Travel to build something.
Curated experiences around the world where you only take part if you build something, or use something built by local makers. Fly hand-made kites from an Ahmedabad rooftop, make a silk lantern in Hoi An, or sculpt sand in Texas.
Don't just watch the festival. Make your way in.
Every experience here has a hands-on way in. You build something: a lantern, a sand sculpture, a racing bed, a boat made of drink cans. Or you use something that local makers built: a kite from the Patang Bazaar, a samba-school costume, a haneto outfit. For now this is an inspiration site. Each listing explains exactly how a traveller can take part, with links to the official sources.
Make the thing yourself
Workshops and open builds: lantern classes, clay-idol workshops, theme camps and art at burns, float-building tents.
Use what locals made
Buy, rent or crew: kites from local makers, samba-school costumes, sky lanterns from Shifen shops, a seat on a balloon chase crew.
Race or exhibit your build
Team entries: sand sculpture, bed racing, kinetic sculptures, soapbox karts and cardboard-and-can boats. Some are open, some by application or lottery.
🪁 The founding example: Uttarayan in Ahmedabad
Every January, for Makar Sankranti, Gujarat takes to its rooftops. You can't really join in by watching: you buy kites and reels from the makers at the Patang Bazaar, climb onto a rooftop with a local family and fly. That's the whole idea of buildwith. How to take part in Uttarayan →
Five ways in
Each listing is tagged with how a traveller takes part. The same colours are used on the calendar.
Team entry
Build something and enter it: some events are open, some by application, lottery or qualification.
See them → 7Workshop / open build
Book a class or turn up and build with locals or makers.
See them → 10Use local gear
Buy or rent what local makers built (kites, lanterns, costumes) and take part with it.
See them → 1Crew
Join the crew for someone else's build: launch, chase and pack down.
See them → 10Watch & buy local
Watch the makers at work, then buy their work. No entry needed.
See them →Five to start with
Our launch set covers five ways in, across four continents, between October 2026 and May 2027.
International Kite Festival / Uttarayan
Buy patang kites and firki reels from the makers at the Raipur Darwaja Patang Bazaar, then join a local family or homestay rooftop on 14–15 Jan and fly.
Hoi An lantern-making class + Full Moon Lantern Festival
Book a 1-hour class with a local artisan (10am or 2pm; booking via WhatsApp or Zalo), then walk the lantern-lit old town on full-moon night (the 14th day of each lunar month).
Texas SandFest (amateur competition)
Register solo, as a team or as a family in the amateur categories and build a sand sculpture in your own plot: a 1-day contest on 17 Apr or a 2-day open contest on 16–17 Apr 2027. Registration closes 11 Apr 2027, or earlier if plots fill.
AfrikaBurn
Buy a ticket and bring or build something. Register a theme camp (Sep–Feb; Form 2 due in January).
Rio Carnival - parade with a samba school
Buy a fantasia (costume) made in a samba school's barracão (workshop), from the school or a reseller. The costume is your entry: you parade in one of the school's wings (alas) through the Sambadrome.
Next dates and deadlines
The next ten items on the calendar as of 4 Oct 2026. Anything without a published date is marked TBC.
- Oct 2026 · date TBCTexas SandFest 2027 amateur registration opens (official page: 'September XX, 2026')Port Aransas, Texas, USA · Opening date TBA; check now. · source
- Oct 2026 · date TBCRio 2027 samba-school costume sales usually open (about mid-Oct)Sambadrome, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil · Usual timing per commercial guides; no exact date. · source
- 3–11 Oct 2026Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 2026Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA · Official dates. Happening now. · source
- 10 Oct 2026Mahalaya: peak Kumartuli idol-making walks (Kolkata)Kumartuli, Kolkata, India · Date from puja calendars; tours from an event-listing site. · source
- 16–21 Oct 2026Durga Puja, Kolkata (Shashthi to Vijaya Dashami)Kumartuli, Kolkata, India · Religious-calendar dates (secondary calendar sites agree). · source
- 23 Oct 2026Hoi An Full Moon Lantern Festival (+ lantern-making class)Hoi An Ancient Town, Vietnam · Lunar 14th-day date; several independent calendars agree. · source
- 23–25 Oct 2026Maker Faire Rome 2026Gazometro Ostiense, Rome, Italy · Gazometro Ostiense, Rome. · source
- 23 Oct 2026AfrikaBurn 2027 Creative Grant applications (midnight)Tankwa Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa · Official timeline: 23 October, midnight (SAST). · source
- 24–25 Oct 2026Cape Town International Kite Festival 2026Youngsfield Military Base, Ottery, Cape Town, South Africa · Youngsfield Military Base, Ottery. · source
- 29 Oct 2026Burning Man 2027 Honoraria art-grant Letter of Intent (5pm PDT)Black Rock City, Nevada, USA · 5pm PDT on 29 Oct = 5:30am IST on 30 Oct. · source
Inspiration first. Trips later.
Today buildwith is a free guide: every fact links to its source and there's nothing to buy here. Curated trips and team entries will come later. Until then, use the links on each page to book directly with the organisers.