1. Carnival- Brazil
Brazil’s most popular and festive holiday is Carnival. In fact, many people consider Carnival one of the world’s biggest celebrations. Each spring, the streets of Brazil’s largest city, Rio de Janeiro, come alive with wild parties, festivals and glamorous balls.
2. Chinese New Year- Hong Kong
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. During Chinese New Year celebrations, people wear red clothes, give children “lucky money” in red envelopes and set off firecrackers.
3. Oktoberfest- Germany
Every year in Munich, people drink German beer and eat lots of Pretzeln (a special cake), weiss wurst bratwurst (white sausage), and sauerkraut. Oktoberfest is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world’s largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year.
4. Lantern Festival - Taiwan
During the Lantern Festival, thousands of sky lanterns light over Pingxi District in Taiwan. In Yanshui District, the firecrackers ceremony of Wumiao Temple is also one of the important activities. The Tainan Yanshui Fireworks Display (“beehive of fireworks”) was originally celebrated to ward of evil and disease from the town. The Taipei Pingshi Sky Lanterns were released originally to let others know that the town was safe.
5. Dia de los Muertos - Mexico
Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on November 1 in Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala and other parts of Central and South America. People decorate altars in their homes and grave sites with food, candles, candy skulls and marigolds to welcome the souls back to earth.
6. Hina Matsuri- Japan
Each year, Japanese girls eagerly await the third of March, called Hina Matsuri, or Doll’s Festival. Girls display their most precious dolls on a seven-tiered platform in their home.
7. Diwali- India
Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is the best known of Hindu celebrations and certainly the brightest. Families get together and celebrate with gifts and feasts. Many families decorate their homes with flowers.
8. Trung Thu- Vietnam
Trung Thu is a mid-fall festival commemorating the moon at its brightest and most beautiful. The children wear colorful masks and dance in the streets with star lanterns that are illuminated by candles. The lanterns, which are made out of bamboo and plastic, represent the moon. Children also feast on moon cakes. Shaped like fish or flowers, the sweet cakes are filled with sugar and meat or eggs.
9. Esala Perahera- Sri Lanka
Every July or August, thousands of Sri Lankans travel to the hill city of Kandy to watch dancers, acrobats, drummers, whip crackers, flame throwers and more than 100 elegantly decorated elephants parade through the streets during Esala Perahera. This is a 10-day festival in honor of the country’s most prized possession, the Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha.
10. Çocuk Bayrami- Turkey
On April 23, Turkey celebrates Çocuk Bayrami. Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk declared the holiday in 1920, as Turkey was becoming an independent nation after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Every year on this day, children all over Turkey dress up in special outfits or the national costume for Çocuk Bayrami.