What people celebrate, how they spend the day and what they eat. 22 festivals from 3 countries so far, with more added every week.
ItalyThe feast of the Assumption of Mary is also Italy's great midsummer holiday. Its name comes from the Feriae Augusti, days of rest introduced by Emperor Augustus in 18 BC.
On the day: Cities empty as families head to the beach, the lakes or the mountains. Many shops and businesses close around this date, often for a week or two.
ItalyA bareback horse race around Siena's main square, the Piazza del Campo, run in its modern form since 1633. Ten of the city's seventeen districts, the contrade, compete for a precious banner, the palio.
On the day: A pageant in historic costume parades through the square before the race. The race itself is three laps on a track of earth laid over the stones and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds.
ItalyFounded in 1932, it is the world's oldest film festival. Screenings take place in the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido, a long thin island in the Venice lagoon.
On the day: Film stars and directors walk the red carpet in front of crowds of fans and photographers, and at the end a jury awards the top prize, the Golden Lion.
JapanTanabata celebrates the legend of two lovers, the stars Vega and Altair, who are separated by the Milky Way and may meet only once a year. It came from a Chinese festival and grew its own Japanese customs.
On the day: People write wishes on small strips of coloured paper (tanzaku) and hang them on bamboo branches. Shopping streets are decorated with huge, colourful paper streamers.
JapanA Buddhist festival to honour the spirits of the ancestors, who are believed to return home for a few days. It is not an official holiday, but many people get time off and travel back to their family home.
On the day: Families clean the graves of their ancestors and light fires or lanterns to guide the spirits home and, at the end, back again. In the evenings whole neighbourhoods join the Bon Odori dance.
MexicoOaxaca's great festival of Indigenous dance. Groups from all regions of the state come to Oaxaca City in their local costumes, each dance telling something about its people's history and life.
On the day: Dancers perform in an open-air amphitheatre on the Cerro del Fortín hill above the city, and the streets fill with concerts, crafts and food stalls during all of July.