carmen
Tour Code:CMP
Savings:31% off
Customise your trip around Day of the Dead Festival on a Tailor-made tour:
Holi Festival, India
A festive explosion of colour and happiness, Holi Festival is becoming increasingly popular as its joyful rituals have begun to slowly emigrate to other parts of the globe. However, nowhere celebrates this resplendently chaotic festival quite like India, where it originated. Occurring in March in accordance with the start of spring, Holi is a day of love and forgiveness where people throughout India dance, laugh and launch brightly coloured powder at each other, culminating in rainbow seas of joyous revellers. Parties tend to continue into the night and are particularly raucous in India’s northern regions, where local music and colourful party goers pack the streets.
Discover India on a group tour:
Customise your trip around Holi Festival on a Tailor-made tour:
Hanami (Blossom Festival), Japan
Coinciding with the blooming of the cherry blossoms around the end of March, hanami signals the end of winter and the arrival of spring. More peaceful than some other festivals, during hanami locals gather under the cherry blossoms in parks and public spaces to enjoy a picnic feast with friends and family. The true joy provided by hanami is witnessing Japan at its most quintessentially picturesque, with the gently sloping roofs of ancient temples emerging through the delicately rose-tinged sea of the cherry blossom canopy. Some parks hang paper lanterns in the evening, providing a magical experience for those planning on enjoying the blossoms through to the chilly evenings.
Discover Japan on a group tour:
Chinese New Year, China
Responsible for one of the largest human migrations on the planet as relatives reunite across the nation, Chinese New Year is a time for family gatherings and chaotic celebration. During the celebrations China becomes a sea of red, as lanterns are hung, fireworks are fired and doors are adorned with paper hangings. This represents luck and protection against fabled beasts, such as Nian, who was said to have been afraid of anything with a crimson hue. The festivities are also a time to remember and honour ancestors, before concluding with the magnificent lantern festival on the night of the first full moon. It is a cultural phenomenon and a real feast for the senses.
Customise your trip around Chinese New Year on a Tailor-made tour:
Festival Calendar
Something Different
Loy Krathong (Lantern Festival), Thailand
The antithesis of the chaos of Songkran’s water fights, Loy Krathong is Thailand’s lantern festival that takes place at the end of the rainy season. The festival sees locals light candles and send them down local waterways on krathongs - small, elaborately decorated boats traditionally constructed from leaves - as well as releasing countless paper lanterns into the night sky as a peaceful yet dramatic symbol of respect to water spirits or to represent a wish for the coming seasons. The warm glow of thousands of lights glimmering on the water’s tranquil surface and gracefully floating through the clear night skies is a spellbinding sight.
Discover Thailand on a group tour:
Thailand in a Week
Duration:7 Days
Route:Chiang Mai to Bangkok
Tour Code:ICT1
Savings:29% off
Tango Festival, Argentina
Regardless of whether you are a tango master or an absolute novice, the Tango Festival held in Buenos Aires every August is an event that should not be missed. Brimming with passionate elegance, this event attracts some of the most talented tango dancers in the world for a two week extravaganza and also incorporates the Tango World Cup, where 400 dancers go head to head to be crowned the best of the best. The festival includes all things associated with the dance style, from live tango music to tango-inspired theatre, and is an excellent chance to vividly experience the tango lifestyle in the city that it calls home.
Discover Argentina & Brazil on a group tour:
Highlights of Argentina and Brazil
Duration:11 Days
Route:Santiago to Rio de Janeiro
Tour Code:HSF
Savings:29% off
Harbin Ice Festival, China
The largest snow and ice festival in the world sees entire cities sculpted from ice with the help of heavy machinery and cranes. Every January the city of Harbin, China, welcomes thousands of tourists to witness its colossal sculptures, built using ice that has been cut from the nearby Songhua River. The buildings are then lit up in a rainbow of colours, providing a spectacle unlike any other. Temperatures at the festival can drop well below freezing so make sure that you wrap up warm.
Customise your trip around Harbin Ice Festival on a Tailor-made tour:
Stars of the White Nights, Russia
Celebrating the near-midnight sun in St Petersburg, this festival is a true Russian extravaganza combining classic ballet and opera, international music superstars and zany carnival acts across the city. Perhaps the most memorable event is the Scarlet Sails show, during which a ship with red sails glides across the surface of the river in front of a backdrop of magnificent fireworks lighting up the sky. The event gives a good impression of the eclectic variety of influences that have entwined to build modern Russia.
Discover Russia on a group tour:
Russian Highlights
Duration:7 Days
Route:Moscow to St Petersburg
Tour Code:EEHR
Savings:27% off
Esala Perahara, Sri Lanka
Held in honour of the moment that Buddha’s tooth was brought to Kandy, Sri Lanka, the Esala Perahara is the grandest of Sri lanka’s national festivals. During July and August each year the streets of the city become rife with flame-wielding traditional dancers, dexterous acrobats and crowds of excitable locals. An event that has to be seen to be believed, the festival brings out the vibrant best in Sri Lanka’s passionate population.
Customise your trip around Esala Perahara on a Tailor-made tour:
Facts you never knew about Festivals
Things you never knew about festivals
How long has Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos been celebrated for?
hover to find out
Over 2500 years
Evidence suggests that the ceremonies have been carried out since before the time of the Aztecs!
Things you never knew about festivals
Approximately … of the world’s population proportion celebrates Chinese New Year.
hover to find out
20%
Partly due to China’s influence on a number of its neighbouring nations, roughly ... of the planet is said to celebrate this annual event.
Things you never knew about festivals
Which festival name derives from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘moving’ or ‘passing’?
hover to find out
Songkran
… is so named as it refers to the sun's shift from one position to another in the zodiac, signifying the start of a new year in Thailand.
Culinary Festivals
Jerusalem Beer Festival
Israel
Enjoy over 120 types of local and international beer with 15,000 others in the ancient city of Jerusalem.
Salon de Chocolate
Ecuador
Set your tastebuds loose at this celebration of all things chocolate from the land where it originated.
Nine Emperor Gods Festival
Thailand
A nine day festival of vegetarian food. Even meat lovers won’t be able to get enough of this Phuket festival.
Savour Festival
Singapore
Some of the greatest food from the greatest chefs on the planet is on offer at this gourmet food festival.
Oktoberfest
Namibia
Oktoberfest in Windhoek, where the beer flows freely, perfectly encapsulates the remnants of German influence on Namibia.
Religious Festivals
Easter Festival, Guatemala
Whilst Easter is celebrated by every Christian nation in the world, nowhere does it quite like the residents of Antigua, Guatemala. The week long festivities see humongous floats depicting various biblical events carried through the vibrantly coloured streets by men wearing traditional purple Mayan robes. The contrasting blend of cultures makes this truly unique event ideal for both devout Christians and those wishing to experience something totally different over the Easter period.
Discover Belize & Guatemala on a group tour:
Best of Belize and Guatemala
Duration:8 Days
Route:Playa del Carmen to Antigua
Tour Code:CPA
Savings:40% off
Festival de la Candelaria,
Bolivia & Peru
A blend of Catholicism and traditional Andean religions culminates in all manner of music, dancing and festivities by the shores of Lake Titicaca, both in Peru and Bolivia. The festival is held in homage to the patron saint of Puno, Peru, and the Andean equivalent of Mother Earth, Pachamama. Due to the festival’s Andean influence, citizens adorn themselves in lavish traditional costumes of all descriptions before gathering near the shores of the lake and dancing to traditional music. The main day of the festival falls on 2nd February, but festivities usually continue for days afterwards.
Discover Bolivia & Peru on a group tour:
Inti Raymi, Peru
A true flashback to the traditions that moulded the continent, the festival of Inti Raymi is celebrated at the ancient site of Saksaywaman in Cusco, Peru, by indigenous members of the community as a nod to the Inca tradition from centuries ago. Traditionally a celebration dedicated to the sun god Inti, the festival was reborn in the 1940s and has since seen Peruvians and tourists flock to the archaeological site to watch the music, dancing and ceremonies performed in energetically coloured traditional dress.
Discover Peru on a group tour:
Christmas Festivities, Vienna, Prague, Tallinn and Budapest
Whilst they may not technically count as festivals, the Christmas markets in Central Europe’s capitals can't be left off the list. Every festive season, the quaint squares and palatial plazas of Vienna, Prague, Tallinn and Budapest transform into a sea of spectacular festivities with traditional handmade trinkets, delicious local food and warming beverages aplenty. Lined with countless fairy lights, the streets of these historic cities adopt a cheerful glow as the archaic backdrop of the traditional architecture creates a fairytale-like atmosphere as you wander amongst the tents and stalls. Whilst we don’t travel to this region over the winter months, the magic of the festive season here is easily matched by its magnificence in summer.
Discover Central Europe on a group tour:
Central Europe Highlights
Duration:11 Days
Route:Warsaw to Budapest
Tour Code:EEXC
Savings:27% off
Festival Travel Blogs
Top 10 Reasons Why We Love Tailor-made Tours
Did you know we don’t just do group tours? We also have a dedicated Tailor-made department who can help you plan a bespoke trip in Latin America or Asia. Whether you want to customise one of our group tours or have something completely different in mind, our team can help you create an exclusive adventure. Read our top 10 reasons why we love Tailor-made tours!
Festivals of Asia
If you are born in 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992 or 2004, then congratulations, it is your year! In Chinese New Year traditions, celebrated on the 8th of February, 2016 marks the Year of the Monkey. Chinese New Year is a time for big festivities, and many destinations around the world mark the event with vibrant celebrations.
