With such an expanse of land and variety of cultures, America’s festivals are endless. Practically any day of the year you can find a festival somewhere. The following are but a few.

Mardi Gras
The wild Mardi Gras carnival in New Orleans begins on Epiphany Day and ends on the Wednesday before Lent, Fat Tuesday. Spending time in New Orleans during Mardi Gras is an unforgettable experience. There's craziness in the air, hundreds of parades shower revellers with glittering trinkets, fantastic costumes, elegant balls and intricately designed scenes are essential parts of one of the wildest celebrations in the country. The majority visitors arrive the prior weekend but the entire week before has nightly parades and is the best time to come to get better prices on accommodation. Be sure to book well in advance.

Mummers Parade
On New Year’s Day a great 11-hour parade makes its way up Broad Street in Philadelphia. Having sprouted from European customs brought to the city by early settlers, Philadelphia's Mummers Parade include marching clowns who run to the crowd and plant kisses on women, outlandishly rococo costumes, string bands, and fancy brigades with elaborate floats.

Hawaii Hula Festival
Nothing will get you more into the Hawaiian mood than witnessing the best hula dancers of the Hawaiian Islands during what is known as the Merry Monarch Festival. For seven days every April, these dancers enchant the crowds with this beautiful and ancient art of Hawaiian culture. For more information visit  www.merriemonarchfestival.org  

World Gold Panning Competition
Every third Sunday in April, fortune seekers descended upon Dahlonega, Georgia (80km northeast of Atlanta), beginning what locals call "America's first real gold rush." This small Appalachian Mountain town is proud of its past. There are several working goldmines open to tourists that produce some of the purest gold in the world. And there is also a Gold Museum for those interested in the history. Whether you're a local or a 10-year tourist, you can compete for the title of "World Champion Gold Panner." All you have to do is sift sand away from nuggets of gold as fast as you can. For more information call (706) 864-7247.

USA Film Festival
Featuring the best new American and foreign films, special tributes and retrospectives, the USA Film Festival takes place in Dallas, Texas each year for 7 days in April-May. Visit www.usafilmfestival.com for more information.

Kentucky Derby
The most famous American horse race is held on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky. The festival is a two-week long event encompassing exciting races, parades, and a spectacular fireworks display (the nation’s largest), and rated as the top 100 events in North America. So dawn a big hat and a Mint Julep and join the glamour and thrills of this historical event. Visit www.kentuckyderby.com for more information.

Chicago Blues Festival 
For four days, the lakefront in Grant Park is packed with blues bands and enthusiasts from all 4 corners of the globe for the largest free blues festival in the world.

San Francisco Pride
San Francisco is probably the world's most gay-friendly city. Over half a million boys and girls take part in the annual San Francisco Pride Parade and celebrations around Market Street.

United States Grand Prix
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the United States Grand Prix; the 10th race of the 2006 Formula One season.

Summer Restaurant Week
New York City has thousands of fantastic restaurants: French, Italian, Japanese, Scandinavian, Chinese and American, the list is endless. During Summer Restaurant Week (which actually stretches over two weeks) some of the very best offer three-course prix-fixe lunches and dinners at a fraction of the normal cost.

Elvis Week
Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977 at the age of 42 after 23 years in show business. In commemoration of the man that changed the face of 20th century music, Graceland, located in Memphis, offers an entire week of celebrations.

Summer X-Games
The annual Summer X-Games is held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Over 300 of the world's best alternative sports athletes compete for medals and nearly US$1 million in cash.

Monterey Jazz Festival
Many jazz legends have entertained the crowds at this popular and long-standing festival. Held in beautiful Monterey, California (100km south of San Francisco), the festival celebrates its 50th year in 2007. Louis Armstrong was the first to play at the festival in 1958, paving the way for great jazz musicians to come. For more information, visit www.montereyjazzfestival.org

San Francisco Blues Festival
America's longest-running celebration of the blues, the San Francisco Blues Festival retains the community spirit of the Sixties and consistently attracts the world's best musicians to Great Meadow in Fort Mason.

Miami Carnival
This is one of the largest street festivals in the US, highlighted by the carnival parade and festival on the final day at Bicentennial Park. It is an 11-day festival lasting from the end of September through the beginning of October.

Molokai Hoe Outrigger Canoe Championship
The Molokai Hoe is a 66-kilometre open ocean race that launches from Hale O Lono Harbor on Molokai Island and ends in Honolulu at Duke Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, on the island of Oahu. Considered the men's world championship of long distance outrigger canoe racing, the race draws crews from Tahiti, Japan, Singapore, Italy, Australia, California and Hawaii who paddle across the treacherous Ka’iwi Channel, This is essential viewing for those wanting to experience the essence of Hawaiian culture.

Columbus Day Parade
Great costumes, plenty of food and lots of live music make this one of New York City’s bigger street parades. It celebrates the "discovery" of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492.

New York Horror Festival
The USA's premier scary film festival, this five-day event is held at Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan. With special screenings, parties, celebrity guests and free giveaways, this is a must for fright freaks.

Village Halloween Parade
Held in New York’s Greenwich Village, this is the most outrageous Halloween event in the world, this parade attracts over two million onlookers and more than 50,000 scarily-clad participants every year on 31 October. Towering papier-mโch้ puppets are a regular feature.

New York City Marathon
Held on 5 November, this is the largest marathon in the world with over 34,000 runners and ranks alongside the London Marathon in terms of road race prestige. Some are serious athletes, others run along for fun dressed in all kinds of outrageous costumes.

Thanksgiving Day Parade
The whole nation celebrates Thanksgiving with family gatherings, turkey feasts and American football. In New York everyone turns out to watch the fantastic Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Hollywood Christmas Parade
Los Angeles hosts this cheesy and colourful affair watched by one million spectators on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard. Entertainment is provided by comedians, singers and musicians on 27 November.

Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting
If you’re in New York City on 28 November, don’t miss the spectacular annual lighting ceremony of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree, glittering with more than 25,000 multicoloured bulbs, signalling the start of the Christmas season along with bands and entertainment.

National Finals Rodeo
The wild and wonderful city of Las Vegas hosts the biggest rodeo in the country every year from 1-10 December. This exciting event brings cowboys and cowgirls from around the world for the ultimate showdown championship, known as the Superbowl of Rodeos. Competing for US$5 million of prize money and the winners' golden belt buckles, some 120 cowboys sling it out in seven events: bareback riding, saddle bronco riding, bull riding, team roping, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and barrel racing. www.nfrexperience.com

Rip Curl Pro Pipeline Masters
December is big wave season in Hawaii and the Rip Curl Pro is just one of many exciting surfing competitions.Held outside Honolulu at Ehukai Beach on Oahu’s famed North Shore, the contest is a big event in the world of surfing. The exact dates vary.

Times Square New Year's Eve Celebration
If you're up for one of the world's biggest and most famous New Year's Eve parties, this is it. Held on 31 December in New York’s Times Square, this wild outdoor party has been a magnet for New Year's Eve revelers for nearly 100 years.

New Year’s Day 1 January
Martin Luther King Day Monday in January
George Washington Day Monday in February
Memorial Day Last Monday in May
Independence Day 4 July
Labour Day First Monday in September
Columbus Day Monday in October
Veterans’ Day 11 November
Thanksgiving Day Fourth Thursday in November
Christmas Day 25 December