Maybe it’s all that glorious sunshine, but festivals are a finely honed art form in Brazil. Perhaps best embodied in the annual Carnival celebrations, Brazil is a country that definitely knows how to have fun. Throughout the year, the country is host to cultural, art, music, food and wine festivals perfect to use as anchoring dates for your trip to explore this dynamic country. Here are just a few of our favorites:

• Modern Art Week originated as the Semana de Arte Moderna, an arts festival held in São Paulo in 1922. The annual event explores — through seminars, various media and exhibitions — the Modernism movement and what it means.
• The largest annual festival in Brazil, Carnival is held each year 46 days before Easter. Celebrations take place countrywide, marked by brilliantly colored costumes, dance and music parades, food and fabulous decorations.
• The Brazilian Beer Festival, March 8–11, is regarded as the most important national event for the brewing industry, and this annual festival includes tastings, pairings, workshops and seminars.
• Fiesta Junina is a religious-based festival that welcomes the beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Rural and urban areas temporarily turn into dance halls, with typical costumes reflecting farm life.
• Parintins Folklore Festival in late June is the second-largest annual festival in Brazil. Held in the state of Amazonas, the three-day event features a storytelling contest between two separate teams, presented as a staged show.
• The São Paulo International Film Festival, known as MOSTRA, is in its 41st year of bringing the best historic and modern cinema to Brazil. Lectures and events round out a host of screenings.
• Brazilian Grand Prix of Formula 1 is an annual highlight for motor racing enthusiasts, drawing top competitors and cars from around the world.
• Oktoberfest is alive and well in Brazil, and not limited to German residents: Eating, drinking and celebrating with friends and neighbors in honor of all things German during the month of October is popular across the country.
• New Year’s in Copacabana is one of the most popular parties on the planet. Fireworks, musical performances and plenty of culinary events mark the occasion each year in Rio’s best-known beach neighborhood.