SALMO, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

When the Shambhala Music Festival was started in 1998 by Rick and Sue Bundschuh to showcase local art and music, about 500 people attended. It was a great turnout for an event held at the family's Salmo River Ranch, a 200ha working farm 650km east of Vancouver in the Kootenay Mountains.

Word of the festival's down- home spirit spread and it was drawing more than 10,000 people by 2010. Festivalgoers are lured by the call of the wild; some of the best electronic dance music DJs from around the world and six otherworldly stages such as Fractal Forest, a sound and light show of projectors, lasers and video mapping among the trees.

The Pagoda, a wooden, multi- platform structure in the forest, acts as the festival's main stage and the Village is a "tiki town" of tree forts connected by bridges and catwalks which surround the main stage and dance floor.

There are also art installations, murals, yoga platforms, craft workshops, fair trade vendors, organic food and meditation areas.

Despite its current scale and production value, the festival has managed to maintain its grassroots vibe with no corporate sponsors.

When: Aug 5 to 8

Info: www.shambhalamusicfestival.com

STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA, UNITED STATES

More than 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts gather for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. PHOTO: STURGIS MOTORCYCLE RALLY

This year marks the 76th anniversary of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a gathering of more than 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

While some fly in, many ride into the city of Sturgis, home to 6,000 people the rest of the year, to attend rallies, motorcycle events and showcases, and to talk shop with fellow motorcycle lovers.

Harley-Davidsons take centre stage here, but visitors, who do not have to own a motorcycle to attend, will find other models too.

One of the highlights of going to the rally are the scenic rides in the area. Riders pass some of the most picturesque spots in the United States such as the Iron Mountain Road, Vanocker Canyon Road and through Black Hills National Forest, where they can see Mount Rushmore, an hour's drive away.

When: Aug 8 to 14

Info: www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com

KANDY, SRI LANKA

Legend has it that after Buddha died, one of his teeth was stolen from his funeral pyre and smuggled into Sri Lanka 800 years later by Princess Hemamala and Prince Dantha. For more than 1,000 years, it was in the possession of Sri Lanka's rulers and it was said that whoever had the tooth also owned the kingdom.

But in the 18th century, Kandyan King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe decreed that the Sacred Tooth, one of Buddhism's most revered relics, would be taken on a procession for the people to see and worship.

So began Esala Perahera, the Festival of the Tooth, with 10 nights of parades of drummers, dancers and fire-eaters as well as costumed and bejewelled elephants through the streets of Kandy. Each night's parade is more elaborate than the last.

When: Aug 8 to 18

Info: www.daladamaligawa.org

LONDON, ENGLAND

If Notting Hill conjures images of English actor Hugh Grant, posh accents and tea, think again. For decades, the neighbourhood was the centre of London's West Indian and Caribbean community, and a hotbed of racial tension for some years.

After race riots broke out there in 1958, the first Notting Hill Carnival was held in 1959. It was a party where everyone could dance and celebrate Caribbean culture together and was held to lighten the mood of the neighbourhood.

It has since grown into an annual three-day festival and one of the biggest street parties in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people congregate to enjoy performances by more than 60 bands playing calypso, soca and reggae music throughout the neighbourhood. There are also parades of dancers, lively steel drum bands and bikini-clad women.

When: Aug 27 to 29

Info: www.thelondonnottinghillcarnival.com

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

Rumoured to have its origins in the brothels of the city, the Tango Buenos Aires Festival sees the world's best tango dancers flock to the Argentine capital to perform in front of their peers and thousands of spectators.

The festival opens with tens of thousands of people dancing in the streets in an open-air milonga (the Argentine term for a place where tango is performed), followed by dozens of tango shows, recitals, competitions, film screenings and free tango classes across the city.

When: Aug 18 to 31

Info: festivales.buenosaires.gob.ar/es/tango

Lydia Vasko