We all know the feeling of reading about or seeing a video about a great celebration or affair that you want to attend, only to realize it happened a few weeks earlier. For that reason, we’ve compiled a list of the coming year’s most notable events in 2023, giving you plenty of time to make plans to attend.
Channel Your Inner Cowboy
Cheyenne Frontier Days, WyomingCheyenne Frontier Days has been going strong since 1897. One of the largest rodeos in the United States, the 10-day affair held in Wyoming’s state capital city at the end of July is a lot more than an exciting Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rodeo with more than $1 million in cash and prizes up for grabs by the world’s best cowboys and cowgirls; other activities include parades, a carnival, concerts, a western art show, pancake breakfasts, a fly-over by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, and much more to keep visitors enthralled and entertained.
Soar Like an Eagle
For nine days in October, the Albuquerque skies are filled with hundreds of colorful hot-air balloons soaring silently above the desert landscapes. Two launches occur each day: The dawn patrol takes place just before sunrise, and the balloon glow lights up the evening sky. The balloons lift off from an 80-acre launch site, where guests can mingle to get an up-close look. The event also features concerts, a car show, and a “glamping section” where guests can book a three-day stay in a safari-style tent.
The Holidays in America’s Largest Home
With 33 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces, the Biltmore House is the largest home in the United States, based on square footage. Built in Asheville by the Vanderbilt family in 1895, the 8,000-acre estate offers two “Christmas at Biltmore” celebrations. The daytime event includes a tour of the estate, from the banquet hall with its towering, ornament-laden tree to exquisitely-decorated guest rooms. After sunset, the grounds are illuminated by candles, twinkle lights, and roaring fireplaces. Overnight packages allow guests to experience the holidays just like a Vanderbilt.
Great Reasons to Visit Hawaii
Hawaii’s Aloha Festivals take place over several weeks in September. The first is the Royal Court Investiture and Opening Ceremony, featuring traditional music and dance celebrating the history of the islands. Next is the Waikiki Hoolaulea, with Kalakaua Avenue lined with booths offering food, crafts, and displays of island culture, while entertainers perform at numerous stages. Several days later, Kalakaua Avenue is the site of the Floral Parade, featuring elaborate floats crafted using native flowers, marching bands, dancers, and horseback riders entertaining the gathered throngs.
Speed on the Strip
In November, the Las Vegas strip will come alive with the sights, sounds, and thrills of Formula One racing. A 3.8-mile, 14-turn course will take cars past casinos, hotels, and iconic Las Vegas landmarks at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour. The race gets underway with a dramatic “lights out” 10 p.m. start, which sends the racers out onto the fully illuminated track, roaring right past grandstands, hospitality suites, and hotels to allow the crowd to see, hear, and actually feel the rumble of the cars as they speed past.
An Island of Flowers
In early June, thousands of plant enthusiasts descend upon Mackinac Island for the annual Lilac Festival. Lilacs aren’t native to the 4.3-acre island, with the first documentation of their presence dating to an 1861 journal entry by Henry David Thoreau. However, they’re now firmly in place, with the island serving as the home of Michigan’s largest lilac tree, and are celebrated by 10 days of festivals and events. Only accessible by boats or the ferry, cars are prohibited on the island, making horse-drawn carriages the best way to get around.
Frosty Fun in Alaska
In 1935, Anchorage’s 3,000 residents had no TV service and no movie theaters, making the winter months long and lonely. To liven things up a bit, Vern Johnson and his friends created a three-day sports festival called the Fur Rendezvous, hosting skiing, hockey, a kid’s sled race down Fourth Avenue, a bonfire, and a torchlight parade. It’s now a 12-day festival, held in late February. Events include a carnival, a parade, outhouse races, the World Championship Sled Dog Races, and The Running of the Reindeer.
Mountain Music
Set in the arid red rock section of Utah’s Colorado Plateau, the Annual Moab Music Festival was founded in 1992 by musicians from New York who were enthralled by the area’s beauty and unique acoustic effects. The two-week-long festival features upward of 20 concerts, some in grottoes that serve as natural concert halls, where attendees perch on rock walls after hiking in or arriving on river rafts. The event culminates with the two-day Musical Raft Trip.
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