Although Cinco de Mayo may be more well-known in the US, this is arguably Mexico’s most important and widely celebrated holiday. In fact, it’s important enough that it was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008..

More commonly known in English-speaking countries as the Day of the Dead, the festivities begin on October 31 and last through November 2..

As depicted in the 2017 Pixar film Coco, the holiday is all about getting together with friends and family to remember and celebrate ancestors who have died in order to help them on their spiritual journey.

To honor those that came before, families build private altars in their homes, known as ofrendas. On top of them they’ll put photos of the dead, calaveras (a.k.a. sugar skulls), Aztec Marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of their ancestors.

They also visit their loved ones’ graves, leaving these gifts and other beloved possessions as tribute to the deceased.

Arguably the world’s biggest festival (not to mention its wildest party), Brazil’s Carnival is widely considered “the greatest show on Earth.” The event attracts nearly 5 million people each year, with a half-million or so being visitors traveling to see the spectacle..

Historically, Carnival is a religious celebration. The festival takes place in February or March, over the 5 days preceding the Catholic season of Lent, which starts 40 days before Easter. It also coincides with the end of the long, brutally hot Brazilian summer..

So picture 5 million people who’ve been baking in the heat for months, preparing to give up the things they love for 40 days, set loose in a city filled with lively music and half-naked dancers shaking what their mama gave them.

Yeah, it’s THAT crazy. And colorful, thanks to creative costumes worn by the 70+ samba schools (each representing a different neighborhood) who compete for cash and national fame.

The festival culminates with a rowdy, raucous 2-night extravaganza at Rio’s remarkable Sambadrome, where 90,000+ spectators pay top dollar to watch the top 12 samba schools compete for the grand prize.

There are annual themes for the competition, and the carnival parades are usually the stuff of legend. Carnival is celebrated in many Latin American nations, but nobody does it like Rio.

Where Carnival celebrates the end of Brazil’s oppressive heat, the International Ice & Snow Sculpture Festival makes the most of the bitter winter weather you’ll find in Harbin, China..

Located in Northeast China, Harbin receives some seriously cold winter winds blowing over from Siberia. How cold, you may ask? The average daily temperature in winter is around 1.8 ºF, and lows of -31 ºF are dauntingly frequent...

So why in god’s green earth would any sane person want to visit for this month-long festival (which officially starts on January 5)?.

Because it’s home to the largest ice sculptures in the world, and the celebration takes over the entire city. There are two main exhibition areas: Sun Island is a recreation area along the Songua River, where you’ll find most of the giant sculptures.

Ice and Snow World opens at night, with colorful lights illuminating full-sized buildings made of 2- to 3-foot ice blocks taken from the river..

Other activities in the area during the festival include alpine skiing, touring ice lantern exhibitions in various local parks, and– for the truly insane– swimming in the river’s frigid waters.