For more than 40 years, since 1966, every August Bank Holiday Notting Hill Carnival has taken over the streets of West London to bring the best of Caribbean culture to the capital. It has catapulted as the largest street festival of its kind in Europe and therefore is an event not to be missed!

This year it will kick off on Saturday 29th of August with Panorama, a free open- air concert and a steel band competition. Sunday, as usual, will remain the Children´s Day and when the costume prizes will be awarded. Remaining true to its roots and inspired in Trinidad´s famous Carnival; street bands, socca and calypso music are the spotlight of this party.

Since Medieval times, student carnivals have taken Polish cities once a year and transformed them into a hard party scene. During the 50s Poles gave this massive event the name of Juwenalia and has been celebrated since then, except between 1977-1988 when the government banned it because it was taking political implications.

Nowadays, it is without a doubt the most expected and desired event for Polish students who after a hard year of study; celebrate this party to have a break before the summer exams. Juwenalia has spread through all Polish student cities but Krakow serves as the epicentre with its acclaimed Jagiellonian University. Even though each city has its own traditions, normally the streets are invaded by a student parade that reaches the main square where the major hands over the symbolic keys of the city. In a 4-day heavy party context, concerts, games and parades take place all across the student towns mainly for free.

Who hasn´t heard about Rio´s carnival? Indeed, this iconic Brazilian city has boomed as the Carnival capital of the world receiving 500.000 visitors annually. The roots of this event, which is full of excesses, dates back to the Romans and Greeks who celebrated their rites to spring. The European countries held celebrations with dances and masks, which arrived to Brazil by the Portuguese in 1850 and soon melted with African and Amerindian hints. They were suspended during World War II and started again in 1947.

Every year, 40 days before Easter, Rio is home to 5 crazy days of celebrations, which define the Brazilian culture and way of thinking. Taking place during February, (let´s not forget on the other side of the world it is the hottest month of the year)the event kicks off with the crowning of King Momo. Afterwards, the carnival invades every corner of the city culminating in the Samba Parade.

Samba is one of the basic ingredients of this party and you better start practicing if you are planning to attend. After all, this dance is flowing through the veins of every Brazilian. An impressive costume and a considerable amount of Caipirinha are the rest of the ingredients to ensure great fun. There are more than 300 hundred street bands, which play along the different neighbourhoods.

Get ready for some authentic piebald partying in the New Year, because from the 2nd until the 6th of January in Pasto, in the province Nariño of Colombia, a city at 2500m above sea level, a great carnival is celebrated. The ´Blacks and Whites Carnival´ is one of the oldest festivals of South America, dating back to times of slavery during Spanish rule.

In those days, the slaves were allowed to celebrate on the 5th of January, and the masters would paint their faces black to show approval. In turn, the next day the slaves would paint their faces white. Actually this was the incorporation of much older celebrations from the Pasto and Quillacinga Indians to honour their moon goddess and plead protection for their crops.

Now it lasts for 5 days, with many elements from Spanish festivities and also from African feasts. Still the tradition is maintained, and people smear, dust and paint each other with chalk, flour etc; anything that can make people white or black. Everyone is a target, so best put some old clothes on because surely you will end as a complete mess. And of course don´t forget a mask; it is carnival after all!