Linger longer
on Christmas Day and eat Italian food. See papalaudience.org
New Year’s Eve CARNIVAL When Place
February 23-March 1 Salvador, Brazil Although the most popular city to celebrate Brazil’s annual Carnival is Rio de Janeiro, the most underrated has to be Salvador, the sultry and occasionally anarchic coastal capital of the state of Bahia. Salvador’s Carnival is a six-day celebration that engulfs the city in a riot of dancing and drinking. Choreographed dance performances are shunned in favour of a more chaotic system of roving sound systems that blast music at the writhing masses who follow them around for 16 hours a day. See bahiacarnival.info
SONGKRAN When Place
April 13-17 Bangkok, Thailand Warning: you will get wet. Whether you want to or not, if you’re in Thailand or Laos or Cambodia during Songkran, the celebration of the solar new year, you will be shot with water pistols, slapped with wet brooms, hit with water balloons, and even drenched with buckets. That’s the way things work. The water is a ritual cleansing, a blessing for the new year, and everyone is expected to get involved. In Bangkok, this ritual becomes an allout celebration, as locals and tourists drink, dance, and get drenched. See tourismthailand.org
EASTER When Place
April 14-16 Jerusalem, Israel Where better to witness a reenactment of the Stations of the Cross than Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa – the actual site of Jesus’ walk to his crucifixion? And while you’re at it, why not witness Easter Saturday evening prayers at Jesus’ actual tomb? Or have mass at the site of his supposed resurrection? See goisrael.com
RAMADAN When Place
May 26-June 25 Dubai, UAE Ramadan – the most important month on the Islamic calendar – is quite an inclusive event, and that’s never truer than in Dubai. While the days are quiet as Muslims observe their ritual fast (and tourists do their eating and drinking behind closed doors), at night traditional areas come alive with families and friends gathering in their finest clothes for ‘‘iftar’’ feasts. Dubai embraces a true 24-hour lifestyle during Ramadan, with markets, shopping malls, and restaurants open late as fasters make the most of their chance to eat and drink and socialise. Seevisitdubai.com
HALLOWEEN When Place
October 31-November 1 Oaxaca, Mexico This is not, officially, Halloween. Here it’s actually called the Day of the Dead, a traditional remembrance of family and friends who have shuffled off this mortal coil, a respect shown by dressing up in ghoulish costumes and celebrating long into the night at local cemeteries. It’s an inclusive, joyous, heartfelt celebration – and everyone’s invited. Seevisitmexico.com/en/oaxaca