Matsuri Travel

Festivals in Asia

Every festival we cover across Asia, by subregion.

East AsiaSoutheast AsiaSouth AsiaCentral Asia & Middle East
Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda on the water at Inle Lake
Happening nowOct 11–28, 2026est.

Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival

Gilded Buddhas tour Inle Lake by golden barge, towed by teams of leg-rowers

Inle Lake, Myanmar$$$$
A Naga man in traditional dress holding a spear, shielding his eyes, at the Hornbill Festival
Dec 1–10, 2026est.

Hornbill Festival

All of Nagaland's tribes meet in one hill village for ten days of song, dance and games

Kohima, India$$$$
The green dome and minarets of the Mevlana Museum in Konya
Dec 7–17, 2026

Şeb-i Arus (Mevlana Commemoration)

Whirling dervishes mark Rumi's 'wedding night' in the Konya city where he died

Konya, Türkiye$$$$
Illuminated ice castle towers glowing at night at the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
Dec 18, 2026 – Feb 28, 2027est.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

Castles carved from river ice glow neon in China's coldest big-city winter

Harbin, China$$$$
Dancers in blue costumes carrying painted shields at the Sinulog festival in Cebu
Jan 7–17, 2027est.

Sinulog

Cebu dances for the Santo Niño in the Philippines' grandest street festival

Cebu City, Philippines$$$$
A dancer in an elaborate golden-feathered headdress and painted mask at Ati-Atihan
Jan 9–17, 2027est.

Ati-Atihan

Soot-painted dancers and pounding drums fill Kalibo for the Santo Niño fiesta

Kalibo, Philippines$$$$
A Thaipusam devotee holding an offering tray, portrait
Jan 22, 2027

Thaipusam

A million devotees climb 272 rainbow steps carrying burdens of devotion

Batu Caves, Malaysia +2$$$$
Ice sculptures lit up at night in Sapporo
Feb 4–11, 2027

Sapporo Snow Festival

Building-sized snow sculptures and glittering ice art down the length of Odori Park

Sapporo, Japan$$$$
Fireworks over the city for Tet Nguyen Dan in Vietnam
Feb 4–10, 2027est.

Tết Nguyên Đán

Vietnam goes home for the lunar new year, in a riot of peach blossom and red

Hanoi, Vietnam$$$$
Red paper lanterns hung for Chinese New Year
Feb 5–20, 2027

Chinese New Year (Spring Festival)

Red lanterns, reunion dinners and firecrackers as China welcomes the lunar new year

Beijing, China$$$$
Hundreds of glowing paper sky lanterns rise into the night sky over Pingxi during the Sky Lantern Festival in Taiwan
Feb 13–20, 2027est.

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Hundreds of paper wishes rise from a Taiwanese mountain valley at Lantern Festival

New Taipei City, Taiwan$$$$
Rows of glowing red paper lanterns hanging for the Lantern Festival
Feb 20, 2027

Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao)

The first full moon of the lunar year lights up lantern fairs, riddles and sweet dumplings

Nanjing, China$$$$
Children gathered around a colorful ogoh-ogoh figure in Bali ahead of Nyepi
Mar 7–8, 2027

Nyepi & Ogoh-Ogoh

Bali parades giant demons through the streets, then falls silent for a whole day

Denpasar, Indonesia$$$$
Masked dancers in red and pink costumes performing at a tshechu festival in Bhutan
Mar 18–22, 2027est.

Paro Tshechu

Masked dances in a fortress courtyard and a giant thangka unveiled at dawn

Paro, Bhutan$$$$
Pink cherry blossoms in full bloom during hanami season
Mar 20 – Apr 5, 2027est.

Hanami (Cherry Blossom Season)

Picnics under pink clouds as Japan follows the cherry blossom front north

Tokyo, Japan$$$$
A crowd with raised hands covered in colored powder at Holi
Mar 21–22, 2027est.

Holi

India throws color at winter, and everyone within reach

Mathura & Vrindavan, India +1$$$$
Riders competing in a buzkashi match during Nowruz celebrations in Mazar-i-Sharif
Mar 21, 2027est.

Nowruz

The spring equinox new year, with sumalak, plov and bonfires across the Silk Road

Samarkand, Uzbekistan +4$$$$
Crowds in front of Jenn Lann Temple in Dajia, the temple where the pilgrimage begins and ends
Apr 9–18, 2027est.

Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage

Nine days on foot behind the sea goddess's palanquin across central Taiwan

Taichung, Taiwan$$$$
People soaked in water and laughing in the streets during Songkran
Apr 13–15, 2027

Songkran

Thai New Year turns an entire country into the world's biggest water fight

Chiang Mai, Thailand$$$$
An ornate gilded yatai float hung with lanterns stands in its open storehouse during the autumn Takayama Festival
Apr 14–15, 2027est.

Takayama Festival

Gilded festival floats and mechanical puppets in a mountain town of old merchant houses

Takayama, Japan$$$$
Decorated elephants lined up at night at the Thrissur Pooram
Apr 17–18, 2027

Thrissur Pooram

Caparisoned elephants, duelling parasols and a dawn of fireworks in Kerala

Thrissur, India$$$$
A monk carrying a glowing lantern through Seoul during the Lotus Lantern Festival
May 8–9, 2027est.

Yeon Deung Hoe (Lotus Lantern Festival)

A river of glowing lotus lanterns flows through downtown Seoul for Buddha's Birthday

Seoul, South Korea$$$$
Bearers in happi coats carrying a portable shrine through the streets at Kanda Matsuri
May 11–17, 2027est.

Kanda Matsuri

Tokyo's great Edo-era festival sends portable shrines through Akihabara and Nihonbashi

Tokyo, Japan$$$$
Lit-up stage and decorated shrine crowds during the Da Jiu festival on Cheung Chau
May 13–14, 2027est.

Cheung Chau Bun Festival

Floating children, towers of buns and a midnight climbing race on a Hong Kong island

Hong Kong, Hong Kong$$$$
A drummer riding a festival cart through the streets of Asakusa during Sanja Matsuri
May 14–16, 2027

Sanja Matsuri

Asakusa's rowdy shrine festival, with a hundred mikoshi bouncing through old Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan$$$$
Thousands of glowing lanterns released into the night sky for Waisak
May 19–20, 2027est.

Waisak at Borobudur

Monks process to the world's largest Buddhist temple and lanterns rise under the full moon

Magelang, Indonesia$$$$
A giant lizard-shaped kite flying over the crowd at the Bali Kite Festival
Jun 1 – Sep 30, 2027est.

Bali Kite Festival

Village teams launch 10-metre fish, bird and dragon kites over Sanur to gamelan thunder

Denpasar, Indonesia$$$$
Teams paddling hard in a dragon boat race
Jun 9, 2027

Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu)

Drums, dragon-prowed boats and sticky rice dumplings on the fifth day of the fifth moon

Yueyang, China +2$$$$
Rows of paper lanterns glowing on a Yamaboko float during the Yoiyama nights of Gion Matsuri in Kyoto
Jul 1–31, 2027est.

Gion Matsuri

A full month of rites builds to towering floats hand-hauled through downtown Kyoto

Kyoto, Japan$$$$
Hot-air balloons glow against a violet dusk sky as visitors watch from the grass at Luye Highland in Taitung
Jul 3 – Aug 19, 2027est.

Taiwan International Balloon Festival

Seven weeks of dawn balloon flights and night-glow concerts over the East Rift Valley

Taitung, Taiwan$$$$
Young riders on horseback on the Mongolian steppe at Naadam
Jul 11–13, 2027est.

Naadam Festival

Wrestlers, child jockeys, and archers: Mongolia's three games under steppe skies

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia$$$$
A towering carved wax float with an elephant and mythical figures at the Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival
Jul 18–19, 2027est.

Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival

Carved wax gods on wheeled floats roll through Isan as Buddhist Lent begins

Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand$$$$
Festival-goers covered in grey mud at the Boryeong Mud Festival
Jul 23 – Aug 8, 2027est.

Boryeong Mud Festival

Korea's beach town turns mineral mudflats into the world's messiest summer party

Boryeong, South Korea$$$$
Festival boats on the river during the Tenjin Matsuri in Osaka
Jul 24–25, 2027est.

Tenjin Matsuri

A hundred torch-lit boats and 3,000 fireworks turn Osaka's river into a stage

Osaka, Japan$$$$
People gather around a blazing torch tower in a town square at night during the Torch Festival in Xiangyun, Yunnan
Jul 27–29, 2027est.

Yi Torch Festival

Torch parades, Yi wrestling and mass bonfire dances turn Chuxiong into a fire city

Chuxiong, China$$$$
A giant illuminated Nebuta warrior float glowing at night as it moves down an Aomori street
Aug 2–7, 2027

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri

Four-ton illuminated warriors glide through the night to chants of rassera

Aomori, Japan$$$$
A temple-shaped structure outlined in thousands of lights glows at night during Keelung's Ghost Festival in Taiwan
Aug 2–31, 2027est.

Hungry Ghost Festival

For one lunar month the gates open, and the living throw a party for the dead

Keelung, Taiwan +3$$$$
Warriors in body paint and feather headdresses line up at the opening ceremony of the Baliem Valley Festival in Papua
Aug 5–7, 2027est.

Baliem Valley Festival

Highland tribes of Papua stage mock battles a mile above sea level

Wamena, Indonesia$$$$
Dancers in bright floral costumes on a parade float at the Kadayawan Festival in Davao
Aug 6–15, 2027est.

Kadayawan Festival

Eleven tribes, street-dance showdowns, and durian season in Davao every August

Davao City, Philippines$$$$
A street mural of two children on a bicycle in George Town, Penang
Aug 7–15, 2027est.

George Town Festival

Nine August days when clan temples, shophouses and streets become free stages

George Town, Malaysia$$$$
Dancers in traditional hats and happi coats performing Awa Odori in a black and white street scene
Aug 12–15, 2027

Awa Odori

Japan's best-known dance festival, where the fools who watch join the fools who dance

Tokushima, Japan$$$$
The Daimonji bonfire burning on the hillside above Kyoto at the end of Obon
Aug 13–16, 2027

Obon & Gozan no Okuribi

Japan welcomes its ancestors home, and Kyoto sends them off with mountains on fire

Kyoto, Japan$$$$
A light projection covering a historic building facade at the Singapore Night Festival
Aug 20 – Sep 4, 2027est.

Singapore Night Festival

Sixteen free nights of projection-mapped facades and light art in Bras Basah.Bugis

Singapore, Singapore$$$$
Crowds gather before an ancient Hindu temple on the Dieng Plateau for the dreadlock-cutting ceremony of the Dieng Culture Festival
Aug 27–29, 2027est.

Dieng Culture Festival

Sacred dreadlock-cutting, highland jazz and sky lanterns beside ancient temples

Dieng Plateau, Indonesia$$$$
A dancer in a deep woven hat dancing through the night streets at Owara Kaze no Bon
Sep 1–3, 2027est.

Owara Kaze no Bon

Three hushed nights of braided-hat dancers and kokyū strings in lantern-lit Yatsuo

Toyama, Japan$$$$
Colorful silk lanterns glowing in Hoi An
Sep 12–15, 2027est.

Tết Trung Thu

Star lanterns, lion dances and mooncakes light Hoi An's Old Town at the eighth full moon

Hoi An, Vietnam$$$$
Performers carry the Tai Hang Fire Dragon, bristling with burning incense sticks, through a night crowd at a Hong Kong performance
Sep 14–16, 2027est.

Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance

A 67m dragon of smouldering incense snakes through Tai Hang's lanes for three nights

Hong Kong, Hong Kong$$$$
A giant white hahoe mask sculpture towering over visitors at the Andong Mask Dance Festival
Sep 24 – Oct 3, 2027est.

Andong Mask Dance Festival

About ten autumn days of masked satire: UNESCO talchum and troupes from abroad

Andong, South Korea$$$$
Men riding a sacred log in festival dress at the Onbashira Festival at Moriya Shrine
Apr 1 – May 5, 2028est.

Onbashira

Once every six years, men ride giant tree trunks down a mountain slope in Nagano

Suwa, Japan$$$$

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