Want to travel in Europe and know about the best events? Please find our selection of the best European events. Discover the best music festivals in Europe, the best sports events but also the best traditional and folks events, the top religious events, the best and most popular festivals, the biggest outdoor events and the best art events. Discover our selection of the top events in Europe and get ready to book your plane/train or to jump into a bus/tram/car to enjoy them!

1. Art Basel

Art Basel stages the world's premier Modern and contemporary art shows, held annually in Basel, Miami Beach, and Hong Kong. Founded by gallerists in 1970, Art Basel has been a driving force in supporting the role that galleries play in the nurturing of artists, and the development and promotion of visual arts. (©artbasel.com)

2. Oktoberfest

The Oktoberfest has its origins in the year 1810. However, it looked a bit different then, as the first Oktoberfest was a horse-race, held as a part of the wedding festivities of Bavarian King Ludwig I. and his wife Theresie.

The people liked that horse-race so much, that it became an annual event, which then developed into what we know as Oktoberfest today, as the focus shifted more and more away from the horse-race and towards fun rides and drinking beer. (©oktoberfest.de)

3. International Kite Festival

Marked by a convivial, inclusive and family-oriented spirit, the International Kite Festival brings together several hundred thousand local, national and international spectators. With a world-wide impact and a spectacle and events that are constantly reinvented at the instigation of its organisers and the town council, RICV has become one of the largest annual gatherings of kite-flyers since its creation in 1986. (©cerf-volant-berck.com)

4. Stockholm Pride

Stockholm Pride and this year's parade team wants to make use of all people's creativity and personal contributions to create a fantastic and unforgettable parade.

"We're all one big family and everybody should experience a delightful parade filled with love, both volunteers, parade-goers and spectators", says Jörgen Eriksson, festival director. (©stockholmpride.org).

5. Carnival of Venice

The Carnival of Venice is a Carnival of fairy tales, marvels and fantastic natures: the woods, the valleys, the seas, the mountains, the lagoons and the mysterious animal and vegetable creatures inhabiting them (©carnaval.venezia.com)

6. Tour de France

Tour de France : the line between insanity and genius is said to be a fine one, and in early 20thcentury France, anyone envisaging a near-2,500-km-long cycle race across the country would have been widely viewed as unhinged. (©letour.fr) 

7. La Tomatina

The origins of this mass tomato battle date back to a fight amongst children in 1945 and it has been celebrated every year since then.

The “Tomatina” is held on the last Wednesday in August in the town of Buñol. This unusual fiesta brings together crowds of people every year, ready to have a great time of laugher and fun, hurling tomatoes at each other. Participants at this joyful pitched battle have a wonderful time throwing tomatoes at anything that moves. (©bunyol.es).

8. St Patrick's Day

The Saint Patrick is 4 Days and Nights of Culture, Music and Entertainmant!

A series of free events sees established and emerging artists from a variety of disciplines including poetry, dance, visual art, filmmaking, history, literature, music and theatre perform in some of Dublin's most historical and culturally significant locations. (©stpatrickfestival).

9. Concurs de Castells de Tarragona

El Concurs de Castells is the best competition of Castells in Spain ( held every two years). One of the main attractions of the event is that it is the only day of the season when all the “Castells” are scored according to difficulty . All the groups are participating in the competition framework conducive try his best buildings. The Council of Tarragona is the organizer and since 2014 has the collaboration of the City of Torredembarra. (©concursdecastells.cat)

10. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tatoo

From its early days, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been an international favourite.

Performers from over 46 countries have taken part in the Tattoo, and around 30 per cent of the 220,000 audience each year are from overseas.

In addition to this, the Tattoo has been televised in more than 30 countries. An annual television audience of 100 million watches the coverage worldwide.

The international flavour of the Tattoo has been deliberately developed as a key element in its capacity to entertain a huge, cosmopolitan audience. (©edintatoo.co.uk)

11. Europe's biggest flea market

Nowadays, the flea market extends hundreds of kilometers of sidewalks and can accommodate between two and three million people. In general, it is held the weekend of the first Sunday in September and officially began early Saturday afternoon to finish on Sunday at noon, without interruption. (©braderie-de-lille.fr)

12. San Fermin

Fiesta on the street & Bullrun in San Fermin. By definition, Sanfermin is synomymous with street-partying. It’s a wild mixture of carnaval, a baccanal party and general fooling around, all helped by the imbibing of generous helpings of alcoholic drinks. (©sanfermin.com).

13. Street Parade Zurich

Year after year, the most colourful house and techno parade in the world fascinates hundreds of thousands of dance fans from every continent. Around 30 Love Mobiles, brightly decorated trucks packed with giant music systems, DJs and party people, drive at walking pace through the crowd of people around Lake Zurich. (©streetparade.com).

14. Notting Hill Carnival

The Notting Hill Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe and originated in 1964 as a way for Afro-Caribbean communities to celebrate their own cultures and traditions. Taking place every August Bank Holiday weekend in the streets of London W11, the Notting Hill Carnival is an amazing array of sounds, colourful sights and social solidarity. (©thenotthinghillcarnival.com).

15. Oerol

Terschelling Oerol festival has a reputation as one of the most fun, most exceptional theatre festivals in Europe. From its roots as a small festival in 1982, Oerol has grown to become a true phenomenon. Every June, the island of Terschelling in the Wadden Sea is transformed for ten days into a unique natural stage for theatre, dance, street theatre, art and music. (©oerol.nl).