Your definitive guide to the global events worth planning your next holiday around.
There’s something about summer that makes the world feel a little more alive. It’s the season when cities throw open their gates, small towns swell with visitors, and music, food, and culture spill out into the streets.
From the buzz of Europe to the mysticism of Morocco and the quiet grace of Japan, here’s a guide to some of the world’s most distinctive summer festivals, and why they’re worth planning an entire trip around.
Glastonbury Festival, UK
There’s no talking about summer festivals without mentioning Glastonbury. Held near Pilton, Somerset, England, it’s less of a concert and more of a cultural movement. With over 200,000 attendees, multiple performance stages, surprise guest acts, immersive art installations, and even spiritual healing fields, Glastonbury is the blueprint that many festivals follow, but none truly replicate.
If you can get your hands on a ticket (they sell out in minutes), you’re in for a five-day experience that blends music and activism.
June 25th – 29th
For more information, visit glastonburyfestivals.co.uk
Gnaoua World Music Festival, Morocco
Essaouira’s Gnaoua World Music Festival is intimate, soulful, and steeped in tradition. Set against the backdrop of a sleepy Moroccan fishing town that transforms into a cultural hub for three days in June, the festival brings together Gnaoua trance music, an Afro-Moroccan genre with spiritual roots, with international artists from genres like jazz, blues, and reggae.
Unlike commercial music festivals, Gnaoua retains a communal and accessible spirit, most performances are free, and the crowds are a mix of locals, travellers, and musicians.
June 19th – 21st
For more information, visit festival-gnaoua.net
Fuji Rock Festival, Japan
Fuji Rock Festival is one of the largest outdoor music festivals in Japan, held every summer at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture, with the theme of “Symbiosis of Nature and Music”. Don’t let the name mislead you; it’s no longer held near Mount Fuji but retains its iconic status as Japan’s most beloved music event.
The event also focuses on environmental preservation and the recycling of resources within the event, including an “event resource recycling cycle”, in which paper trash from the festival is recycled into toilet paper to be used at the following year’s Fuji Rock, and conservation activities in the Naeba forest where the event is held. If you want a festival that delivers world-class music without the chaos, this is it.
July 25th – 27th
For more information, visit fujirockfestival.com
Festival d’Avignon, France
For something completely different, the Festival d’Avignon is a must for lovers of performing arts. Taking place every July in the medieval town of Avignon in southern France, it’s one of Europe’s most respected theatre festivals, hosting avant-garde productions, dance performances, and experimental art in venues that include 14th-century cloisters and open-air courtyards.
The main event is the Cour d’honneur du Palais des Papes, where plays unfold under the Provençal sky, but the real charm lies in wandering the town, where you’ll encounter pop-up performances in cafes, galleries, and public squares. It’s a heady mix of intellect and atmosphere, with a side of rose and lavender fields just beyond the city walls.
July 5th – 26th
For more information, visit festival-avignon.com
Inti Raymi, Peru
While most festivals revolve around music or performance, Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, is a cultural and spiritual homage to the Incan heritage of Peru.
The celebration begins at Qorikancha, the Temple of the Sun, and culminates at Sacsayhuamán, a mountaintop fortress overlooking Cusco. Visitors witness dancers in traditional dress, live Andean music, fire rituals, and theatrical processions that feel both theatrical and deeply reverent. It’s one of the few festivals that lets you experience pre-Colombian history come vividly to life, and the surrounding Sacred Valley offers endless hiking, ruins, and natural beauty to explore before or after.
June 24th
For more information, visit cuscoperu.com
Midnight Sun Film Festival, Finland
Deep in Finnish Lapland, in the quiet town of Sodankylä, the sun doesn’t set for days in June and neither does the cinema. The Midnight Sun Film Festival, founded by a group of legendary Finnish filmmakers including Aki and Mika Kaurismäki, turns this natural phenomenon into an unforgettable cinematic marathon.
Screenings run around the clock with everything from international indie gems to silent films with live music. There’s no red carpet or fanfare; just a community of filmmakers and film lovers watching movies under the surreal glow of the midnight sun.
It’s one of Europe’s most unique film festivals, where the setting is as much a character as any on screen. If you’re after soul-stirring cinema, northern stillness, and a sense of timelessness, Sodankylä in June is unlike anywhere else.
June 11th – 15th
For more information, visit msfilmfestival
Obon Festival, Japan
Not all summer festivals are loud. Japan’s Obon Festival, typically held in mid-August, is a spiritual occasion to honour the spirits of one’s ancestors. While celebrated nationwide, Kyoto’s version is particularly atmospheric, culminating in Gozan no Okuribi, when five giant bonfires are lit in the hills surrounding the city, each forming a different Japanese character.
During Obon, families return to ancestral homes, visit graves, and perform Bon Odori dances in neighbourhood squares. As a visitor, you’ll find the mood respectful but inviting. Participate quietly, observe from the sidelines, and appreciate the way a nation collectively pauses to remember its past with grace.
August 13th – 16th
For more information, visit japanhighlights.com
Travelling for a festival offers something standard sightseeing can’t: the chance to witness a destination at its most alive. You’re not just passing through; you’re participating in a moment that locals have anticipated all year. Festivals allow for a kind of cultural immersion that’s impossible to replicate.
For 2025, skip the generic beach resort. Instead, plan your travels around a celebration, and discover just how much more meaningful a trip can be when it syncs with a city’s heartbeat.
