5 traditional festivals you might not know (and that could be the perfect excuse for your next trip)

We all have the same big celebrations in mind: San Fermín, Oktoberfest, the Venice Carnival, the Rio de Janeiro Carnival or New Year’s Eve in Times Square. And hey, they’re wonderful to experience. We’re certainly not going to talk you out of such incredible adventures… but today we want to let you in on a few much less famous celebrations. Yes, they’re wonderful too, far less crowded and, best of all, the towns that host them throw themselves into the festivities. Put another way: we’re giving you five more excuses to travel this year.

Up Helly Aa: when Scotland turns into a Viking settlement in flames

On the last Tuesday of every January, while Europe is still nursing its Christmas hangover, something magical happens in Lerwick, Scotland: almost a thousand men dressed as Vikings march through the town at dusk with blazing torches, singing and leading the way for a wooden Viking longship that ends the night in flames as the whole town sings together. Spectacular. The Shetland Islands, of which Lerwick is the capital, are closer to Norway than to the rest of Scotland, and that historical influence runs deep. It’s the biggest fire display in the United Kingdom. A traveller’s tip: if this one has won you over, don’t leave too much to chance. Getting to Shetland is part of the adventure, and it’s worth arranging accommodation and transport well in advance.

Fête des Lumières: the night Lyon filled with candles without anyone planning it

On 8 December 1852, the French city of Lyon was due to unveil a statue of the Virgin Mary on top of Fourvière hill, complete with fireworks. It rained so much that everything had to be cancelled. But in a completely spontaneous gesture, the people of Lyon placed candles on their windowsills to light up the city anyway. That unplanned act, with no organisation behind it, was repeated year after year until it became the Fête des Lumières, the best day of the year to visit the French city. For the lights, and for the art installations that take over its streets. One thing to know before you go: don’t expect just one illuminated square. During those days, much of Lyon becomes a stage, so your best bet is to assume you’ll be walking (a lot!) and plan your route ahead of time.

Krampusnacht: the night a hairy demon comes looking for you in the Alpine streets

In Austria and other corners of the Alps, there’s a legend: on the night of 5 December, Krampus, a creature with goat’s horns, dark fur and chains, roams the villages, hitting people with branches. A sort of opposite of Father Christmas. The thing is, many villages in the region celebrate it with hand-carved wooden masks, fire and cowbells, especially places such as Bad Mitterndorf and Salzburg. It’s perfect if you’re bored with the usual Christmas celebrations and want to experience something more intense and, yes, unsettling in a good way.

Festa dei Ceri: the race the same team has been winning for 800 years

On 15 May, in the medieval town of Gubbio, Italy, three teams of men hoist wooden structures almost five metres tall and weighing three hundred kilos — known as Ceri — onto their shoulders and literally run up the town’s steep, cobbled streets to the Basilica of Saint Ubaldo, perched on top of a mountain. It’s pure organised chaos, faith and collective physical effort… and anyone who has experienced it from the front row will tell you that the sound of drums and crowds pushing through the narrow streets stays with you for years.

Battaglia delle Arance: revenge turned into an all-out orange battle

We’re staying in Italy. In Ivrea, a town in the Italian region of Piedmont, a full-scale orange battle takes place every year during carnival. Really: up to nine teams of local people hurl fruit at the occupants of more than 50 horse-drawn carts. What’s that all about? Well, the oranges are the gentler version of the stones that the people of Ivrea threw at the soldiers of a local duke who tried to abuse the miller’s daughter centuries ago. You might get hit by an orange just for wandering through. But it’s an unforgettable day.

Not every trip starts with an Instagram post by your favourite influencer... Sometimes it starts when you discover that a remote Scottish town burns a Viking ship in January, that Christmas in Austria can feature demons too, or that a small Italian town has spent eight centuries running up a mountain with 300-kilo wooden structures. And that’s the joy of this passion of ours, travelling: looking beyond the places already on our list and finding a good reason to visit somewhere that wasn’t even on our radar.

We’ve given you five. Now all that’s left is to choose which one deserves to become your next getaway.