HONG KONG
Tonnes of buns, papier-mache effigies, lion dancers and tales of ancient evil spirits converge on the small island of Cheung Chau, south-west of Hong Kong Island, for the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, one of the world's quirkiest local festivals.
The highlight is a 14m-tall "bun tower" covered with 9,000 plastic buns. Real buns were used in the past, but to avoid food wastage, plastic ones are used today.
The tower is used for a bun scrambling competition, in which participants have three minutes to scramble up the tower to collect the buns with the highest points. The winner bags the much-coveted title of king or queen of the buns.
The festival falls on the fifth to the ninth days of the fourth lunar month and its history dates back to more than a century ago, when a plague devastated the island and villagers paraded through the narrow streets disguised as deities to drive away evil spirits.
Today, children dress up in costume to re-enact the parade.
When: May 19 to 23
Info: tinyurl.com/yaha8anl
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
Attention, foodies. The third edition of Food Zurich, a festival celebrating the city as a culinary hot spot, takes place next month.
More than 100 events, such as workshops and tours, will take place over 11 days.
Expect dining and cooking events to be present almost everywhere imaginable - from restaurants to castles - serving up everything from haute cuisine to street food.
One of the events is a fresh caviar night hosted by the five-star Baur au Lac hotel, where guests will get to savour an exclusive six-course menu created by renowned chefs Laurent Eperon, Harald Wohlfahrt, Sebastian Zier, Andre Jaeger, Jacky Donatz and Wolfgang Kuchler.
The festival debuted in 2016 and featured more than 200 producers, restaurateurs and retailers.
When: May 24 to June 3
Info: www.foodzurich.com
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Vivid Sydney, the world's largest festival of light, music and ideas, returns with its unique mix of colour, spectacle, music and creative discussion.
This year's programme includes a large-scale projection show - titled The Spirit Of Fun - on the facade of the Coney Island funhouse in the Luna Park Sydney amusement park. The show, which will be on at selected times during the festival, celebrates the attraction's history and magic.
Another light show, titled Snugglepot And Cuddlepie, will be projected onto the facade of the city's Customs House.
In the whimsical piece, narrated by renowned Australian film and television actress Noni Hazlehurst, the characters go on a weird and wonderful journey through the Australian bush.
The sails of the Sydney Opera House will also be transformed into a series of kinetic digital sculptures, as part of a site-specific artwork created by award-winning Australian artist Jonathan Zawada.
The display is inspired by recognisable Australian motifs in science, nature and culture.
The festival also features music acts such as Grammy award-winning American rock singer St. Vincent, as well as talks and workshops by creative minds such as Canadian film-maker James Cameron and American game developer Jane McGonigal.
When: May 25 to June 16
Info: www.vividsydney.com
Benson Ang
