Festivals Around The World In February

Parties, ships, parades, and fruit battles all make up this month’s festivals. Check out the top festivals around the world in February. Get ready for a month filled with colorful parades, elaborate costumes, exciting music, and even a fruit battle! Here are some of the top unique festivals happening around the world this February.

Rio Carnival, Brazil

The world-famous Rio Carnival kicks off Brazil and the season of Lent in grand style each February. Over two million revelers flood the streets for nonstop parades, dances, costumes, and street parties. Samba schools spend months preparing elaborate floats, dazzling costumes, and pulsing percussion for huge arena-style presentations. Feijoada stew, caipirinha cocktails, and street food like coxinha chicken croquettes fuel days of revelry. World Famous Rio Carnival

Carnival of Venice, Italy

Venice’s Carnival transforms the City of Canals with opulent masks and capes as elaborate period costumes rule the squares. The 10-day costumed extravaganza draws over three million visitors annually. Frittelle doughnuts, galani pastries, and delicate chiacchiere fritters are favorites alongside Prosecco toasts. Grand masked balls, public costume contests, operas, and a breathtaking final Grand Parade on boats make this iconic Carnevale unforgettable.

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, United States

During Mardi Gras season, New Orleans explodes with dazzling parades and lively jazz-fueled block parties for weeks ahead of Fat Tuesday. Private Mardi Gras krewes spend all year preparing elaborate floats and tossing strings of beads to hundreds of thousands of revelers. Grab some spicy jambalaya, sugary King Cakes stuffed with purple, green, and gold – Mardi Gras signature colors – and a Sazerac cocktail to celebrate before Lent begins. Mardi Gras And New Orleans Superstitions

Chinese New Year, China

Heralding the Year of the Rabbit, Chinese New Year brings parades, firecrackers, public lion and dragon dances, and symbolic red lanterns to Chinatowns globally about 15 days into January or February. Families gather to share prosperity, tossing dishes like longevity noodles, dumplings shaped like ancient Chinese silver ingots, sweet rice cakes, and Seol fruit. Red packets with money and gifts promise luck for children in the coming year. Chinese New Years Traditions and Superstitions; Chinese New Years Lucky Foods; Lucky Plants And Flowers for Chinese New Year 2024; Chinese New Year Lucky Desserts

Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan

The Sapporo Snow Festival sculptures awe visitors to Japan for seven wintery February days. Life-size buildings carved by teams from ice and snow draw two million people to view the chilled masterpieces illuminated by night. Grilled lamb skewers, hot sake, warming soups, and Hokkaido’s famed Jingisukan mutton dish offer comfort from the cold, along with steamy onsen hot spring relaxation.

The Battle of the Oranges, Italy

The Battle of the Oranges is a unique annual festival held in the Northern Italian town of Ivrea. Taking place over three days around Fat Tuesday, thousands of townspeople split into nine competing teams on foot or riding in ox-drawn carts to recreate a historical uprising through a giant food fight using tons of oranges. The festivities symbolically reenact the townspeople’s 12th-century revolt against the tyrant ruler Ranieri di Biandrate, who supposedly attempted to rape a miller’s daughter on the eve of her wedding. Today’s “Battle” pits armor-clad teams against one another, pelting oranges as they attempt to gain control of the town’s central square in a sticky, chaotic contest. Preparations begin months in advance as wagons and carts are repaired and decorated, and tons of oranges are ordered from Southern Italy. Spectators don red caps for protection while participants don helmets and padding over historical costumes to embrace the full-contact citrus carnage. The juicy brawl rages for three days culminating on Mardi Gras with awards distributed to carts and foot soldiers judged the best “generals.”

Busojaras, Hungary

The Busójárás (Hungarian, meaning “Busó-walking”; in Croatian: Pohod bušara) is an annual celebration of the Šokci living. At Hungary’s vibrant Busójárás festival, odd masks and bells awaken mythic winter spirits as the town of Mohács keeps alive old customs. The frightening Busó wooden masks symbolizing fertility take center stage during parades and in midnight masked balls. Traditional doughnuts called fánk, gulyás meat stew, and forralt bor (mulled wine) warm attendees against winter’s last gasps.

Taj Mahotsav, India

Taj Mahotsav is a popular annual cultural festival held in Agra, India, in February. Typically lasting 10 days, it’s one of the largest craft fairs highlighting the diversity of India’s arts, crafts, cuisines, music, and dance. Some key highlights of Taj Mahotsav include getting to browse and buy directly from hundreds of artisans and craft vendors selling everything from ornate jewelry, pottery, fabrics, carved woodwork, brassware, stonework, and more. Exhibits also demonstrate artisan skills like weaving, block printing, ivory carving, and paper mache.

Camel, elephant rides, a hot air balloon show, and even a vintage car rally round out the carnival-esque atmosphere.

Taiwan Lantern Festival, Taiwan

The Taiwan Lantern Festival is an annual celebration held in Taiwan, usually in February or early March, around the 15th day of the first lunar month. It marks the finale of over a month of Chinese New Year festivities. The visually stunning festival features glowing decorative lanterns of all shapes, sizes, and colors illuminating cities across Taiwan. A key highlight is watching thousands of paper sky lanterns drifting into the night sky. People write wishes or prayers on the sides before releasing them as offerings. There are also staged folk arts performances, lantern parades, and a lively carnival food market. A number of temples host the lighting of “Peace Lanterns,” which devotees circle while making a wish.

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