Events

Hogmanay is the Scottish word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. However, it is normally only the start of a celebration that lasts through the night until the morning of New Year's Day or, in some cases, 2 January which is a Scottish Bank Holiday.

The Hogmanay street party on 31 December is the main event, and is held in the city centre. In addition, Princes Street Gardens hosts a live music concert, and East Princes Street Gardens and Mound Square host the Ceilidh in the Gardens open air party.

Originally founded by Robert Redford in the mountains of Sundance, Utah, Sundance Institute has always provided a space for independent artists to explore their stories free from commercial and political pressures.

Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences. Through its programs, the Institute seeks to discover, support, and inspire independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work.

The principal aim of St. Moritz Polo Corporation is to promote the sport of polo worldwide, and especially in Switzerland. While promoting the sport of polo and implementing animal-friendly rules of play, St. Moritz Polo Corporation has made a name for itself as a proven expert in the field of polo.

Set to a beautiful backdrop of a frozen Swiss lake this elite competition attracts some 15,000 spectators.

www.polostmoritz.com

Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair is the world's largest meeting place for Scandinavian furniture and lighting design, for both home and public environments. Held since 1951 and running parallel with Stockholm Design Week.

www.stockholmfurniturelightfair.se/?sc_lang=en

For the 15th edition of Art Rotterdam, the exhibition is moving to the Van Nellefabriek in Rotterdam to accommodate all of its exhibitors. The Van Nellefabriek is an icon of post WW I modern architecture and is nominated to be listed on the Unesco World Heritage List.

www.artrotterdam.com

The Carnival of Venice is an annual festival, held in Venice. The Carnival starts around two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.

Today, approximately 3 million visitors come to Venice every year for Carnival. One of the most important events is the contest for la maschera più bella (the most beautiful mask) placed at the last weekend of the Carnival and juried by a panel of international costume and fashion designers.

www.carnevale.venezia.it

With the first festival dating all the way back to 1823, the carnival in Rio de Janeiro is now possibly the most famous in the world, certainly the biggest with over two million people per day taking to the streets. With revelers, floats and adornments from numerous samba schools, the atmosphere and energy in Rio is truly unsurpassed.

www.rio-carnival.net

The Armory Show, a leading international contemporary and modern art fair and one of the most important annual art events in New York, takes place every March on Piers 92 & 94 in central Manhattan. The Armory Show is devoted to showcasing the most important artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its fifteen years the fair has become an international institution, combining a selection of the world's leading galleries with an exceptional program of arts events and exhibitions throughout New York during the celebrated Armory Arts Week.

Design Days Dubai is the leading fair in the Middle East and South Asia dedicated to collectible and limited edition furniture and design objects. The fair presents design from leading international designers and galleries alongside up and coming design from across the world. The fair also presents a strong non-commercial programme consisting of education, workshops, installations and live performances.

www.designdaysdubai.ae

DesignMarch is Iceland’s most important annual design festival. This year will be the largest and most significant yet, with an expected 150 or so events that will transform the most northerly capital in the world into one big venue for design.

From fashion to furniture, architecture to food design, the festival showcases the best of the local design scene alongside exciting international names, opening with DesignTalks, a day of lectures by internationally acclaimed designers and the foremost local design thinkers.