Brazil, Salvador da Bahia

Salvador's Carnavals have surpassed that of Rio de Janeiro, making it the biggest street party on the planet. For an entire week, almost 2 million people celebrate throughout 25 kilometers (15 miles) of streets, avenues and squares. The direct organization of the party involves the participation of 100 thousand people. Its dimensions are gigantic. Salvador receives an average of 800 thousand visitors from municipalities located as far as 150 kilometers (93 miles) away, from several ...

Poland, Gniew

United States of America, Anchorage, Alaska

You can't compare it to any other competitive event in the world! A race over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. She throws jagged mountain ranges, frozen river, dense forest, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast at the mushers and their dog teams. Add to that temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflow, long hours of darkness ...

Switzerland, Lucerne

Lucerne's reputation as one of the leading international organizers of classical and contemporary music festivals is well established, as host of the renowed Lucerne International Festival of Music. ...

China, Beijing

The Chinese Dragon Boat Festival is a significant holiday celebrated in China, and the one with the longest history. Dragon Boat races are the most exciting part of the festival, drawing crowds of spectators. They commemorate Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet who drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C. Chinese citizens now throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice into the water. Therefore the fish could eat the rice rather ...

Italy, Venecia

Ireland, Galway

Oysters and Guiness are the staple diet of guests at the Galway Oyster Festival, which hits this charming Irish city at the end of every September. ...

Mali, Ségou

Founded in 1852, Segou, keeper of one of the most ancient histories of West Africa, capital of the ancient Bambara kingdom, has an undeniable charm which is well worth discovering. Ancient kingdom of culture and tradition, Segou has inspired numerous writers and historians. Among the most famous is Maryse Condé. Segou is also a region of traditional music and dance. The fith Festival on the Niger, which will take place in Segou at the end of ...

United Kingdom, York

The year is 1069. The kingdom of England is in the grip of new Norman masters. Their castles rise up all over the countryside, dominating the landscape. The Viking menace from the north is just a distant memory. Or is it...? The disempowered Anglo-Saxon earls of the north have few friends to help them against their hated Norman overlords. But help is at hand from an unexpected quarter. King Sweyn of Denmark has followed in ...

United Kingdom, London

Chinese New Year is the biggest festival of the year in Chinese communities. As it is based on the lunar and solar calendars, the date varies from late January to mid-February. 2009 is the Year of the Ox. Although Chinese New Year's Day falls on 26 January, the London Chinatown Chinese Association traditionally holds the capital's Chinese New Year celebrations on the first Sunday after Chinese New Year's Day. ...