Matsuri Travel

Carnivals and parades

Carnival season and the great processions: costumes, floats, brass bands and the days when the street belongs to everyone.

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Crowds before the flower-covered image of the Virgin of the Pillar in Zaragoza's Plaza del Pilar during the Ofrenda de Flores
Happening nowOct 10–18, 2026

Fiestas del Pilar

Zaragoza buries its patron in flowers: a mountain of carnations and nine days of jota

Zaragoza, Spain$$$$
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$$$$
Trim Castle, the Norman fortress at the heart of the Púca Festival, above the River Boyne in autumn
Oct 29 – Nov 1, 2026

Púca Festival

Halloween goes home to its Celtic roots with fire, myth and music in County Meath

Trim, Ireland$$$$
A woman dressed as La Catrina carries an armful of marigolds through a night procession in Mexico City
Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2026

Día de Muertos

Marigold altars, candlelit cemetery vigils and skeleton parades as Mexico's dead come home

Oaxaca, Mexico$$$$
Burning crosses carried above the crowd on a Lewes street on Bonfire Night
Nov 5, 2026

Lewes Bonfire Night

Burning crosses, flaming barrels and exploding effigies: Britain's wildest November 5

Lewes, United Kingdom$$$$
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$$$$
Costumed revelers in blue masks and tricorn hats at the Venice Carnival
Jan 23 – Feb 9, 2027

Venice Carnival

Masks, capes and candlelit balls in the canal city's pre-Lenten masquerade

Venice, Italy$$$$
A procession of burning torches at Up Helly Aa in Lerwick
Jan 26, 2027

Up Helly Aa

Torch-bearing 'Vikings' burn a longship through a Shetland winter night

Lerwick, United Kingdom$$$$
A giant white bull float rolling through a New Orleans street during a Mardi Gras parade
Jan 29 – Feb 9, 2027est.

Mardi Gras

New Orleans parades, krewes and flying beads through carnival season to Fat Tuesday

New Orleans, United States$$$$
Dancers in blue skirts and bowler hats parade in formation through a crowded Puno street during the Fiesta de la Candelaria
Jan 30 – Feb 9, 2027

Fiesta de la Candelaria (Puno)

Hundreds of dance troupes honour the Virgin on the shores of Lake Titicaca

Puno, Peru$$$$
A carnival float with a giant jester figure during the Cologne Carnival parade
Feb 4–9, 2027

Cologne Carnival

Six days of costumes, Kölsch and the Rose Monday parade on the Rhine

Cologne, Germany$$$$
Drummers and dancers filling a Salvador street during Carnival
Feb 4–9, 2027

Salvador Carnival

Trios elétricos and Afro-Brazilian blocos take over Bahia's capital for six days

Salvador, Brazil$$$$
Ice sculptures and crowds in front of the Quebec City skyline at the Winter Carnival
Feb 5–14, 2027

Québec Winter Carnival

A snowman king, ice canoe races and night parades in a walled city under snow

Québec City, Canada$$$$
A colorful parade float at the Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro
Feb 5–13, 2027est.

Rio Carnival

Samba schools, street blocos and the Sambadrome's all-night parades before Lent

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil$$$$
A smiling woman in a feathered costume holding flowers at the Barranquilla Carnival
Feb 6–9, 2027

Barranquilla Carnival

Cumbia, marimondas and the Battle of Flowers in Colombia's Caribbean carnival

Barranquilla, Colombia$$$$
A line of dancers in embroidered costumes at the Carnaval de Oruro
Feb 6–9, 2027est.

Carnaval de Oruro

Devils, condors and miners dance twenty hours to the Virgin in Bolivia's highland carnival

Oruro, Bolivia$$$$
A troupe of blue devil dancers in motion at Trinidad Carnival
Feb 7–9, 2027

Trinidad and Tobago Carnival

J'ouvert mud at dawn, steelpan and soca, then feathered mas bands on the road

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago$$$$
Fasnacht musicians in green-haired clown masks playing trumpets on a Basel street
Feb 15–18, 2027

Basel Fasnacht

At 4am the lights go out and Basel's old town fills with lanterns, fifes and drums

Basel, Switzerland$$$$
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$$$$
A giant dragon figure in the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin
Mar 13–17, 2027

St. Patrick's Festival

Dublin's parade, céilís and a city in green for Ireland's national day

Dublin, Ireland$$$$
A falla sculpture engulfed in flames during the Cremà, the burning night of Las Fallas in Valencia
Mar 15–19, 2027

Las Fallas

Valencia builds an open-air museum of giant satirical sculptures, then burns it down

Valencia, Spain$$$$
A red and white sawdust carpet laid out in the street for Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala
Mar 21–28, 2027est.

Semana Santa in Antigua

Purple-robed processions walk over carpets of dyed sawdust and flowers

Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala$$$$
Rows of candles lit on a procession float in Seville during Semana Santa
Mar 21–28, 2027est.

Semana Santa in Seville

Candlelit floats, hooded penitents and saetas in the narrow streets of Holy Week

Seville, Spain$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
A boat full of people in orange celebrating King's Day on the Amsterdam canals
Apr 26–27, 2027

King's Day

The Netherlands turns orange for a nationwide street market and canal party

Amsterdam, Netherlands$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
Crowds browse wine and regional food stalls under a wide sky at the Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre in Paris
Oct 6–10, 2027est.

Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre

Paris toasts its Montmartre vineyard with a costumed parade and five days of wine

Paris, France$$$$

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