New York Hallowe'en Parade

Festivals in New York, United States

October 31st is fancy dress utopia for some two million people every year in New York’s Greenwich Village. Despite the event’s vast scale, its organisers express pride at the community feel of the parade. It’s suitable for children to attend and they (as well as the adults) are encouraged to indulge their creative impulses and invent the most ingenious and eye-catching themed costumes possible. The result is a carnival-like explosion of wonderfully weird sound and colour which progresses down Sixth Avenue and culminates in a massive party. There are official floats and some mind-boggling costume efforts are put together by teams that contribute every year, but as long as you’re dressed as something creepy and/or peculiar, you’re invited too: just meet the crowd between Spring and Broome Streets in the early evening and join the ghost train!

Melbourne International Arts Festival

Arts in Melbourne, Australia

As the name implies, this October festival showcases creative works from all over the world as well as Australia, and lifts new talent into the limelight as well as celebrating dance, theatre, multimedia, music and visual pieces generated by established artists and companies. The exhibitions and performances take place indoors and out, and ticket prices vary enormously, but there are enough free events to make the festival worth a visit, and plenty of family-friendly ones, even if you're not planning to be there for the full seventeen days. Bear in mind, though, that you'll need to book in advance to see most of the higher-profile acts. Expect time-honoured classical music, modern re-workings of Shakespeare, conceptual art based on audience participation, fiercely clever short films, puppet shows and everything in between. You'll be extremely hard pushed not to find something you like!

Cirio de Nazare

Religious in Belém, Brazil

A joyous, colourful celebration of the 'Virgen de Nazare' and the miracles she is believed to have performed in taking pity on those in danger or sadness, this immense festival begins on the second Saturday in October, when a flower-decked icon of the Virgin is carried to the fore of a fleet of hundreds of small boats from the Vila de Icoaraci to Belem. The icon is borne from the water's edge to Belem's cathedral, where she spends the night, and on the Sunday, thousands of people descend on the city centre to follow her in a five-hour procession around the streets, ending at the Basilica. As they carry her aloft on a litter, barefooted townspeople encircle her and hold on to a rope connected to the icon, to symbolize their spiritual link with their patron saint. Costumed children are carried on floats behind her, depicting scenes from her life and honouring her miracles, and the rest of the crowd light the procession with candles and aim to get as close as possible, for a lucky touch of the Virgin's statue. The rest of the evening is spent dancing and feasting on festival treats.

Keene Pumpkin Festival

Traditional in New England, United States

If there's such a thing as too many pumpkins, this may well be the place to find it. Every year, just a few days prior to Hallowe'en, Keene welcomes a congregation of at least 24 thousand pumpkins, if not more. The organisers have been trying to generate a flock of thirty thousand for some years now, in order to win the accolade of the largest ever number of lit, carved pumpkins in one place, so if you go, be sure to bring one and register it at one of the booths set up specially for the purpose of counting the swarm of grinning creations.

If you forget yours, there's even a stash kept specifically for those who commit the faux-pas of turning up pumpkinless – so you'll have chance to carve one at the last minute and maybe save the day! If the record isn't broken, you'll hardly leave feeling short-changed in terms of gourd-related experience. As well as hoards of jack-o-lanterns, there will be pumpkin-seed-spitting contests (if that's your sort of thing), craft stalls, live music, a firework display, carved gourd exhibitions, Hallowe'en games, a costume parade and of course, a great deal of pumpkin pie!

Melton Mowbray Food Festival

Food in Midlands, United Kingdom

As easy as it might be to believe that the paths of twenty thousand people would converge at Melton Bowbray every October simply to appreciate the pork pies, those dumpy pastry parcels without which a Leicestershire ploughman's lunch would be meaningless are in fact just a tiny part of this eclectic event. Aside from such traditional, regional delights as Bakewell puddings, sloe gin, home made sausages, rustic breads, old fashioned sweets and very serious cheeses, the area's best modern and international culinary gems are also on offer and you'll discover exciting new wines, sushi, curries, Mediterranean specialties, and plenty of new-generation organic, healthy and eco-conscious products. Celebrity chefs play a role in educating visitors as to the latest ideas, and the culinary fusion of cultures is reflected in music and dance performances as well as art and craft stalls.