Every August, the streets of Notting Hill come alive with one of the world's largest and most spectacular West Indian carnivals, visited by millions of tourists who come particularly for the occasion. Thousands of people take part in the spectacular parade, with each group competing to construct the greatest floats, most extravagant costumes, and the hottest dance performances. Steel bands and West Indian music perform all day, and there is a variety of street cuisine available.

Carnival Sunday morning, still bleary-eyed after the excesses of yesterday night's warm-up parties, sound-system workers hook up their towering stacks of speakers while fragrant smoke wafts from the booths of early-bird jerk chicken chefs. Then a bass line trembles through the early air as the trains begin to disgorge hordes of revelers, all dressed up and waving their whistles and horns. Some others go directly for the sound systems, spending the entire day traveling from one to the next and stopping wherever the music takes them. Streets lined with mansion blocks transform into tunnels of sound, and all that can be seen is a moving sea of people leaping and blowing whistles as wave after wave of music ripples through the air.

The procession of costumed bands that weaves its way through the center of the festival, however, is the backbone of Carnival. As the mas (masquerade) bands cruise through, their revellers dance up a storm to the songs bouncing from the music trucks, Ladbroke Grove transforms into a seething swarm of floats and flags, sequins and feathers. And the only thing that counts for the next two days is the glorious, anarchic freedom of dancing in the streets of London.

Time: 27th – 29th August 2022
Website: https://nhcarnival.org/

Edinburgh consistently throws the world's most memorable New Year's Eve party, from the cascade of fireworks tipping over the castle rock to uninhibited displays of stranger-kissing as midnight chimes and the sight of the classical pillars of the Royal Scottish Academy being transformed into a giant urinal. And it's a big celebration, with over 80,000 people from all around the world attending.

The evening begins with a candlelit performance in St Giles Cathedral, the colossal ancient cathedral on the Royal Mile. The pace quickens after that, with a major street party on Princes Street and a rowdy ceilidh in the Princes Street Gardens, followed by a large-scale performance. At midnight, the fireworks begin, and the entire city looks skywards and celebrates, from Calton Hill to Salisbury Crags, from the new to the old town, from the bars to the castle esplanade. Auld Lang Syne is sung, and any remaining vestiges of Presbyterian restraint are abandoned as people swarm around hugging and kissing one other.

Time: 31st December 2022
Website: https://www.edinburghshogmanay.com/

Leicester, one of the UK's most diverse cities, has the largest Diwali festival outside of India. Every autumn, tens of thousands of people - including Sikh and Jain followers who also celebrate Diwali - descend to Belgrave Road in the city's Indian community to participate in the "festival of lights."

After music, dancing, and speeches (in English, Hindi, and Gujarati) by local luminaries, a boisterous countdown begins, culminating at 7.30 pm with the switch-on of about 6500 multicolored lights, an explosion of confetti, and a chorus of shouts. The mob eventually makes its way down the road, called the "Golden Mile," to the adjoining Cossington Street recreation field, where an extraordinarily loud firework show takes place.

Time: 24th October 2022
Website: https://www.goleicestershire.com/

Sherwood Forest is transformed into the thirteenth century during the first week of August each year in honor of Nottinghamshire's famed outlaw. Over the course of a quarter-century, the Robin Hood Festival has evolved into a type of pop-up village, with booths and activities distributed around a square half-mile of woods that can be comfortably circumnavigated in an hour or so.

The itinerary varies slightly from day to day, but archery lessons are always available for a small fee, and most days feature high-octane jousting and rather vicious skirmishing between Robin Hood and the evil Sheriff's men in the shade of the Major Oak, a massive tree that is said to be over 800 years old and draws a lot of attention in its own right. The celebration is a dream come true for young boys and girls who have always wanted to be Robin Hood or Maid Marian.

Green felt hats, bows, and arrows, and flower garlands are common fancy-dress props, and youngsters can participate in dramatic re-enactments of the Robin Hood narrative on a daily basis, much to their parent's amusement.

Website: http://www.robinhoodfestival.org/

Let's be clear about one thing, fun-seekers: the summertime Pride event in Brighton and Hove is hardly the largest occasion. There will be a sequin-strewn procession, but don't anticipate miles of extravagant floats and glamorous, Rio-style dancing troupes. It's far more mundane than that, with gangs of friends and coworkers dressed up in haphazard fancy dress, waving in rhythm to corny music, or chuckling their way through shaky dance routines. Yes, there is an all-day dance party in the city's largest park - but this isn't Ibiza.

Inclusion is something that Brighton and Hove Pride has in abundance. Unlike Sydney, where more militant lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations have been known to spit fire at the prospect of non-LGBT revellers muscling in on their Mardi Gras, Brighton welcomes anybody and everyone. You don't have to dress up, but if you want your photo to appear in the galleries that sprout up all over the internet just after the event, you should.

Time: 5 August 2022 – 7 August 2022
Website: https://www.brighton-pride.org/

The Edinburgh Festival is really made up of five festivals. There's the Book Festival, set in leafy Charlotte Square and home to top authors and commentators; the International Festival, which hosts lush, clever high-arts productions; the Art Festival, which brings together special exhibitions and regular galleries; and the Fringe, which is what most people mean when they talk airily of the Festival, bulging with all manner of comedy, theatre, and music from pros and amateurs. The grandeur and danger of the Fringe - which, unsurprisingly, has its own unauthorized fringe - is that no one selects who gets to be a part of it; performers just pay to be included in the program. For a few pennies, you may witness students do Hamlet or Bouncers, watch wonderfully witty or immensely foolish stand-up, see fantastic new work from bold writers, or stand in a giant tent and watch a circus reinvent itself.

It's possible to have a fantastic day without seeing any concerts at all, instead hopping from makeshift bar to historic tavern and chatting with the performers, punters, and hangers-on that flock here like moths to a month-long flame. But it's better to be in the thick of it, wading through the drunks and garbage in the hope of seeing that rare and amazing beast: genius creating a name for itself.

Time: 5th -29th August 2022

Website: https://www.edfringe.com/

Obby Oss (dialect for hobby horse) is a traditional community event that has been on Padstow's calendar for decades. It is one of the most unique May Day festivities in the country.

Two Osses, monstrous, masked effigies with huge, hooped skirts, are paraded through the streets to the accompaniment of song, accordions, and drums in a unique ritual generally believed to be some sort of ancient Celtic fertility rite - May Day itself has its origins in the Celtic festival of Beltane. It's better not to get too caught up with the meaning of it all and instead grab a pint and a pasty and let yourself be swept away by the joyful atmosphere. It's tough not to get caught up in the tangle of bunting-adorned streets teeming with revelers.

With the oldest Chinese community in Europe, going back to the mid-nineteenth century, and one of the largest in terms of population, Liverpool is an obvious choice for celebrating Chinese New Year without flying to Shanghai. The city's majestic Chinese arch on Nelson Street serves as the focal point for the celebrations. It stood fifty feet tall and was brought from Shanghai piece by piece in 2000. It has been placed in line with feng shui principles, with stunningly elaborate embellishments, including two hundred dragons, to bring good luck to the community.

The celebration begins early in the morning of the first day of the New Year, which varies each year, with stunning lion, unicorn, and dragon dances, fireworks galore in a daytime display on St George's Square, t'ai chi demonstrations, and at least 18,000 carnival-goers who bring the city center to a halt. The lion, in particular, is not to be overlooked; its red coloring is said to bring good luck, which explains the abundance of red in all the decorations. This is an excellent opportunity to become familiar with some of the magnificent Chinese street cuisine prepared to honor the start of a new year.

Time: February 6, 2022
Website: https://www.visitliverpool.com/

The week-long schedule begins with a carnival, which sets the tone for good-natured fun. Pub crews, families dressed up in themed costumes, and semi-professional brass bands all parade along the crowded, narrow high street. A local girl is proclaimed Queen of the Carnival, decked out in the hydrangeas that bloom in Cornwall in August, and the day concludes in quayside revelry and a firework spectacular that fills the estuary with light, noise, and smoke.

Above all, it is the estuary that gives Fowey its enchantment. The little village is carved into the slope of a miniature fjord, which serves as a great amphitheatre. Noises swirl and bounce about when bands play or guns fire to indicate races. When the huge yachts arrive from Falmouth, the gig boats race with their oars swinging frantically, or the torchlight boat procession passes on the last night, the boats all parade in plain view along the shoreline.

If you're looking for pure homeliness, consider attending the little-known regatta at Polruan, Fowey's villagey neighbor located a two-minute boat journey over the lake. There's hymn and shanty singing, a sandcastle competition, a tombola in behalf of the lifeboat, and a race of bouncing balls down the hill into the port. It's like 1950s Britain - and none the worse for it.

Time: 20 Aug 2022
Website: https://foweyregatta.co.uk/

If you're nervous in crowds, fearful of fire, afraid of the dark, or, worst of all, somewhat upset by abrupt, ear-splitting explosions, don't come here - but if you like noise, smoke, and fireworks, you'll be blown away. The town's seven Bonfire Societies generate revenue all year just to burn it all down. To the steady beat of drums, their Bonfire Boys parade through the streets with blazing torches and flaming crosses.

Others parade gigantic satirical effigies of public persons, ready to be torched at the end of the night, while some pull barrels of smoldering tar. Moving speeches are delivered, bangers ricochet over the bonfire sites, and hundreds of rockets flood the sky at the conclusion of the festivities.

Time: 4:00pm - 11:30pm 05 Nov, 2022

Website: http://www.lewesbonfirecouncil.org.uk/

Glastonbury is one of the most well-known music events in the United Kingdom.

If you love music, you've probably been to a few music and performing arts events over the years, but the Glastonbury Festival is unlike anything you've ever seen. This festival is thought to be the largest of its type in the world, showcasing drum 'n' bass, techno, minimal house, pop, rock, blues, and many more genres. It is distinguished by its gigantic Pyramid stage, which has hosted major industry acts such as George Ezra, The Killers, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, and many others. When you go along the event's evening zone, Shangri-la, with its amazing antics, theater, and more, the experience becomes exciting.

Time: 22nd -26th June 2022

Website: https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/

Jorvik Viking Festival, one of the most well-known events in England, the UK, is a massive celebration of Viking ancestry. This celebration is unique in Europe since it commemorates the landing and conquering of the Viking army in England. This week-long event has it everything, from combat shows to guided walks to competitions and feasts.

Listen to incredible sagas from the past at this thrilling festival, Europe's largest of its type. The Jorvik Viking Festival comprises thrilling battle shows, history encampments, tours, seminars, workshops, and marketplaces, among other things. It is held in the lovely city of York, and each year has a new theme. The theme for 2020 is Viking Voyages, which is sure to make you nostalgic. If you are a history fan, you should not miss this event and should bring your friends or family with you.

Time: 19th-27th February 2022

Website: https://jorvikvikingfestival.co.uk/