Festivals & Events

Christianity has been the state religion in Armenia since 301 and as such maintains their original day for Christmas: January 6. The holidays for this period feature a number of feasts, festivals, and observances that take place in the first week of January, kicking off with Armenian Santa Dzmer Papa (winter grandfather), who brings presents on December 31st. Christmas day on January 6 is a time when people bring the fire from churches to their homes, believing it will bless their families.

This seven-day festival is held to honor the baby Jesus in Kalibo, Alkan. Catholics attend mass and religious processions take place in the streets accompanied by traditional music and dancing. The final day, the third Sunday in January, sees a torchlit parade and a masquerade ball where the most colorful tribe wins prizes.

This seven-day holiday is one of the most important in the Chinese calendar and is referred to as Golden Week. There are noisy celebrations with fireworks, family reunions where older relatives give youngsters red envelopes with cash, and lion dance performances. Most businesses reopen on the sixth day with spring dinners for employees.

Chinese New Year marks the start of the lunar calendar for Singapore’s vast Chinese community. Inevitably, the best place to see the celebrations is in Chinatown, which is lit for 15 days by bright lights and decked with traditional red lanterns. There are also traditional parades, live music, dance shows and cultural exhibitions.

This three-day festival is celebrated by Malaysian Chinese throughout the country. Houses, temples and streets are cleaned and decorated, families come together for reunion meals, children receive red packets of money and there are dragon and lion dances in the street. Fireworks are set off and there is a festive atmosphere.

The Chinese New Year is by far the biggest and most widely-celebrated festival in Hong Kong and is celebrated over a few days. Highlights include a stunning flower market at Victoria Park, followed by a night parade the next day. Proceedings are brought to an end with huge firework display over Victoria Harbour on the final day.

Perhaps the most important holiday in Georgia, Christmas is a deeply important observance, as the republic is known for its ties to Christian tradition. Celebrated on the 7th January rather than December 25 due to the Georgian Orthodox Church’s old Julian calendar, on Christmas Day, many people choose to dress in special clothes and costumes, often with a vaguely St. George theme of flags and swords, and march through the streets. The unusual Georgian Christmas tree is made of dried wood shaved into long curly strips. Special church services are held throughout the country as well as various festivals for weeks before Christmas. 

Visitors flock to Iloilo City for this celebratory day held in honor of the child Jesus and of the arrival of Malay settlers on Panay. There are parades of flotillas on the water and a carnival in the street where the locals dress in colorful costumes and perform energetic street dances to music and drumming.

The Dubai Shopping Festival is one month of retail heaven, which really kicks of the new calendar year in style. Alongside bargains on electronics and clothes, this government-organized festival includes street shows, mini films festivals, international fashion shows and fireworks over the iconic Dubai harbor.

Starting in January and concluding in March, the Dubai World Cup Carnival provides a great spectacle for avid punters and horse racing enthusiasts. The international racing event typically features a total of 32 races with both thoroughbred and purebred Arabian horses.