Edinburgh, Scotland’s Hogmanay event is one of the largest New Year’s Eve parties on the planet, with nearly 100,000 people coming to watch five tons of fireworks.
Elvis’s 80th Birthday Celebration
Elvis’ pink Cadillac, which inspired many a song lyric, can be seen at Graceland in Tennessee during January celebrations to honor what would have been the King’s 80th birthday.
Graceland
Combine speed skating with an obstacle course and you get Crashed Ice. Celebrating its 15th anniversary, the event series kicks off in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in January.The FIS Alpine Ski World Championships return to the United States for the first time since 1999, taking over Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado, in February.Historic Macau, with its blend of Portuguese and Chinese cultures, hosts some of the most colorful Lunar New Year celebrations on earth.A historical enactment of Napoleon’s 1815 landing will be held in Golfe-Juan, France, February 28-March 1.Acts come from all over Africa to perform at Morocco’s annual Gnaoua World Music Festival, held in 2015 in May.Foreign tourists take part in water battles during Thailand’s Songkran Festival at Khao San Road in Bangkok. Chiang Mai has a reputation for the wildest Songkran festivities.Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival in May is perhaps the world’s only celebration that stems from a killer plague.The three Queens of cruising — the Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria — will arrive in Liverpool in May to mark the 175th anniversary of the Cunard Cruise Line.An estimated 20 million travelers from around the world are expected to converge on Milan between May and October for Expo Milano 2015.Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence in 2015. National Day celebrations, held on August 9, will be spectacular.Brazilian municipality Porto Nacional will host the first World Indigenous Games in 2015. More than 2,000 athletes from indigenous groups in 30-plus countries will take part.Puppeteers from around the world will head for Charleville, in northern France, to take part in the annual World Puppet Festival in September.
