Monday-China

The majestic Longqing Gorge, 80km outside Beijing, is the scene for the annual Ice and Snow Festival, a colourful fiesta of ice and light. Massive blocks of ice are carved into animals, lanterns and figures of all shapes and sizes.

 Tuesday-South Korea

The Yeongsan Samil Cultural Festival commemorates the brave stand of Samil peasants who rose up against the Japanese occupation forces on 1 March 1919. The uprising is commemorated all over the country.

A highlight of the festival is a phenomenon known as the ‘Battle of the Bulls’ (Yongsan Soemori-daegi), derived from the days when real bulls used to fight to the bitter end. Now, two teams line up opposite each other carrying wooden bulls’ heads in a mock-fight, to the accompaniment of traditional folk music.

Wednesday-Ethiopia

Adwa day commemorates the victory by Menelik II over Italian forces in 1896. An official ceremony in Addis Ababa features a procession and wreaths are laid by the statues of Menelik’s horses in Adwa Square.

Adwa Day celebrations demonstrate the pride that Ethiopians feel in never having been fully colonised and offer an insight into the fiercely independent national character.

Thursday-Poland

Earlier by five days than those countries celebrating Mardi Gras, the Poles go food crazy on Tlusty czwartek (“Greasy Thursday”) before Ash Wednesday. Queues in Warsaw start early for traditional paczki (fat doughnuts) and the indulging carries on all day.

Friday-Mexico

Every year Catemaco hosts the Annual Witch Gathering (Congreso de Brujos) on the first Friday in March. Prepare for the onslaught of magicians, traditional witch doctors, healers, wizards and witches who converge on the beautiful lakeside town.

Lake Catemaco has been a centre for alternative medicine and strange doings since pre-Hispanic times. It is thought that the area’s association with witchcraft dates back to Olmec times more than 2000 years ago.

Saturday-New Zealand

Lake Taupo’s season-opening Ironman Triathlon sees up to 1500 contestants battling for US$50,000 of prize money. Competitors swim 2.4 miles (3.86 km), cycle 180km (112 miles) and run 42km (26 miles) through a breathtaking landscape of hot springs, volcanoes and waterfalls.

Competitors are allowed up to 17 hours to complete the course, and the fastest time is under nine hours.

 Sunday-Colorado

Frozen Dead Guy Days is a festival in Nederland, Colorado, that commemorates the town’s most famous celebrity - Bredo Morstel, the frozen dead guy. In 1989 Norwegian citizen, Trygve Bauge brought the corpse of his recently deceased grandfather to the Coloradan town of Nederland and there it stays, cryogenically suspended until this day. Morstel is no Walt Disney. His body lies, not in an expensive and highly controlled cryo-lab, but in a shed behind his daughter’s old house.