A JUMPING-OFF POINT FOR 2020

A globetrotter’s guide to the world’s big events in 2020

A globetrotter’s guide to some of the most-anticipated events scheduled throughout the coming year.

I n the coming year, many annual celebrations are staging special golden anniversary editions. Check out these — and more — on our calendar of top events worth traveling to in 2020.

January

■ 20-26: Greensboro, North Carolina — U.S. Figure Skating Championships. A fan fest is icing on the cake at America’s top skating competition.

■ 31-Feb. 9: Saranac Lake, New York — Saranac Lake Winter Carnival. From Arctic Golf to Snowflake Volleyball, let these winter games begin.

February

■ 1-8: Galway, Ireland — European Capital of Culture Opening Event. Galway’s year of special events get cracking, with Rijeka, Croatia, sharing the reins.

■ 8: San Francisco — Chinese New Year Parade. A 288-foot Golden Dragon stomps the streets as the Year of the Rat scurries in.

■ 25: New Orleans — Mardi Gras. The Crescent City sounds its final toot on Fat Tuesday.

March

■ 20-April 12: Washington —

National Cherry Blossom Festival. D.C. blooms with a big parade and Japanese street festival.

■ 21-May 10: Lisse, Netherlands — Keukenhof. Some 7 million tulips, daffodils and other bulbs flash their color with the arrival of spring.

April

■ 22: Worldwide — Earth Day

2020. “Climate Action” is the all-encompassing theme on the golden anniversary of this very green observance.

■ 23-25: Albuquerque, New Mexico — Gathering of Nations. “North America’s Biggest Powwow” celebrates Native American heritage with dance, music and crafts.

■ 24: Plymouth, Massachusetts — Plymouth 400 Commemoration Opening Ceremony. Festivities mark arrival of Pilgrims four centuries ago.

May

■ 9-16: The Hague — Invictus

Games. Wounded warriors compete in 10 sports, from archery to wheelchair rugby.

■ 12, 14, 16: Rotterdam, Netherlands — Eurovision Song Contest. Performers from over 40 countries sing for the bling at 65th vocal blowout.

■ 16-Oct. 4: Oberammergau, Germany — Oberammergau 2020. Passion play performed entirely by locals runs but once every 10 years.

June

■ 12-July 12: 12 cities across Europe — Euro 2020. Brexit or no Brexit, this soccer tournament with massive worldwide audiences opens in Rome and closes in London.

■ 24-28: Pilton, England — Glastonbury 50. Arts festival in the Vale of Avalon celebrates golden anniversary, with Diana Ross on stage.

■ 27-28: San Francisco — San Francisco Pride Parade & Celebration. Golden anniversary edition hails the “Generations of Hope.”

July

■ 4: Bristol, Rhode Island — Bristol Fourth of July Celebration. Nation’s oldest July Fourth event sounds the trumpets in “America’s most patriotic town.”

■ 17-Aug. 4: Cooktown, Australia — Cooktown Expo 2020. Celebration of the arrival of iconic explorer James Cook 250 years ago includes a rock music festival.

■ 24-Aug. 9: Tokyo — Games of the XXXII Olympiad. Summer Olympics adds new twists with medals in baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding.

August

■ 7-16: Sturgis, South Dakota — Sturgis Rally. The 80th motorcycle romp features a scenic Black Hills run from Deadwood to Custer State Park.

■ 14-Sept. 6: Utrecht, Netherlands, to Madrid — Vuelta a Espana. Top athletes tackle the 75th running of one of the three Grand Tours of world cycling.

■ 30-Sept. 7: Black Rock Desert, Nevada — Burning Man. The transitory art community ponders the multiverse and more.

September

■ 19-Oct. 4: Munich, Germany — Oktoberfest. Tents are pitched and beer barrels tapped for “the largest folk festival in the world.”

■ 22-27: Haven, Wisconsin — Ryder Cup. American and European golf teams clash at Whistling Straits.

October

■ 9-12: Augusta, Bangor and statewide, Maine — Maine Statehood Bicentennial Grand Finale Weekend. The 200th birthday bash commemorates “the Maine thing.”

■ 17: Fayetteville, West Virginia — Bridge Day. Three hundred BASE jumpers take the plunge from the 876-foot New River Gorge Bridge.

November

■ 6-15: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii — Kona Coffee Cultural Festival. The 50th annual bash on Hawaii’s biggest island has its perks, including seed-to-cup farm tours.

■ 15: Toronto — Toronto Santa Claus Parade. One of the world’s oldest and jolliest holiday processions is decked out with Celebrity Clowns.

■ 28-Dec. 6: Guadalajara, Mexico — Guadalajara International Book Fair. 2,280 publishers from 47 countries make this Latin America’s largest page-turner.

December

■ 4-6: Galveston, Texas — Dickens on the Strand. The Victorian reincarnation promises a dickens of a time with parades, costumes and bed races.

■ 7: Milan, Italy — Opening Night of La Scala. See the famed 1778 opera house raises the curtain.

■ 12: San Jose, California — Beethoven Birthday Bash 2020. The party honors “the greatest orchestral composer of all time” on his 250th.

■ 14: Chile and Argentina — Total Solar Eclipse. Moon blocks sun across a 56-mile-wide band of Earth in this astronomical showstopper.

Dates are subject to change. Check in advance to confirm details. Margaret Backenheimer is a freelance writer.

RON LEWIS/AP Thousands of people descend on Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for the annual Burning Man festival, a self-described “crucible of creativity.”