Matsuri Travel

Religious and spiritual festivals

Pilgrimages, temple festivals and holy days that visitors can respectfully witness, and sometimes join.

FireLanterns & lightCarnivals & paradesCultural heritageMusic & danceFood & drinkSeasonal & harvestWaterCompetitions & games
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$$$$
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$$$$
A rider dressed as St. Martin in a red cloak leads children carrying lanterns through Cologne at night
Nov 11, 2026

St. Martin's Day

Children's paper lanterns, a rider in a red cloak and roast goose across the Rhineland

Cologne, Germany +3$$$$
Light projections over a Lyon street during the Fête des Lumières
Dec 5–8, 2026

Fête des Lumières

Four December nights when Lyon turns its churches, squares and hills into light art

Lyon, France$$$$
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$$$$
Two men in red ceremonial dress preparing for a vodun ritual in Ouidah
Jan 2–9, 2027

Ouidah Vodun Days

Benin's national voodoo celebration: drums, masked spirits and libations on the beach

Ouidah, Benin$$$$
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$$$$
Priests in embroidered robes carrying the tabot during Timkat in Ethiopia
Jan 18–20, 2027est.

Timkat

Ethiopia's Epiphany: white-robed crowds, sacred processions and a blessing by water

Gondar, Ethiopia$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
Villagers with spears gathered in the forest on Pentecost Island, Vanuatu
Apr 3 – Jun 26, 2027est.

Naghol (Land Diving)

Men leap from wooden towers with vines tied to their ankles on Vanuatu's Pentecost Island

Pentecost Island, Vanuatu$$$$
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$$$$
Crowds pack a Corfu Town street beneath balconies hung with red cloths during Orthodox Easter celebrations
Apr 30 – May 2, 2027est.

Orthodox Easter in Corfu

Philharmonic bands, candlelit processions and clay pots smashed from Venetian balconies

Corfu Town, Greece$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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 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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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$$$$
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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