Events for students in Europe

Santa Maria da Feira boasts one of the prettiest castles in Portugal and also plays host to the Festa das Fogaceiras. On this day young people dressed in white carry breads and cakes on their heads in decorated baskets.

A Christian and an outstanding Roman soldier, San Sebastiano is celebrated twice a year in Mistretta with a procession through town carrying the martyr's urn and gigantic candles embellished with sacred images.

The day of San Sebastián's patron saint, known as Tamborrada, is celebrated loudly and proudly with drum parades through the city streets, beginning as the clock strikes midnight on 20 January (evening of 19 January) in Plaza de la Constitución.

Prague marks the anniversary of the death of Jan Palach, the Czech student who set himself alight protesting against the 1969 Soviet invasion.

UK folk rock innovator and guitarist extraordinaire Richard Thompson leads his band at London's Southbank Centre. The shows feature material from his new album, Dream Attic, written during a prolific three-month spell on the US West coast.

Featuring Latin and ballroom dancing, the UK Dance Open Championships take place at the Bournemouth International Centre.

On loan from the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland, a collection of Impressionist and 20th-century masterpieces is on display at Vienna's Leopold Museum. The focus of the exhibition is Picasso, Matisse, Fernand Léger, Paul Klee and in particular Alberto Giacometti.

During Tufara's Mask of the Carnival the devil, symbol of indulgence, suffers a modern death. Celebrations begin in the afternoon and end when a platoon of soldiers executes the mannequin representing the devil by firing several (live) shots at it.

Midwinter in Menorca sees a colourful celebration of the island's liberation from the Moors.

Branded "the sport world's own Oscar gala" by the organisers, the annual Swedish Sport Gala (Svenska Idrottsgalan) takes place at Stockholm's Globe Arena. Leading Swedish sports stars are present and the best of them are awarded prizes.

St Moritz's Schlitteda Engiadinaisa is for anyone who dreams of sleighing through wintry landscapes. The locals dig out the old sleighs, don their traditional clothes, look for a good horse and join in a procession accompanied by folk dancers.

Motorcyclists throughout Italy converge on Milan for the annual Befana Benefica, a two-wheel charity procession spearheaded by the toothless old witch herself. Food and gifts are handed out to kids and poor people in a heart-warming feast of generosity.

For a crazy, semi-pagan Epiphany Celebration, visit Tarcento in Friuli, where old storytellers spin their yarns through the night, sitting around sacrificial bonfires. This mysterious and fantastically atmospheric ritual has been performed for centuries.

Every January, the parish of Haxey engages in a curious custom called Haxey Hood, a rugby-like game and reputably the oldest local tradition in England. Attracting huge crowds, the objective is to push a leather tube to one of four pubs nearby.

The Hornschlittenrennen (literally, "horn runners race") is "a Gaudi", Bavarian for fantastic fun, as four-person teams career down an iced piste at Garmisch-Partenkirchen on ancient peasant sleighs. Over 100 teams battle for the Bavarian championship.

Taking its name from the ciaspole (snowshoes) worn by participants, La Ciaspolada is a sporting event where competitors battle it out on the snow of the Non Valley. The race's popularity means it draws competitors from America, Eastern Europe and Africa.

This extraordinary race involves over 50 men rowing while dressed up as Epiphany witches (befana).

On the first Wednesday of every month, Plymouth's Barbican Theatre B Bar hosts The Comedy Club, a stand-up night featuring up-and-coming and renowned comedians from the UK and overseas.

The whole city celebrates the Granada Reconquest Festival, to remember when the Christians triumphed over the Moors in 1492. This historical moment shaped Granada forever and is known by locals as El Día de la Toma (literally Capture Day).

The New Year's Concert in Palma has been running for over 20 years and is modelled on the world-famous Vienna version.