The year 2015 teems with major anniversaries, from the 50th remembrance of the Selma Bridge Crossing in Alabama to the 450th birthday of St. Augustine, Fla., and the 800th staging of the Lord Mayor’s Show in London. Check these out on our annual calendar, which also touts flower festivals, culinary capers and a variety of sporting spectaculars.
January
4-17: Buenos Aires — Dakar Rally. Cars, trucks, quads and motorcycles go way off road for nearly 5,600 miles in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.
6-11: New Orleans — Bicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans. War of 1812 re-enactment, down the Mighty Mississip’.
17: Pilsen, Czech Republic — European Cultural Capital Grand Opening. Beer burg blitz, followed by inauguration of co-capital, Mons, Belgium, Jan. 24.
17-Feb. 8: Four cities in Equatorial Guinea — Africa Cup of Nations. The continent’s best go toe to toe for soccer title.
February
1: Phoenix — Super Bowl XLIX. With Katy Perry taking the snap at halftime.
2-15: Vail and Beaver Creek, Colo. — FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. 700 skiers from some 70 nations go downhill fast.
6-28: Dubai, United Arab Emirates — Dubai Food Festival. Closing the culinary gulf between street vendors and celebrity chefs.
13-17: Rio de Janeiro — Rio Carnival. Parades go wild.
14-March 29: 14 cities in Australia and New Zealand — Cricket World Cup. Batter up in the British Empire’s rejoinder to “Who’s on first?”
March
5-9: Selma, Ala. — 50th Bridge Crossing Jubilee. Pivotal civil rights march remembered and re-enacted.
14-17: Dublin — St. Patrick’s Festival. National party on the Liffey, with “piped-in” music.
13-22: Austin, Texas — South by Southwest. Launching pad for new music and media.
15-17: Hong Kong — Art Basel. Mostly modern East-West gallery showcase returns.
20: Longyearbyen, Norway — Svalbard 2015: Total eclipse of the sun. A stellar view for those who head very far north.
20-April 12: Washington — National Cherry Blossom Festival. Our nation’s capital is in the pink.
April
10-19: Whistler, British Columbia — World Ski & Snowboard Festival. Winter farewell with gear demos and film screenings.
14-15: Washington — The Lincoln Tribute. 1865 presidential assassination tribute where it happened 150 years ago.
16-22: Funchal, Portugal — Madeira Flower Festival. Spring blooms, with the big parade on Sunday.
17-19: Tallahassee, Fla. — Southern Shakespeare Festival. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for midspring.
May
7-9: Pella, Iowa — Pella Tulip Time Festival. Dutch-touched town celebrates 80-year horticultural tradition.
8-10: Hamburg, Germany — Hamburg Harbor Birthday. Hamburgers toast 826th port anniversary along the Elbe.
10-17: California, statewide — Amgen Tour of California. Cyclist teams tackle Golden State highways north to south.
13-24: Cannes, France — Cannes Film Festival. Stars come out for 68th running.
22-June 7: Charleston, S.C. — Spoleto USA. Upper-crust lineup of music, dance, theater and the arts.
June
1: Bentonville, Ark. — Grand Opening of the Bachman-Wilson House. Usonian house moves (W)right in at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
6-July 5: Six cities in Canada — FIFA Women’s World Cup. Americans seek revenge at women’s soccer summit.
18-21: Near Brussels — Bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo. Re-enactment mega-event, with 5,000 soldiers, 300 horses, 100 cannons.
19: U.S., nationwide — Juneteenth 150th Anniversary. A day to remember — the end of American slavery.
26-July 5: Montreal — Montreal Jazz Festival. Big time with big stars.
26-July 5: Fairfax County, Va. — World Police & Fire Games. Biennial sports competitions, from darts to weightlifting.
July
3-4: Bristol, R.I. — Fourth of July Celebration. Sea town stages one of the oldest outpourings of red, white and blue.
10-26; Aug. 7-15: Toronto — Pan Am Games/Parapan Am Games. Pure athletics, with competitors from the Americas, North and South.
17-19: Yarmouth, Maine — Yarmouth Clam Festival. 50th edition, with state clam-shucking title up for grabs.
24-31: Philadelphia, Miss. — Neshoba County Fair. Campground fair serves as “Mississippi’s Giant Houseparty.”
25-Aug. 2: Los Angeles — Special Olympics World Games. 7,000 athletes from 177 countries go for the gold.
28-Aug. 2: Boise, Idaho — Jaialdi. Basque people bask in traditional feats of strength, music and dance.
August
1-8: Meifod, Wales — National Eisteddfod of Wales. Welsh arts festival where Druidic dress is de rigueur.
3-9: Sturgis, S.D. — Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Hog heaven, 75th edition.
7-16: Bethlehem, Pa. — Musikfest. 500 performances, 14 stages, 1 million fans.
22-23: Santa Fe, N.M. — Santa Fe Indian Market. 1,100 Native American artists show, tell and sell.
26: Bunol, Spain — La Tomatina. “World’s biggest food fight” limited to 20,000.
September
4-12: St. Augustine, Fla. — Celebrate 450. Nation’s oldest city holds 450th birthday party.
6: Venice — Historical Regatta. Gondolas go oar to oar on the Grand Canal.
11-13: Marietta, Ohio — Ohio River Sternwheel Festival. Riverfront extravaganza awash with boat races and fireworks.
18-Oct. 31: 11 cities in England and Wales — Rugby World Cup. A real scrum-dinger, with final at Twickenham Stadium.
19-Oct. 4: Munich, Germany — Oktoberfest. Self-proclaimed No. 1 beer fest dispenses 1,430,000 gallons of brew.
25-27: Custer, S.D. — Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup and Arts Festival. 50th annual roundup of Great Plains icon.
October
9-11: Nashville — Southern Festival of Books. With 200 authors and an Instagram Scavenger Hunt.
10: Newry, Maine — North American Wife Carrying Championship. 50 teams compete for wife’s weight in beer.
17: Near Fayetteville, W.Va. — Official Bridge Day. BASE jumpers parachute from 876-foot-high New River Gorge Bridge.
21-24: Circleville, Ohio — Circleville Pumpkin Show. 100,000 pounds of gourds divided up for sculpting, weighing and pie-eating.
November
5-11: Branson, Mo. — Branson Veterans Homecoming. A country-western salute with a big downtown parade.
12-Dec. 20: Oahu, Hawaii — Triple Crown of Surfing. Catch a wave on the North Shore.
14: London — 800th Anniversary Lord Mayor’s Show. Eight centuries of British pageantry on parade.
20-22: Plymouth, Mass. — America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration. Costumed Pilgrims and Native Americans talk turkey.
24-26: Chiang Mai and nationwide, Thailand — Loy Krathong Festival. “Festival of Light” floods rivers with lighted leaf cups.
December
2-6: Portland, Ore. — Holiday Ale Festival. 50 Northwest winter ales warm the cockles of Pioneer Courthouse Square.
6: Williamsburg, Va. — Colonial Williamsburg Grand Illumination. Fireworks on three fronts create a pre-Revolutionary glow.
31: Panama City Beach, Fla. — New Year’s Eve Beach Ball Drop. 800-pound beach ball bounces in the New Year.
31-Jan. 1: Edinburgh, Scotland — Edinburgh’ “World’s Biggest Rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne,'” plus a morning-after dip in the River Forth.
Dates are subject to change. Always check in advance to confirm dates and details.
