As one of Europe’s smallest countries, Luxembourg often gets overlooked by tourists looking to explore Europe’s capitals and big cities. With an area of just 998 square miles, Luxembourg is roughly the size of Rhode Island, making it one of the smallest countries in Europe. However, despite its diminutive size, Luxembourg punches above its weight class when it comes to cool events that highlight local culture, food, wine, history, sports, and more.

Beyond the numerous annual festivals and markets that frequent the events calendar year after year, here is a rundown of some highly anticipated, one-of-a-kind extravaganzas happening across Luxembourg in the upcoming months:

Luxembourg City Film Festival, March 2024

Cinephiles rejoice! From March 2nd-12th, the Luxembourg City Film Festival screens an eclectic mix of over 70 award-winning international films across various genres. This popular event not only attracts the biggest names in the film industry with special guest appearances, but also offers workshops, exhibitions, industry panels, and of course, opening and closing night parties. The festival draws film buffs from across Europe and screens dramas, comedies, documentaries, animated films, and more in theaters across the capital city. Awards are given out for categories like Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and People’s Choice Award. Even if you can’t make it to Luxembourg City in early March, they also host winter and summer versions of the film festival.

125 Years of Cycling Race, May 2024

Luxembourg has a rich history with bike racing since hosting its first cycling race back in 1899. In fact, Schleck Frères is Luxembourg’s oldest cycling racing team, founded in 1908 by François Faber who won the Tour de France in 1909. To commemorate the 125th anniversary of that inaugural race, the annual Tour of Luxembourg stage race will hold special celebratory races in Luxembourg City on May 7th to honor the occasion. Additional anniversary celebration races will be held across the country from May 28th to June 1st. Pro races featuring teams like Deceuninck–Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team, food markets with delicacies like gromperekichelcher (fried potato pancake), and family-friendly cycling activities will all aim to honor Luxembourg’s long and decorated cycling legacy.

Claude Jaeger’s Art Fair, June 2024

From June 14th-16th, Luxembourg Art Week returns to showcase Luxembourg’s contemporary art scene through special exhibitions scattered throughout museums and galleries across the country. The highlight is the prestigious Claude Jaeger Art Fair in Luxembourg City held at the Grand Palais exhibition center. Here, over 7,500 avid art collectors, dealers, curators and overall art fans can browse and purchase one-of-a-kind paintings, photographs, sculptures, and mixed media works from 200 international artists and galleries carefully selected by a committee. Paintings sell for several thousand euros a piece so deep pockets are recommended. Beyond purchasing investment-grade works, fair attendees can also enjoy gourmet food, art lectures, meet-and-greet opportunities with featured artists, and gallery tours.

Luxembourg Food Fair, September 2024

The annual Luxembourg Food Fair brings droves of foodies and families to Luxexpo convention center from September 15th–17th to celebrate Luxembourgish cuisine and the nation’s best chefs. For three days straight, attendees can indulge in cooking demonstrations, tastings, and workshops featuring local specialties like judd mat gaardebounen (smoked pork collar with broad beans), kuddelfleck (tripe stuffed with carrots, leeks and herbs), and tarte au riz (sweet rice flan). Elsewhere a farmers market boasts organic beef, cheese, wine, and vegetable producers from across the Luxembourg countryside allowing visitors to fill shopping bags full of tasty souvenirs. No food festival would be complete without food trucks, craft beer tents, and multi-course gourmet meals from Luxembourg’s Michelin star chefs.

Vianden Medieval Festival, September 2024

Step back in time to the Middle Ages by attending Vianden’s Medieval Festival in the medieval city center from September 8th-10th. For three days, jovial jousting competitions, sword fighting demonstrations, large banquets fit for a king, open-air markets with medieval goods, lute music, troubadour dancing, parades of townspeople in historical costumes, along with falconry displays recapture Vianden’s medieval heritage when it was an important European city in the Dark Ages. Festival goers dress in medieval garb, sample meat pies and goblets of mead, and even ride horses and don archery gear to fully immerse themselves in medieval adventures. Vianden’s awe-inspiring castle, built between the 11th and 14th centuries, provides the perfect backdrop for this exciting historical reenactment.

As you can see, it’s unnecessary to travel far to experience one-of-a-kind celebrations when visiting tiny Luxembourg. From cinema to cycling, art fairs to historical reenactments, the Grand Duchy may be small but it thinks big when planning events year-round that shine a spotlight on local culture, cuisine, history and talents. Its central location bordering Germany, France and Belgium also makes it easy to tack these cool events onto a greater European holiday. Read more about the wide array of events held annually in Luxembourg here.

© qolumnist