Hot in travel: festivals and events from around the world

This week brings a number of events and festivals, many marking the coming of winter and Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere. Windsor Castle will launch its Regency-themed Christmas tours, Niagara Falls will light with winter lights and Germany and Europe will see Christmas markets spring up. Elsewhere, animals will be part of the festivities, with the Pushkar Camel Fair in India and the Surin Elephant Round-up in Thailand.

Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights kicks off on 21 November. Image by Derek Hatfield / CC BY 2.0

The Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights will kick off on 21 November. The Canadian event lights up the falls, which straddle the US border, with bright illuminations. The festival lights up a five-kilometre route through the Niagara Parks, the Dufferin Islands and surrounding areas. The event also features the illumination of the falls themselves and fireworks. The event runs until 31 January.

A 24 foot high Christmas tree stands in St George’s Hall as part of Windsor Castle’s Christmas display, as the State Apartments will be transformed with a festive Regency-themed display to show how the Prince Regent (the future George IV) celebrated Christmas at the Castle in the early-19th century. Image by John Stillwell/PA Wire

Starting Saturday, visitors to Windsor can get into the Christmas spirit early with a visit to a Regency-themed display at Windsor Castle. The display shows hot the Prince Regent, later to become George IV, celebrated the holidays in the early 19^th-century, complete with decorated trees, a laid table, and a yew tree. The tours run from 21 November to 5 January.

A Ferris wheel is reflected in the wet cobbles at the traditional Christmas market in Essen, Germany, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. Image by AP Photo/Martin Meissner

Traditional Christmas Markets are popping up around Europe, including many in Germany, where they are called Weihnachtsmarkt. The markets bring authentic Christmas traditions, such as hot chestnuts, gingerbread, mulled wine and more, throughout late November and December. Nuremberg’s Christkindlmarkt is a well-known market, but read more about Lonely Planet’s German Christmas market suggestions here.

Indian camel traders stand among camels at the annual cattle fair in Pushkar, western Rajasthan state, India, Thursday, 19 November. (AP Photo/ Deepak Sharma) Image by AP Photo/ Deepak Sharma

The annual Pushkar Camel Fair in on in the town of Pushkar, located in the state of Rajasthan, India. The event ends on the full moon in the Hindu lunar month of Kartika, this year between 14 and 23 November. While the event can draw in 50,000 camels and 200,000 people, the festival extends beyond just buying and selling livestock. There is a moustache competition, sport and much more.

Elephant in Thailand. Image by Tanel Teemusk / CC BY-SA 2.0

This weekend, thousands of people will head to Surin, Thailand, near the Cambodian border, for the country’s biggest elephant show, the Surin Elephant Round-up. The show involves the animals playing soccer, log-pulling, tug-a-war and more. Traditionally, the people of the Thai province have trained elephants as work animals. There is also an elephant breakfast, where the roads are lined with food for the elephants to enjoy. The festival runs through this weekend on Saturday and Sunday.