I don’t know of a single culture on our planet that doesn’t appreciate a good party every now and then. For budget travelers, festivals and other cultural events can be a great way to get an inside look at native customs and just have fun. There are all different types of events around the world, and you can usually just pick and choose according to your interests. The options are extremely varied and include: genuine cultural ceremonies, music festivals, street parades, religious events, culinary celebrations, and giant parties that are often just a reason to get stoned and/or drunk! The options are endless, and the best news for users of Go Budget Travel, the events are often FREE (or offered at very low cost).

So, how do you find out which festivals will be taking place across the world during the times you will be traveling. Luckily, there are a number of websites out there that list festivals across the world, making it quite easy to find an event to attend somewhere nearby. Below are some very helpful options to aid you in adding a few festivals to your travel itinerary:

What’s on When: The What’s on When guide contains an extensive database of world events, that includes big international festivals as well as events on a much smaller and more local level. A very good place to start your search.

ISIC: The International Student Identification Card (ISIC) website maintains another solid database of world events. You can search by country and/or theme of the event.

Travel Channel: The Travel Channel also offers an extensive database of world events that is searchable by continent, country, city, and event theme. Like the What’s on When and ISIC databases, most events are more cultural in flavor.

World Party Rough Guides: This is the place to go if you are looking to party. While they also list the low-key cultural events that the other sites do, World Party Rough Guides also aids travelers in finding the big and not-so-big world parties out there! You can search for events themed by drinking, drugs, nudity, fancy dress, music, religion, folklore, and more!

Even more listings:

While the websites listed above maintain very extensive listings of world events, there are surely thousands more out there that are not listed. If you don’t find what you are looking for in the databases above, especially if you are looking for information on smaller, more local cultural events, like concerts, art exhibitions, plays, or just local parties, I recommend checking the local newspaper listings of the cities and towns you plan to visit. Most newspapers maintain some kind of “Culture” section that lists local events every week. To search for the online version of a local newspaper in your travel destination(s), check out onlinenewspapers.com.

Further Reading:

If you aren’t currently traveling, but are still interested in hearing about all the upcoming festivals and events around the world, I recommend keeping an eye on Backpackers.com. They list a number of interesting events such as The Running of the Nudes every week (mainly in Europe).

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