What's Happening in July?

Hooray, it’s July!

Time for summer festivals, parties, and celebrations. It’s also time for bull running, body painting and mud throwing. Confused? Check out our pick of the 10 best July events below…

1. National Day(s)

What: Most people are familiar with Canada Day, America’s Independence Day and the French Bastille Day, but actually July is a popular month for nations all over the world to celebrate their country with singing, dancing, special foods, fireworks, and copious amounts of booze.

Where: Abkhazia, Algeria, Argentina, Bahamas, Belarus, Belgium, Burundi, Cape Verde, Colombia, Comoros, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Maldives, Peru, Rwanda, Slovakia, Somalia, USA, and Venezuela, just to name a few.

When: Throughtout the month, but Canada Day is celebrated on July 1st, Independence Day on July 4th, and Bastille Day on July 14th.

2. World Body Painting Festival

What: Since 1998, international body artists have gathered at this largest body painting festival in the world to display their craft, take part in workshops and compete against one another. Check out the official 2014 trailer below.

Where: Portschache, Austria

When: 29th June – 6th July, 2014

More info: Check out the festival website for more information.

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3. San Fermin Festival

What: Held in honor of Saint Fermin, the co-patron of Navarre, this festival is best known for the ‘running of the bulls,’ which happens at 8:00am every morning on July 7th- 14th. There are also traditional events like processions, candle lighting and dancing, but more importantly, people RUN with BULLS! See the madness in the video below.

Where: Pamplona, Spain

When: July 7th – July 14th, 2014

More info: To find out how you can take part, check out the running with bulls website.

4. Bosphorus Cross Continental

What: Amateur swimmers of all ages, nationalities and levels can take part in the first and only intercontinental swimming competition in the world, hosted by The National Olympic Committee of Turkey.

Where: The 6.5 kilometers swim takes place from the Asian side of the Bosphorus to the European side.

When: 20th July, 2014

More info: Find out more info here.

5. Dublin Street Performance World Championship

What: The world’s greatest singers, dancers, jugglers, mime artists, acrobats, and more come together for a weekend to compete for the world champion title. Expect flames, bending bodies, magic tricks and plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’.

Where: Dublin, Ireland

When: 11th – 13th July, 2014

More info: Find out more here.

6. Boryeong Mud Festival

What: Millions of visitors flock to the Mud Festival every year to enjoy mud sliding, mud wrestling, mud body painting, mud massage, mud sculpting – anything to do with mud really. But it’s not all fun and games – the mud flats in Boryeong are rich in minerals and often used in cosmetics, making all this playtime good for you too!

Where: Boryeong, South Korea

When: 18th-27th July 2014

More info: Read about the schedule of events here.

7. Gion Matsuri Festival Parade

What: The largest and arguably most beautiful festival in Japan dates back to AD 869 and consists mostly of shrine visits, colourful parades with giant (seriously giant) floats and songs that sound like “kon-chiki-chin.”

Where: Kyoto, Japan

When: Gion Matsuri lasts for all of July, but the biggest and best parade is on July 17th, 2014

More info: Click here for the full schedule of events.

8. San Diego Comic-Con International

What: Simply known as Comic-Con, this is THE comics event of the year featuring exhibitions, workshops, screenings, talks, games, awards and more. Highlights this year include The X-Files holding its own 20th anniversary reunion panel, plus a special panel for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Where: San Diego, California USA

When: 24th – 27th July, 2014

More info: Check out the official Comic-Con website for schedule of events.

9. Nadaam Festival

What: Mongolian wrestling, cross-country horse racing and archery events throughout the country, along with great food, live music and a general midsummer party atmosphere. This is the perfect opportunity to experience Mongolian culture up close and personal.

Where: Ulaanbatar, Mongolia

When: 11th – 13th July, 2014

More info: To find out more about Nadaam, click here.

10. Open House Melbourne

What: Gain access to more than 100 of Melbourne’s coolest buildings – all for free! Ever wondered what the inside of Parliament House, Melbourne Town Hall, and Little Black Number look like? Well now’s your chance! Psst… don’t miss strolling around the newly built 171 Collins Street…

Where: All over Melbourne, Australia

When: 26th – 27th July, 2014

More info: See a full list of open buildings here.

Tell us which of these events you’d most like to go to, or what other July events should be included in our list in the comments below…

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Thanks to derekskey, bosphorus.cc, infomatique, Waegooktravel.com, Stefan, charlesfettinger, over_kind_man, avlxyz, dd and Mark Fischer for the images off Flickr. Please note that all images were used under the Creative Commons license at the time of posting.

What’s Happening in July?