Around the world in festivals

Festivals worldwide highlight diverse ways people celebrate culture, art, faith and tradition.

1. Hot air balloons of all shapes taking flight over Leon at the 2025 International Balloon Festival in Guanajuato, Mexico. — AFP

2. A surfer taking part in the Kommetjie festival’s fancy dress surf competition, a unique community event celebrating the festive atmosphere of Kommetjie, a seaside village on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula, Cape Town, South Africa. — Reuters

3. Visitors admiring the light art installation ‘The River’ by French artist Cedric Le Borgne during a photocall for ‘Lumiere’, a light art biennial festival in Durham, northeast England. — AFP

4. Hindus praying during rakher upobash, a religious festival involving a day-long fast and overnight prayers for spiritual purification in honour of Saint Loknath Brahmachari, at a temple in Chakla, West bengal, India. — AP