From New Year's Eve to a flour fight in Spain, via Glastonbury, Burning Man and the Rio and Notting Hill carnivals, IBTimes UK looks back at 2014's biggest parties.
January 1, 2014: People react to New Year's fireworks at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, BrazilYasuyoshi Chiba/AFPJanuary 16, 2014: A man holding a child rides a horse through the flames during the Luminarias festival on the night before Saint Anthony's, patron of animals, in San Bartolome de los Pinares, SpainJuan Medina/ReutersFebruary 13, 2014: Dancers perform a fire dragon dance under a shower of sparks from molten iron during the Lantern Festival in Queshan county, Henan province, ChinaReutersFebruary 18, 2014: German Chancellor Angela Merkel watches a dance performance by Liana Wolf during a reception for carnival societies at the Chancellery in BerlinThomas Peter/ReutersMarch 2, 2014: Drum Queen Raphaela Gomes of the Sao Clemente samba school participates in the annual Carnival parade in Rio de JaneiroSergio Moraes/ReutersMarch 3, 2014: Members of the Unidos da Tijuca samba school parade in Rio's Sambadrome on the second night of CarnivalBuda Mendes/Getty ImagesMarch 3, 2014: A float with a papier-mache caricature of Russian President Vladimir Putin flexing his muscle with the word 'Crimea' written on it takes part in the Rose Monday carnival parade in Duesseldorf, GermanyIna Fassbender/ReutersMarch 13, 2014: Hindu priests throw coloured powder at devotees during Holi celebrations at Bankey Bihari temple in Vrindavan, in the northern Indian state of Uttar PradeshAhmad Masood/ReutersMarch 16, 2014: A boy sits in a plastic container filled with coloured water during Holi celebrations in the southern Indian city of ChennaiBabu/ReutersMarch 22, 2014: The Milky Way is seen behind traditional houses in Wainyapu village in Sumba, Indonesia, during the Pasola jousting festivalUlet Ifansasti/Getty ImagesApril 9, 2014: A tourist reacts as an elephant sprays her with water during celebration of the Songkran water festival in Thailand's Ayutthaya provinceChaiwat Subprasom/ReutersApril 13, 2014: A competitor performs at the World Irish Dance Championship in LondonDan Kitwood/Getty ImagesApril 20, 2014: An art installation named Escape Velocity by Poetic Kinetics floats over the crowd at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CaliforniaChristopher Polk/Getty ImagesJune 28, 2014: Festival-goers watch a laser and pyrotechnics show at the Arcadia arena on the fourth day of the Glastonbury music festivalCathal McNaughton/ReutersJuly 2, 2014: Kosovar Bosnian woman Arleta Sahiti poses after her face was painted for a wedding ceremony in PristinaArmed Nimani/AFPJuly 3, 2014: Gilles of Binche surround a performer dressed as a witch as they take part in a procession during the annual medieval festival, the Ommegang, at Brussels' Grand PlaceEric Vidal/ReutersJuly 7, 2014: People crowd onto balconies to watch revellers run with bulls along the Calle Estafeta during the second day of the San Fermin Running Of The Bulls festival in Pamplona, SpainPablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty ImagesJuly 14, 2014: Fireworks explode around the Eiffel Tower during the annual Bastille Day celebrations in ParisFrederic T Stevens/Getty ImagesJuly 15, 2014: Carriers of the Great God Power brotherhood unload the Virgen del Carmen statue at Puerto de la Cruz dock on the Canary island of Tenerife, SpainGonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty ImagesJuly 25, 2014: Thousands of people pack into a water park during a heatwave in Suining, southwest China's Sichuan provinceAFPJuly 29, 2014: Uighur children play with balloons on the Eid holiday in an alleyway in old Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, ChinaKevin Frayer/Getty ImagesAugust 4, 2014: A man photographs an art installation entitled Spectra, to commemorate the centenary of Britain's involvement in the First World War, in LondonOli Scarff/Getty ImagesAugust 25, 2014: Performers take part in a rain-soaked Notting Hill Carnival in LondonMary Turner/Getty ImagesAugust 29, 2014: Revellers interact with an art installation during a dust storm at the Burning Man 2014 festival in the Black Rock Desert of NevadaJim Urquhart/ReutersSeptember 20, 2014: The lights of the funfair begin to shine during sunset on the opening day of the 2014 Oktoberfest in Munich, GermanyJoerg Koch/Getty ImagesOctober 4, 2014: Russian Interior Ministry members stand guard as Muslims attend an Eid al-Adha mass prayer in MoscowSergei Karpukhin/ReutersOctober 5, 2014: Castellers Colla Vella Xiquets de Valls form a human tower called a castell during a competition in Tarragona, SpainAlbert Gea/ReutersOctober 5, 2014: Castellers Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls start to form a human tower called a castell during a traditional Catalonian competition in TarragonaAlbert Gea/ReutersOctober 7, 2014: A farmer leads a decorated buffalo as he arrives for Chonburi's annual buffalo race festival, east of BangkokChaiwat Subprasom/ReutersOctober 9, 2014: Chelsea Pensioner Albert Willis plants a poppy at the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red art installation at the Tower of LondonChris Jackson/Getty ImagesOctober 12, 2014: People take part in a Santeria spiritual ceremony in the mountains of Sorte in Yaracuy, west of Caracas, VenezuelaFederico Parra/AFPOctober 20, 2014: Students from St Andrew's University in Scotland indulge in a tradition of covering each other with foam on Raisin MondayJeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesOctober 25, 2014: Young Buddhist monks hold candles during the festival of Yee Peng in Chiang Mai, northern ThailandDario Pignatelli/ReutersNovember 3, 2014: Shi'ite Muslims perform with fire during commemorations for Ashura in Najaf, IraqAlaa Al-Marjani/ReutersDecember 28, 2014: Revellers wearing mock military uniforms pelt each other with flour and eggs during the Els Enfarinats festival in Ibi, SpainJaime Reina/AFP
