The Global Calendar You Should Actually Care About in 2026
Flights booked around experiences become stories
Global festivals, sport calendars, art weeks and large-scale cultural gatherings have quietly become the backbone of modern travel planning, especially because of the post-pandemic spontaneity that's given way to intentional travelling in 2026.
Most travellers today prefer shorter trips, going for sharper plans, and experiences that count towards their love of exploring the world and spending time by themselves away from the mundanity of the every day. Being in the right city at the right time now shapes the entire experience, whether it’s a city shifting its rhythm for a few charged weeks or a global crowd converging for something that won’t repeat the same way again.
Naturally, festivals across the world act as cultural magnets, from art festivals that pull tens of thousands of visitors, to music festivals that sell out months in advance, to sporting calendars that shift city economies overnight. Every destination has something beyond the general sight-seeing to offer to its tourist. So, if you're planning a trip to any of the countries in Europe or are planning yet another trip to the States or perhaps hoping that you can finally experience all the buzz around Japan and its culture, we have curated a list of festivals taking place across the year internationally that you can add to your travel itinerary.
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Here are top recommendations for things to attend in 2026 internationally:
Singapore Art Week
Where: Singapore
When: January 22- 31
Led by the National Arts Council (NAC) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), Singapore Art Week brings together galleries, museums, and independent spaces across the city for a tightly curated showcase of contemporary art.
This year's edition places Southeast Asian art at its centre while expanding how it's experienced through immersive, site-specific, and technology-driven formats through exhibitions like Kumiko Matsushima's that will pair naturally with desserts at Le Shan Café. Moreover, the world's largest Fernando Botero exhibition will take over Gardens by the Bay, while Ode to Joo Chiat will repurpose a working petrol station as public artwork .
Rio Carnival
Where: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
When: February 13- 21
Rio Carnival is the world’s most iconic festival of rhythm, colour and sheer pandemonium, a nine-day spectacle of samba school parades at the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí and city-wide blocos that transform Rio into a pulsating stage. Drawing over a million visitors each year, it’s equal parts competition, costume, culture, and chaos as dazzling floats, musicians, and dancers battle for glory. Expect frenetic energy, intricate choreography, and a party that truly lives up to its title as ‘the greatest show on Earth’.
Rolex Monte Carlo Masters
Where: Monte Carlo, Monaco
When: April 4- 12
One of tennis’s most prestigious tournaments, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters brings clay-court elegance to the French Riviera each spring. Set against the gliterring backdrop of Monte-Carlo’s hills and Mediterranean Sea, the world’s top players compete in intense rallies and strategic baseline battles, making it a favourite lead-up to the clay season’s grand slams. Expect high fashion in the stands, high stakes on court, and Monaco’s signature blend of sport and spectacle.
Coachella
Where: California, USA
When: Weekend 1, April 10- 12;
Weekend 2, April 17- 19
Coachella is America’s premier festival, a ten-day mash-up of head-to-toe music, art installations, surprise collabs and desert sunsets. The festival keeps its tradition of diverse line-ups across rock, pop, hip-hop, electronic and more, topped with immersive art and fashion moments people travel the world for. It’s less a concert and more a cultural moment where every corner feels like a photo you’ll see everywhere.
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FIFA World Cup
Where: USA, Canada & Mexico
When: June 11- 19
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is rewriting the record books with three host countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico, spreading across 16 cities and 39 days. From the historic opener at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca to the final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, this global tournament promises electrifying football, fanfare, and cultural pride on a scale unmatched in sport. For fans, it’s not just about the matches, it’s about the roaming parties, shared chants and international community that only the World Cup can deliver.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Where: Edinburgh, Scotland
When: August 7- 31
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, turning Scotland’s capital into a sprawling stage for nearly every form of performance imaginable, from comedy and theatre to dance, circus, music and experimental art. In 2025 alone, over 2.6 million tickets were issued across almost 3,900 shows presented by artists from around the globe, highlighting the sheer scale and diversity of the event.
Sziget Festival
Where: Óbuda Island, Budapest
When: August 11- 18
Sziget isn’t just another music festival, it’s Europe’s Island of Freedom, a five-day cultural celebration on Óbuda Island where people converge for music, art, performance and collective energy. One of the continent’s largest open-air festivals, its appeal lies in scale and diversity, attendees from more than 100 countries gather not just to watch, but to experience the vibe that Europe’s festival culture has spent decades shaping. Expect days of genre-spanning music, late-night creative programming, crowd-sourced art and a sense of belonging that’s rare in festival culture anywhere else.
La Tomatina
Where: Buñol, Spain
When: August 26
La Tomatina is the world’s most delicious food fight, a one-day spectacle in Buñol, Spain where tens of thousands of locals and visitors shift into the streets and pelt each other with ripe tomatoes until everything turns red. What starts as a quirky midweek tradition unfolds into a communal frenzy of laughter, slippery pavement, and tomato pulp artfully splattered everywhere. It’s chaotic, weird and one of those events you have to experience rather than explain.
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Burning Man
Where: Nevada, USA
When: August 30- September 7
Burning Man returns after last year’s chaos to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, as a week-long city of art, participation, and radical self-expression, this year with the theme ‘Axis Mundi’, shifting the focus back to art, participation, and the core values that built the event. Expect monumental installations, interactive performance spaces and camps built from scratch by a nomadic community that treats ‘festival’ as a verb, not a product. There are no spectators here, only participants. The event challenges conventional ideas of community, creativity, and ownership.
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Japan Mobility Show
Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: October 30- November 9
The Japan Mobility Show is Asia’s answer to futuristic transport showcases, where concept vehicles, robotics and next-gen tech meet real-world mobility solutions. Think electric mobility, design-forward concepts, and Japan’s precision-led vision of what’s next. It’s a gritty, curious festival of wheels, wings and vision, perfect for anyone who thinks transport should be as thrilling as fashion week.
Hornbill Festival
Where: Kisama Heritage Village, Kohima, Nagaland
When: December 1- 10
Often called the ‘Festival of Festivals’, Hornbill is a deep dive into Northeast India’s tribal cultures, music, crafts, and cuisine. Over ten days, Nagaland becomes a living museum, with equal parts celebration and preservation. For travellers seeking authenticity, Hornbill offers a rare chance to experience culture as it exists.
Mevlana Festival
Where: Konya, Turkey
When: Expected to be around December 7- 17
The Mevlana Festival in Konya honours the life and teachings of 13th-century Sufi mystic Jalāl ad-Dīn Rūmī, drawing visitors from around the world for a ten-day cultural and spiritual gathering. At its heart are the hypnotic Sema ceremonies by the Whirling Dervishes: a trance-like ritual symbolising the soul’s journey toward the divine, recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. For travellers interested in tradition, spirituality and lived history, it’s a rare cultural moment worth timing your journey around.
