Our countdown of the best festivals in the world resumes with an eclectic mix of music, film, nudity and deadly bull attacks. Here are five more great reasons to plan your next vacation around a festival.

5. International Jazz Festival – Montreal, Canada

Montreal has a legendary love affair with jazz. The appreciation harkens back to the days of segregation in the United States when many artists would venture north to the city to play. For over twenty years now, this most European North American city has hosted the best jazz festival in the world. No coincidence that in terms of artist and audience participation, it is also the biggest.

For two weeks every July, Montreal’s beautiful downtown core is transformed into a hotbed of jazz, with stages dotting many major intersections. The streets are turned into pedestrian walkways and artists from around the world play in front of massive crowds. The festival always culminates with a gigantic free show that draws upwards of 250,000 people.

Montreal boasts some of the best hotels in North America. Here are some Montreal hotels for your Jazz Festival vacation.

4. Mardi Gras – New Orleans, U.S.A.

In the wake of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina wrought, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is back. This blowout celebration of excess is the granddaddy of them all. If you want to ring in Lent in style, New Orleans is the place to be. Most of us associate Mardi Gras with ribald scenes from Bourbon Street. In other words, beads being thrown from balconies to babes baring their breasts.

But it’s about more than that really. The Carnival season in New Orleans also includes parades with gargantuan floats and lavish masquerade balls. And you don’t even have to be Catholic to enjoy the festivities.

We have your hotels for Mardi Gras.

3. Festival of San Fermin – Pamplona, Spain

If you’re not familiar with the name of this historic festival, you may recognize it by the slightly more colloquial “running of the bulls”. Yes, this is the festival where men pit themselves against mad bulls in a frantic dash for their lives. The famous bullrun is of course, the top tourist draw in Pamplona but it comprises just one element of a very sacred event.

San Fermin, held in early July, is a folk festival first and foremost and commemorates the patron saint of Pamplona. It all kicks off with a huge fiesta that involves the entire town and thousands of tourists. There are plenty of traditional folkloric events to enjoy and it all climaxes of course, with the big run.

Need a room with a view of the bull run?

2. South by Southwest – Austin, U.S.A.

The Texas capital plays host every March to perhaps the best live music and film festival in the world. With typical, casual Texas charm, Austin lures in bands from independent labels (and big-name acts too) who perform before enthusiastic crowds. SXSW began in 1987 as a way to draw attention and garner recognition for local acts, but since then the festival has blossomed into a behemoth, with films and conferences now on the schedule.

The festival has become the top tourist draw in Austin and in parallel, the city has grown into a Top 20 U.S. market in that time. Austin now has more live music halls per block than any other city in the world. As the mantra goes, “Everything’s bigger in Texas.”

Book Texas hotels in advance of your South by Southwest visit.

1. International Film Festival – Cannes, France

Rival film festivals in Berlin, Venice, Toronto and Utah may be more trendy with the hipsters but Cannes is still Cannes. There is no substitute for the pioneer and original international film festival. Held every May since 1939, stars, critics, the media, power brokers and yes, even film buffs, flock to the Cote d’Azur to take in the wonderful madness that is Cannes.

While films in competition are tough tickets to procure, the best bets are sometimes the more obscure selections. Whatever the case may be, just being there is worth the price of admission. The atmosphere is electric and for the duration of the festival, Cannes feels like the center of the world.

Best book your Cannes Film Festival room in advance.