Surfest, dates TBC. Surf's up at Merewether Beach, home of Australia's biggest surf festival.

Tapati Rapa Nui, Feb 3-18 (TBC). A summer festival celebrating Polynesian pride with queens and volcano tobogganing.

Rio Carnivale, Feb 24-28. Hit the party hard with samba, street parties, and parades. Sequins compulsory.

Dubai Food Festival, 23 Feb-11 Mar. Devour the best from celeb chefs, enjoy a desert feast and taste Emirati cuisine.

Thaipusam, Feb 10. Tamil Hindus parade their extreme piercings and hardship for their warrior god.

WOMADelaide. Mar 10-13. Global vibes: the world comes to Adelaide to sing it and shake it.

Holi Festival, March 13. Spring's arrival is welcomed with bonfires, sweets and mass colour-bombing in the streets.

Marina Bay. iLight, Mar 3-26 March. Asia's biggest light art event, the sustainable festival transforms Marina Bay into a public art gallery.

Ningaloo Reef. Whale shark season, April - Sept. Bigger is better: swim with the biggest fish in the ocean‎.

Paro Festival, Mar 2-9. Dancing monks are a highlight of the mountain kingdom's most popular gathering.

ANZAC Day. Camp out overnight at ANZAC Cove to see in the Dawn Service.

Yi Peng and Loy Krathong, Nov 20. Float candles down river, send lanterns into the night sky to honour the Buddha.

Field of Light: 50,000 solar-powered illuminated stems will bloom as nightfalls across a remote desert area.

Coachella is one of the world's biggest music festival and it pulls in some of the world's best DJs.

Sure it's cherry blossom season, but Kameido Tenjin's Wisteria Festival is worth a visit.

Kulturstrand, May 12-Aug 14. The world's biggest sandpit opens for a three-month summer beach party.

Vivid Sydney: Lights! Music! Ideas! The harbour city sparkles every night of the festival.

Lotus Lantern Festival, May 6-8. Make lanterns, pour tea, get Zen at Buddha's birthday bash.

Cannes International Film Festival. For 12 days, this coastal city is transformed into a glitzy show of cinema.

Noosa Food & Wine festival, 19-22 May. Top chefs, top nosh, top beaches: go into gourmet overdrive.

Dark Mofo, June 10-21. MONA's midwinter festival is curated by Violent Femmes' Brian Ritchie.

WOMADelaide. Mar 10-13. Global vibes: the world comes to Adelaide to sing it and shake it.

Ningaloo Reef. Whale shark season, April - Sept. Bigger is better: swim with the biggest fish in the ocean‎.

Santa Catalina Wogasia Spear Festival. Celebrate a new year and the yam harvest with spear fighting and feasting.

UK London Wimbledon June 27-July 10. Break out the strawberries and cream for top tennis on the lawns.

Thaipusam, Feb 10. Tamil Hindus parade their extreme piercings and hardship for their warrior god.

Salzburg Festival, Jul 22-Aug 31. Celebrate the city’s favourite son, Mozart, in a feast of opera, theatre and concerts.

Bastille Day, July 14. Drink champagne, eat cheese and watch parades for liberty, equality, fraternity.

Blue Mountains Yulefest, Jun-Aug. Missing Santa? Hit the hills for carols, log fires and turkey galore.

Goroka: The Goroka Show, 16-19 Sep. Tribal gathering and Sing-sing with lavish costumes and music.

Mexico, Guadalajara. International Mariachi and Charreria Festival, end Aug. Six days of mariachi music and cowboys. Ole!

Serengeti. Wildebeest migration, Aug-Oct. Hordes of herds move from the Serengeti to Kenya’s Masai Mara.

Darwin Festival, 4-21 Aug. Dance, cabaret, music and theatre in the tropics.

Vava'u. Swim with whales, Aug-Oct. It's peak season for the humpbacks in Tonga, so dive right on in!

Kandy Esala Perahara, 8-18 Aug. Lord Buddha’s sacred tooth is paraded on an elephant at the Buddhist celebration.

Canberra Floriade, Sept 17-Oct 16. Celebrate glorious spring with dance and theatre amidst the flowers.

Imilchil. Imilchil Marriage Festival, mid-Sep. Berber tribes find love and music in the Atlas Mountains.

Lisdoonvarna Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, Sep 2-4. Singles seeking soulmates and country music.

Marina Bay. iLight, Mar 3-26 March. Asia's biggest light art event, the sustainable festival transforms Marina Bay into a public art gallery.

Goroka: The Goroka Show, 16-19 Sep. Tribal gathering and Sing-sing with lavish costumes and music.

Woodford Folk Festival, Dec 27 - Jan 1. Groove to blues/roots/folk, plant a tree, meditate or rock the world: the love is real.

Paro Festival, Mar 2-9. Dancing monks are a highlight of the mountain kingdom's most popular gathering.

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Oct 26-30. One of the world’s great writers’ festivals in creative Bali.

Varanasi Diwali, Oct 30. The ghats lining the Ganges River are illuminated for in the Hindu festival of light.

Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, Oct 27-30 Oct. It’s a gourmet party in Asia’s food-crazy party capital.

Chiang Mai. Yi Peng and Loy Krathong, Nov 20. Float candles down river, send lanterns into the night sky to honour the Buddha.

Rainbow Serpent Music Festival's 20th anniversary, Jan 27-30. This four-day electronic music event takes place at Lexton in the Victorian forest.

Ningaloo Reef. Whale shark season, April - Sept. Bigger is better: swim with the biggest fish in the ocean‎.

Zagreb: Christmas markets, Nov 28-Jan 10. Europe's most beautiful Christmas markets.

Varanasi Diwali, Oct 30. The ghats lining the Ganges River are illuminated for in the Hindu festival of light.

Hogmanay Street Festival. Start your New Year celebrations at the world-famous Street Party.

Art Basel Miami, Dec 1-4. The world's biggest art galleries and emerging masters gather to see and be seen.

Christmas in NY, December. Hearts melt as the skating ice freezes around the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

Russian Winter Festival, Mid-December to mid-January: ice sculpture, take troika rides, go sledding: cold is good.

Woodford Folk Festival, Dec 27 - Jan 1. Groove to blues/roots/folk, plant a tree, meditate or rock the world: the love is real.