Eight Over The Top Celebrations You'll Never Forget

Naadam Festival IN Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Since the reign of Genghis Kahn, Mongolians have adhered ferociously to their traditions. At the Naadam Festival in July, herders come for two furious days of strident fraternizing competition in horse racing, wrestling andarchery. The sighting and sound of 600 horses stamping over the plains stops your heart.

Betrothal Festival, Atlas Mountains In Morocco.

Every year in September, before the pastoral Berbers settle down for the winter, they emcee an engagement fair which is a kind of Moroccan Sadie Hawkins sociable where the single girls find their partners. With music, dancing, and lots of jewelry exhibited, the fair goes on for three days, making it feel like a collection of all the wedding ceremonies you have ever been to.

Oktoberfest IN Munich IN Germany.

It's the utmost party - eating and drinking zealously for sixteen days, and haunting with robustious strangers. It starts with a ceremony led by dobbin-drawn beer carriages and stops at the fairgrounds with oompah concerts, gut-agitating drives and possibly a katzenjammer.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally IN Sturgis, South Dakota.

Commence in the year of 1983, Sturgis became the sort of bacchanal eternalized in The Wild Ones. Today it's almost a family destination, with law and order prevalent. But everyone takes part in the climbs up the hills, and concerts, and lurches the streets, admiring the chromed out pigs.

The Gypsy Pilgrimage IN Camargue, France.

The Camargue is famous for its pink flamingos, colorful cowboys ,white horses, and black bulls. More than 20,000 Gypsies crowds the streets of the village of Stes. -Maries-de-la-Mer with the chat of gitane and their enthusiastic music.

The White Party, Miami Beach IN Florida.

Twenty years ago, it was AIDS fund-raiser lasting only one night. The White Party is now a seven-day celebration famous for its outstanding events, celebrity watching, and 15,000 gay men and women, mostly young, mostly fit, mostly magnificent and all astonishingly elegant in white.

Opening Night at La Scala IN Milan.

The Opening night (December 7th) at La Scala has always been a marvelously ceremonious event- in the audience as well as on the stage. And nowadays, after its successful $67 million cost renovation, it's more splendid than ever.

Heilala Festival, Tongapatu IN Tonga.

King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV celebrates his birthday in every July 4 with a seven-day marathon of concerts, parties, yatch races, military parades, and beauty contests. The entire island meddles, and you are invited as well.