February

40th Hong Kong Arts Festival

Through Mar 8. Hong Kong. Prices vary. www.hk.artsfestival.org
45 days, 17 venues and 166 performances, covering music, dance and theater, make the 40th edition of the Hong Kong Arts Festival the largest ever. The 2012 lineup is headlined by Mozart’s Cozi Fan Tutte by the Bavarian State Opera, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, John Neumier by the Hamburg Ballet, Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis by Grzegorz Jarzyna, and World of Wearable Arts, which is the first time the extravagant clothes from the famous wearable arts competition travel out of their hometown in New Zealand.

Jeju Jeongwol Daeboreum Fire Festival

Feb 2-4. South Korea www.buriburi.go.kr
Not only a favorite resort island for Koreans, Jeju is also a great place to enjoy some folk traditions. Every year, almost 350,000 people participate in a fire ceremony to pray for good health and a good harvest in the coming spring. There are also a number of hands-on events tourists can participate in throughout the three-day festival, the highlight being the setting ablaze of old grass on the hill, which everyone does together, in order to banish harmful insects and bad luck and to prepare the land for the new cultivating season.

Sapporo Snow Festival

Feb 6-12. Sapporo, Japan. www.snowfes.com
That we never get snow is reason enough to travel to see Asia’s large snow event. Started as a high school student showcase in 1950, Sapporo Snow Festival is now in its 63rd year and is one of Japan’s largest winter events. The Snow Festival, or Yuki Matsuri, attracts more than two million people each year with an array of ice and snow sculptures at three main sites: Odori Park at Sapporo’s downtown, the grounds at Tsudome and the main street on Susukino.

St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival

Feb 12. Fort Canning, Singapore. S$138. singapore.lanewayfestival.com.au
Starting out as an indie music festival back in 2004 in Melbourne, Australia, Laneway has grown rapidly since then, thanks to its lineup of cutting-edge bands and artists from all over the world. Its second year in Singapore sees if expand with a bill that includes The Drums, Cults, Yuck, Feist and The Horrors.

Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras

Feb 12-Mar 4. Sydney, Australia. www.mardigras.org.au
When the Asia-Pacific gay headquarters organizes a festival, you can rest assured it won’t be small: the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is the region’s largest and most famous LBGT festival. The 12th edition of the two-week long event is packed with a lineup of highlights like town, beach and poolside parties; art events; stage performances; a film festival organized by Queerscreen (www.mardigrasfilmfestival.com.au); a sports festival; and a grand parade involving thousands of LBGT and non-LGBT citizens dressed up in some outrageous costumes roaming Oxford and Flinders streets on Mar 3.

Taiwan Lantern Festival

Feb 17-28. Lugang, Taiwan. www.taiwan.net.tw/2012taiwanlantern
The township of Lugang will be lit up with hundreds of lanterns in various shapes and colors to celebrate the first month in the Chinese calendar. For its 23rd time, and to mark the Year of the Dragon, the theme is Soaring Dragon in Radiant Skies.­ That means tourists will be able to see lots of dragon lanterns throughout its nine exhibition areas.

Hadaka Matsuri at Saidai-Ji Temple

Feb 18. Okayama, Japan. http://tiny.cc/fcxyx
Hadaka means naked, so you know what to expect from this annual festival that takes place every third Saturday of February. Nearly 10,000 Japanese men roam the streets in their traditional fundoshi underwear in search of the one fully naked man hidden among them. The one to find and touch the naked man first will have good luck throughout the year. After a winner is declared, the mass of unclothed bodies moves to the Saidai-Ji Temple, where monks have a blessing for good luck at midnight. Sound fun enough for you?

MARCH

Holi Festival

Mar 8. Pune, India.
Probably one of the best-known festivals in India, Holi (aka the Festival of Colors) is a celebration to worship Vishnu at the beginning of Spring, asking for a fruitful harvest. Just imagine our Songkran Festival but replace the water with colored paints. The celebration takes place throughout the country, especially in Northern India, but you might see the largest festivals at places connected to Lord Krishna, like Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana. You know you need a change of clothes, right?

Mosaic Music Festival

Mar 9-18. Singapore. Prices vary. www.mosiacmusicfestival.com
Started in 2005, this is one of the region’s largest music festivals for world and indie. The 10-day lineup covers everything from folk and R&B to hip hop and electronic rock. This year’s lineup is headlined by Elbow from UK (Mar 18), Stacey Kent from USA (Mar 9), Architecture in Helsinki from Australia (Mar 9) and Toe from Japan (Mar 15-16).

Jue Festival

Mar 9-25. Beijing and Shanghai. Free. www.juefestival.com
China’s best arts and music festival returns, after the biggest edition yet (91 events and 32,000 attendees in 2011), with work by local talent and creative communities from Beijing and Shanghai. Each event is independently organized, and all proceeds go to the artists and performers.

Design Days Dubai

Mar 18-21. Dubai, UAE. www.designdaysdubai.ae
Not only acting as a playground for “starchitects” and celebrity designers, Dubai’s design scene is also flourishing. Unlike the other contemporary art fairs in Asia, the inaugural Design Days Dubai focuses on collectible and limited edition items from galleries and art studios around the world, including R20th Century from New York, Nilufar from Milan and Gallery Seomi from Seoul.

Japan Fashion Week

Autumn/Winter Mar 18-23. Tokyo, Japan. www.jfw.jp/en
After its cancellation in 2011 following the devastating earthquake and tsunami, Japan Fashion Week returned with Mercedes Benz as a title sponsor (just like New York) and a series of Spring 2012 collections last Oct. The autumn/winter lineups haven’t been unveiled as of press time, but we’re expecting creative works from renowned Japanese brands like araisara, fur fur and Somarta.

Hong Kong International Film Festival

Mar 21-Apr 5. Hong Kong. Prices vary. www.hkiff.org.hk
One of Asia’s oldest film festivals is now in its 36th year and is featuring 330 films from 50 countries. The shortlisted lineup is not yet confirmed, but the organizers promise to focus on Asian (or Chinese, in particular) films and stars. The 2012 festival also celebrates the achievement of Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Cahn Ho-sun by showing his 12 famed works, including Perhaps Love, The Warlords and Bodyguards And Assassins.

Hong Kong Rugby Sevens

Mar 23-25. Hong Kong. HK$1,550 for a three-day pass. www.hksevens.com
No matter whom you’re supporting—All Blacks, Springboks, Wallabies, Lions, or Dragons­­—one of the world’s premier rugby events is returning to the Hong Kong stadium. Tickets run out fast, so make sure to grab the early-bird promotion or watch out for the air ticket-plus-rugby ticket promotion from Cathay Pacific (www.cathaypacific.com/th) that starts from B17,000.

Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix

Mar 23-25. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. RM63-1,763. www.malaysiangp.com.my
Can anyone catch Sebastian Vettel in 2012? The young German has already established himself as this generation’s Michael Schumacher (even as Schumi continues to race), winning his second consecutive World Championship with ease in 2011. Asia gets front row seats with the first four races of the season in Australia (Mar 18), Malaysia, China (Apr 15) and Bahrain (Apr 22).

Hanami Festival

Late March through early May. Japan. www.jnto.go.jp
When sakura flowers blossom in late March, Japanese people will rush out for the Hanami, or cherry blossom viewing, as the delicate flowers last no longer than a week. According to last year’s predictions, the yearly spectacle should begin in Kyushu prefecture in late March, then travel up north to Tokyo, Kyoto and end in Hokkaido in early May. Plan your trip in advance because packages and deals will be a little pricier during this period. You’ll be in Tokyo? Ueno Park is a can’t-miss.

April

Wicked the Musical

Through Apr 1. Tickets S$55-250. Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. www.wickedthemusical.com.sg
Apr 1 is the last chance to see the award-winning Broadway musical Wicked during its world tour in Asia. Wicked re-tells the story of The Wizard of Oz through the eyes of the wicked witch, Elphaba, and her love-hate relationship with the good witch, Glinda.

Pii Mai Lao

Apr 14-16. Laos. www.tourismlaos.org
While we’re celebrating Songkran, Laotians also are celebrating their traditional new year. Like Thailand, expect religious ceremonies at temples and water-splashing revelry on the streets. Tourists will see more traditional rituals at Luang Prabang, while things get crazier (even more so than in Bangkok) in Vientiane.

Arrowtown Autumn Festival

Apr 20-29. Arrowtown, New Zealand. www.arrowtownautumnfestival.org.nz
Originally a 19th century gold-mining town, Arrowtown is blessed with stunning natural setting and a tranquil historic-looking township, especially in the fall, when peaceful lanes are coated in a carpet of red and yellow leaves. Every fall, the town hosts the annual Arrow Autumn Festival, featuring a variety of program, from musical shows to biking trails around the old town, so you can soak up the vintage feel of the place.