Camp out on a former Soviet airfield outside Berlin for four days of music, theater, and art. Organized by a leftist nonprofit group, the Fusion Festival is completely free of commercial sponsorship. Last year’s lineup of under-the-radar acts included Kal, a Serbian gypsy band that blends Balkan blues with Hawaiian steel guitar and Bhangra rhythms; Argentina’s Karamelo Santo, a ska-punk outfit with Latin cumbia and murga influences; and the German death metal–inspired jazz octet Fuo. Embrace the Burning-Manmeets-Woodstock vibe and wash away the day’s dirt under the very cold and very public Showertower.

Challenge your palate at this annual celebration of New Zealand’s West Coast cuisine. Local Claire Bryant planned the first festival in 1990, in part to share her wines, homemade from gorse flowers or rose petals. The event, which now includes 60 food stalls, has gained notoriety for such “wild” dishes as West Coast huhu grubs (beetle larvae), which purportedly taste like peanut butter, and deep-fried locusts. Those with less adventurous appetites can sample punga honey (sap from a native fern tree), rhubarb champagne, and another regional favorite, whitebait, a tiny river fish often served fried in a patty.

Hundreds of riders from Japan and around the world race through the ancient capital’s narrow streets in the KyotoLOCO, started by Kyoto’s active bike messenger communityin 2002. They compete in mock delivery games and “orgy-style bike sumo,” trying to knock each other off balance. In Kyoto, a city better known for its temples and shrines, the event is a nonstop beer-fueled party for two days. You should steer clear of riding in the street races, but you’re welcome to test your coordination in a stripping contest that involves slowly lifting your hands and feet from your balanced bike—and then taking off your clothes.

Since reunification, Berlin has been an incubator of European modern dance. In 1996, Barbara Friedrich, godmother of the city’s dance scene, cofounded Tanztage Berlin (Berlin Days of Dance) to give young choreographers a chance to present new works. Their efforts now draw standing-room-only crowds in the cavernous Sophiensaele, a historic craftsmen’s hall, built in 1905.

Nobody needs another Christmas sweater. If you want to spread holiday cheer this year, give an experience. Research shows that purchasing activities, like bike tours or rock climbing classes, creates more happiness than buying more stuff. But how do you put a bow on a workshop or a vacation? There isn't anything to wrap and giving a piece of paper in an envelope often feels kind of lame.