In addition to the public holidays listed in Opening hours and public holidays – on July 4, Independence Day, the entire country takes time out to picnic, drink, salute the flag, and watch or participate in fireworks displays, marches, beauty pageants, eating contests and more, to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 – there is a diverse multitude of engaging local events in the US: arts-and-crafts shows, county fairs, ethnic celebrations, music festivals, rodeos, sandcastle-building competitions, chili cookoffs and countless others.
Certain festivities, such as Mardi Gras in New Orleans, are well worth planning your vacation around – obviously other people will have the same idea, so visiting during these times requires an extra amount of advance effort. Halloween (Oct 31) is also immensely popular. No longer just the domain of masked kids running around the streets banging on doors and demanding “trick or treat”, in some bigger cities Halloween has evolved into a massive celebration. In LA’s West Hollywood, New York’s Greenwich Village, New Orleans’s French Quarter and San Francisco’s Castro district, for example, the night is marked by colourful parades, mass cross-dressing, huge block parties and wee-hours partying. Thanksgiving Day, on the fourth Thursday in November, is more sedate. Relatives return to the nest to share a meal (traditionally, roast turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, and all manner of delicious pies) and give thanks for family and friends. Ostensibly, the holiday recalls the first harvest of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts, though Thanksgiving was a national holiday before anyone thought to make that connection.
For further details of the festivals and events listed in this section, including more precise dates, see the relevant section of the Guide, or access their websites. The state tourist boards listed in State tourism information can provide more complete calendars for each area.
Cowboy Poetry Gathering Elko, NV www.westernfolklife.org.
Sundance Film Festival Park City, UT festival.sundance.org.
Winter Carnival St Paul, MN www.winter-carnival.com.
Daytona 500 Daytona Beach, FL www.daytona500.com.
Mardi Gras New Orleans, LA (the six weeks before Lent) www.mardigrasneworleans.com.
Groundhog Day Punxsutawney, PA www.groundhog.org.
South by Southwest Music Festival Austin, TX sxsw.com.
World Championship Crawfish Étouffée Cookoff Eunice, LA www.eunice-la.com.
Ice Alaska Fairbanks, AK www.icealaska.com.
Academy Awards (the “Oscars”) Los Angeles, CA www.oscars.org.
St Joseph’s Day and the Mardi Gras Indians’ “Super Sunday” New Orleans, LA www.mardigrasindians.com.
Gathering of Nations Pow Wow Albuquerque, NM www.gatheringofnations.com.
Coachella Music & Arts Festival Coachella, CA www.coachella.com.
Festival International de Louisiane Lafayette, LA www.festivalinternational.com.
Arkansas Folk Festival Mountain View, AR www.ozarkgetaways.com/folk_festival.html
French Quarter Festival New Orleans, LA www.fqfi.org.
Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest) New Orleans, LA (into May) www.nojazzfest.com.
Fiesta San Antonio San Antonio, TX www.fiesta-sa.org.
Leaf Festival Black Mountain(also Oct), NC www.theleaf.com.
Crawfish Festival Breaux Bridge, LA www.bbcrawfest.com.
Spoleto Festival Charleston, SC (into June) www.spoletousa.org.
Merrie Monoarch Hilo, HI www.merriemonarch.com.
Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis, IN www.indy500.com.
Folk Festival Kerrville, TX (into June) www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com.
Kentucky Derby Louisville, KY www.kentuckyderby.com.
Memphis in May International Festival Memphis, TN www.memphisinmay.org.
Tejano Conjunto Festival San Antonio, TX www.guadalupeculturalarts.org.
Little Bighorn Days Hardin, MT www.custerslaststand.org.
CMA Music Festival Nashville, TN www.cmafest.com.
Texas Folklife Festival San Antonio, TX www.texasfolklifefestival.org.
Bluegrass Festival Telluride, CO www.bluegrass.com.
Cheyenne Frontier Days Cheyenne, WY www.cfdrodeo.com.
National Basque Festival Elko, NV www.elkobasque.com.
World Eskimo-Indian Olympics Fairbanks, AK www.weio.org.
Hopi Festival of Arts and Culture Flagstaff, AZ www.musnaz.org.
Essence Music Festival New Orleans, LA www.essencemusicfestival.com.
Newport Folk Festival Newport, RI www.newportfolkfest.net.
Taste of Minnesota St Paul, MN..
National Cherry Festival Traverse City, MI visit.cherryfestival.org.
Mountain Dance and Folk Festival Asheville, NC www.folkheritage.org.
Burning Man Black Rock City, NV (into Sept) www.burningman.com.
Iowa State Fair Des Moines, IA www.iowastatefair.com.
Augusta Festival of Appalachian Culture Elkins, WV www.augustaheritage.com.
Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial Gallup, NM www.theceremonial.com.
Tribute Elvis Week (Anniversary of Elvis’s death) Memphis, TN www.elvis.com.
Satchmo SummerFest New Orleans, LA www.fqfi.org.
Newport Jazz Festival Newport, RI www.newportjazzfest.net.
Maine Lobster Festival Rockland, ME www.mainelobsterfestival.com.
Indian Market Santa Fe, NM www.swaia.org.
Moja Arts Festival Charleston, SC (into Oct) www.mojafestival.com
Bluegrass and Chili Festival Claremore, OK www.claremore.org.
Great American Beer Festival Denver, CO www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com.
Detroit International Jazz Festival Detroit, MI www.detroitjazzfest.com.
Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival Greenville, MS www.deltablues.org.
Panhandle South Plains Fair Lubbock, TX www.southplainsfair.com.
Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey, CA www.montereyjazzfestival.org.
Southern Decadence New Orleans, LA www.southerndecadence.net.
Festa di San Gennaro New York, NY www.sangennaro.org.
Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival Opelousas, LA www.zydeco.org.
Pendleton Round-Up Pendleton, OR pendletonroundup.com.
Fiestas de Santa Fe Santa Fe, NM www.santafefiesta.org.
Bumbershoot Seattle, WS bumbershoot.org.
International Balloon Fiesta Albuquerque, NM www.balloonfiesta.com.
Buffalo Roundup Custer State Park, SD www.southdakota.com.
Art & Pumpkin Festival Half Moon Bay, CA www.miramarevents.com/pumpkinfest/.
Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival Helena, AR Arkansas www.bluesandheritagefest.com.
Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Lafayette, LA www.festivalsacadiens.com.
Voodoo Fest New Orleans, LA thevoodooexperience.com
Helldorado Days Tombstone, AZ www.helldoradodays.com. Puyallup Fair
Ozark Folk Festival Eureka Springs, AR www.ozarkfolkfestival.com.