Visitors admiring Lanna lanterns hanging as part of the Loy Krathong, or Yi Peng tradition in Lamphun, Thailand.
Made a resolution to travel more in 2025? Don’t miss the greatest shows on earth, writes Tyson Beckett
New Year, new adventures. Events based tourism is a burgeoning market, in 2023 Expedia Group reported that almost 70% of respondents to their survey agreed they were more likely to travel to a concert outside their own town, with over 40% saying they’d travel for a concert as an excuse to visit a new place. Below, a calendar of noteworthy global events in destinations themselves worth travelling for is designed to fuel your wanderlust all year long.
Catch tennis fever at The ASB Classic? Hop the Ditch and keep the rally going. The Australian Open is much more than just world-class tennis matches. This is a grand slam in its most entertaining form, encompassing the best of Melbourne - think shopping, dining and entertainment hosted on the banks of the Yarra River. In 2025 Benson Boone, Kaytranada, Kesha and Armand Van Helden round out a packed schedule of live music that supplements stellar on-court action that includes former world No 1. Andy Murray returning to coach his long-time former rival, Novak Djokovic. There’s so much on that some of the 1 million visitors who visit during the three-week tournament spend all day on site soaking up the vibe and don’t see a single serve. On January 12-26, 2025.
The NFL’s biggest game takes place on February 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. It’s not yet known which teams will be going head-to-head in the match, but sporting prowess is only part of the allure of the most anticipated event on the American sporting calendar. Grammy award-winning hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar is confirmed to take to the stage midway through, headlining the half-time showstopper.
A once in a lifetime for sports aficionados, tickets are among the most coveted, hard to secure and expensive out there, but there are plenty of wrap-around Super Bowl festivities that justify a trip to the birthplace of jazz, especially as the game falls during Mardi Gras season. The Superdome is a short walk from Downtown New Orleans, meaning visitors can easily partake in the convivial tradition of tailgating en route. Plus, the day before the game a free parade will deliver some family-friendly Mardis Gras-style football frivolity through the heart of the French Quarter.
School’s back in session, tourists have mostly returned home, but temperatures and daylight hours are only slightly lower than the highs of summer. March is the perfect time to explore our own backyard at a more relaxed pace and there is an awful (or wonderful) lot on. Cultural festival Womad returns to New Plymouth for three epic days of world music, arts, and dance. Homegrown hits the waterfront in Wellington and Te Papa hosts a world-first exhibition showing an impressive collection of archival and runway jewellery from acclaimed British fashion designer and punk icon Vivienne Westwood. In Tāmaki Makaurau, Moana Auckland, New Zealand’s Ocean Festival brings a nautical splash of fun back to the city and Auckland Arts Festival closes out with an interactive dance party put on by contemporary troupe Black Grace to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
People flock to Japan in spring in the hopes of catching the famous and fleeting Cherry Blossoms in bloom, but that isn’t the only spectacular seasonal sight on offer for budding horticulturalists. Wisteria, known as fuji in Japanese, come into their own from mid-April to mid-May carpeting the land of the rising sun in draping tendrils of highly flagrant petals in stunning shades of blue, pink, purple, and white.
Many temples and public parks have tunnel structures and pagodas entangled with the woody vines, allowing visitors to be enveloped by cascading clouds of the dreamy floral clusters. Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi (about three hours from Tokyo by train) is one the region’s best destinations for wisteria, home to 350 of the highly lauded trees, one of which is more than 150 years old and grows an unbelievable 80,000 individual purple blossoms in a canopy that covers roughly 1000sq m. Also on display is an 80m-long “wisteria walk”, in which thousands of white blooms droop over you from the trellis above, and a tunnel framed by the rare yellow kibana wisteria. The park is also home to more than 5000 azalea bushes that can be admired around the same time.
The Swiss city of Basel is famed for Art Basel, the world’s biggest art fair founded in 1970, but come May the city will host another splashy artistic endeavour of global importance: Eurovision (May 12-17). Once the cult singing competition has wrapped up, stick around and soak up the rest of the cultural enrichment on offer in Roger Federer’s hometown. There’s a charming medieval old town, a millennia-old cathedral, a postcard-worthy river that can be explored via wooden ferry and a collection of 40 museums including The Kunstmuseum, which houses the oldest public art collection in the world.
Pyromaniacs converge. Taking place on barges on the Han River, with the skyline of Da Nang reflected behind, Vietnam’s International Fireworks Festival is a multi-day event in which fireworks teams from around the world compete to create world-class pyrotechnic displays choreographed to music, many of which reflect their country’s cultures. Beyond the spectacle in the sky, street parades, live music, food stalls and dance performances complete the buzzy experience for festival-goers. On June 8-July 13, 2025.
Yes, July is high season in Fiji, but for good reason. Our chilly days set in when Fiji’s weather is arguably at its best: with temperatures generally between 20C–30C and humidity is low so you can comfortably explore all that’s offered outdoors, be it lush rainforests or idyllic beaches. It’s the dry season too, meaning the always warm water is at its clearest allowing great visibility for keen scuba divers and amateur snorkellers. A number of resorts offer schemes in which visitors can play an active part in protecting this aquatic wonderland. Consider checking out a coral gardening programme such as that offered by Outrigger Fiji in which guests can help transplant young nursery-grown coral on to growing racks in the ocean where they repopulate.
Euro summer. You probably expect to be guided towards a Mediterranean beach, somewhere within duck-diving distance of the crystal-clear waters of the Cyclades. But those seeking a more contemporary culture boost should head north, to temperate Scotland. Take in an extensive and eclectic mix of street performers, theatre troupes and stand-up comics that descend on the enchanting city of Edinburgh for Fringe (August 1-25, 2025), the world’s largest performance arts festival. This is fertile and overwhelming ground for creatives, performers and audiences - 3600 shows were put on last year, all hoping to join shows like Fleabag, Baby Reindeer, Six the Musical and Hannah Gadbsy’s Nanette as breakouts.
Once you’ve had your fill of art, catch the train south to England where the 10th edition of the women’s Rugby World Cup is scheduled between August 22and September 27 2025. New Zealand’s own Black Ferns enter the competition as defending champions, joining Ireland, Japan and Spain in Pool C of the round robin. There’s more competition and viewing opportunities in general this time around: the tournament is being expanded to 16 teams, from the 12 that participated in 2021.
Diwali, India’s festival of light, is marked by five days of festivities that celebrate the triumph of bright goodness over dark evil. An occasion of prosperity and togetherness, this is one of the most hallowed events of the year for Hindu families. Every state has its own celebratory rituals and many travellers visit India just to experience this amazing festival. Brave the crowds and you can explore markets stunningly illuminated by the warm glow of lights in Jaipur, gaze upon spiritual capital Varanasi where steps leading down to the Ganges become an even more mesmerising spectacle lined by thousands of small lamps, or see towering effigies of demon Narakasura set alight in Goa to signify the destruction of evil.
Two notably magical celebrations are held during the full moon of the Thai lunar calendar’s 12th month. Loy Krathong sees small boats of intricately folded banana leaves filled with offerings such as candles, flowers, coins and incense before being floated down rivers as tokens of gratitude toward the goddess of water. In the northern city of Chiang Mai this celebration aligns with the Yi Peng festival of lanterns in which elaborate candlelit displays illuminate streets and Thai Buddhists release thousands of paper lanterns into the midnight sky in a dazzling display of thanksgiving. Both festivals mark the end of monsoon season, meaning travellers to Thailand in November enjoy comfortable weather conditions too: sunny and cool (for Thailand) with temperatures generally in the range of 17C-30C
Few places are as purely romantic at Christmas as Paris, the city of lights glistens that bit extra during the festive season. Lean into the novel magic and go full tourist: try ice skating within view of the Eiffel Tower at the Christmas village at Trocadéro, ooh and ahh over breathtaking holiday displays at the heritage department stores and peruse gifts and edible treats at the more than a dozen seasonal markets which pop up across the city - the most famous being La Magie de Noël in the Tuileries Garden where artisans set up in wooden cabins to showcase their wares.
The chef chats to Herald Travel about unforgettable foodie experiences in Aotearoa.