JANUARY
11-13: Liverpool, England — Cultural Capital Opening Weekend. Starring Ringo Starr, with a little help from his friends. 17-27: Park City, Utah — Sundance Film Festival. The pick of indie flicks. 20-27: St. Paul — U.S. Figure Skating Championships. America’s sharpest blades battle on the ice. 24-27: Quesnel to Wells, British Columbia — Gold Rush Trail Dog Sled Mail Run. Trailblazer for B.C.’s 150th anniversary. 25-Feb. 5: New Orleans — Mardi Gras. America’s ultimate street party.
FEBRUARY
1-10: Saranac Lake, N.Y. — Saranac Lake Winter Carnival. “Hooray for Hollywood” in snow and ice. 2-24: San Francisco — Chinese New Year Festival & Parade. Block-long golden dragon clears the way for the Year of the Rat. 7-10: Plaster Rock, New Brunswick — World Pond Hockey Championships. Four-on-four teams face off on 20 rinks. 17: Daytona Beach, Fla. — Daytona 500. 50th running marks start of NASCAR season. 21-23: Cable to Hayward, Wis. — American Birkebeiner Race. Traditional togs set the style at 35th annual ski marathon.
MARCH
14-30: Budapest, Hungary — Budapest Spring Festival. Puccini takes center stage. 20-April 5: Savannah, Ga. — Savannah Music Festival. A full spectrum of sounds, from country to classical. 25-May 17: Greensboro. N.C. — Greensboro Bicentennial Celebration. Town toasts its past and future. 29-April 13: Washington — National Cherry Blossom Festival. Our nation’s capital is in the pink. 30-April 5: Hilo, Hawaii — Merrie Monarch Festival. Topped off by “World’s Largest Hula Competition.”
APRIL
5-13: Grand Forks, N.D. (the location of the event as published has been corrected in this text) — World Men’s Curling Championship. 12 teams with brooms romance the stone. 12: Oslo — Opening of new opera house. King Harald heralds Norway’s answer to Sydney. 19-27: Virginia, statewide — Historic Garden Week in Virginia. 75th anniversary of “America’s Largest Open House.” 25-27: Nebraska City, Neb. — Arbor Day Celebration. Parade and tours in the town where Trees R Us. 25-Sept. 28: Belgium, nationwide — The Art of Folon in Belgium. Cover artist Jean Michel Folon is the focus of widespread exhibits.
MAY
11-18: St. Paul and statewide — Minnesota Statehood Week. 32nd state turns 150. 13: Echternach, Luxembourg — St. Willibrord 1,350th Birthday. Medieval hopping procession honors local saint. 23-26: Somerville, N.J. — Tour of Somerville. Bicyclists get in gear for four days of racing. 24-25: Decatur, Ala. — Alabama Jubilee Hot Air Balloon Classic. 65 pilots on the rise. 31-June 22: Amsterdam — Holland Festival. Chinese opera and French drama keynote 60th anniversary
JUNE
7-29: Austria and Switzerland, eight cities — UEFA Euro 2008. European soccer’s sweet 16 take the road to Vienna. 12-22: Owensboro, Ky. — International Mystery Writers’ Festival. Unveils U.S. premiere of “Chimneys,” Agatha Christie’s lost play. 13-21: Bartlesville, Okla. — OK Mozart International Festival. Mozart and more, indoors and out. 14-Sept. 14: Zaragoza (Saragossa), Spain — 2008 World Expo. Worlds fair zeroes in on “Water and Sustainable Development.” 28-July 6: Kutztown, Pa. — Kutztown Festival. A potpourri of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art and crafts.
JULY
3-6: Quebec City — Happy Birthday Quebec City! 400th anniversary celebration features opera for 100,000. 11-13: Butte, Mont. — National Folk Festival. 70th annual get-together focuses on western traditions. 12-13: Rockland, Maine — North Atlantic Blues Festival. Chick Rodgers, Lurrie Bell shake up Penobscot Bay. 16-19: Fairbanks, Alaska — World Eskimo-Indian Olympics. Miss Weio presides over knuckle hop, blanket toss. 25-Aug. 3: Stockholm — Europride. Sweden stages a rainbow of events for annual gay bash.
AUGUST
8-10: Britt, Iowa — National Hobo Convention. Hobo King Tuck and Hobo Queen Son Shine pass along the crown. 8-24: Beijing — Games of the XXIX Olympiad. 12,000 athletes converge on China’s no-longer-forbidden city. 20-30: Shelbyville, Tenn. — Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. 70th edition of world championships for state’s native breed. 29-Sept. 1: Denver — A Taste of Colorado. Labor Day extravaganza rocks Mile-High City. 30-Sept. 1: Seattle — Bumbershoot. Music and arts festival spreads out under the Space Needle.
SEPTEMBER
4-7: Bismarck, N.D. — United Tribes International Powwow. Showcase of Native American culture. 4-7: Stone Mountain, Ga. — Yellow Daisy Festival. Near Atlanta, 40th annual craft show blooms with 500 artists and artisans. 5-8: Winnipeg, Manitoba — Canadian Country Music Week and Awards. The hottest and newest sounds roll in from the prairie. 10-14: Reno — National Championship Air Races. Vintage and sport aircraft go wing-to-wing. 26-28: Springfield, Ill. — International Route 66 Mother Road Festival. Road warriors of yesteryear meet and mingle.
OCTOBER
2-12: Kelowna area, British Columbia — Okanagan Fall Wine Festival. Harvest celebration at western Canada’s premier vineyards. 4-5: Sedona, Ariz. — Sedona Arts Festival. Visual, culinary and performing arts work their magic. 10-18: Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario — Oktoberfest. Canada’s “Great Bavarian Festival” turns 40. 15-18: Circleville, Ohio — Circleville Pumpkin Show. Tons of pumpkins and “the world’s largest pumpkin pie,” 14 feet across. 18: Fayetteville, W.Va. — New River Gorge Bridge Day. 500 BASE jumpers take a flying leap.
NOVEMBER
12-Dec. 20: Stavanger, Norway — Norwegian Wood. Innovative wooden architecture on display in one of Europe’s two Cultural Capitals. 21-23: Milwaukee — Holiday Folk Fair International. Art and traditions from 65 cultures. 22-Jan. 6: Natchitoches, La. — Festival of Lights. 72 tableaux light the way along Cane River Lake. 28-30: Elk Horn and Kimballton, Iowa — Julefest. Danish to-do christens new Viking house. 28-30, Dec. 5-7, 12-14: Mt. Vernon, Va. — Mt. Vernon by Candlelight. “Martha Washington” hosts 18th Century Christmas.
DECEMBER
5-7, 12-14, 19-21: San Antonio — Fiesta de las Luminarias. Illuminated River Walk embraces the season. 6-7: Maysville, Ky. — Frontier Christmas. Village museums stage old-fashioned Christmas. 13: Ft. Lauderdale — Winterfest Boat Parade. Decorated yachts festoon the Intracoastal Waterway. 25: Washington Crossing, Pa. — Washington Crossing the Delaware. 55th annual re-enactment recalls Revolutionary Christmas 1776. 31: Berlin — New Year’s Eve Party at the Brandenburg Gate. Street gala and fireworks open the doors to 2009.
Dates are subject to change. ALWAYS check in advance to confirm dates and details.
