Cattle days
63 days across the year and the world when cattle are honoured, decorated, raced, shown, traded or driven to pasture, grouped by kind. See the calendar for this year's dates.
Cattle festivals
Mattu PongalThe third day of Pongal in Tamil Nadu, given to the cattle: bathed, horns painted, garlanded and fed the first of the new rice.
KanumaThe day after Sankranti in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, when cattle are washed, decorated and fed in thanks for the harvest.
Sankranti and the crossing of fire in KarnatakaOn Makara Sankranti in rural Karnataka, decorated cattle are led across a low bed of burning straw: kichchu haayisuvudu.
Bail PolaThe bullocks' festival of Maharashtra and the Vidarbha country: a day of rest, a bath, painted horns and a village procession.
Gai JatraThe cow procession of the Kathmandu valley, when families who lost someone in the year walk with a cow, or a boy dressed as one.
Losar and the yak danceThe Tibetan New Year, when yak dancers in shaggy costumes perform in villages and monasteries from Tibet to Ladakh and Sikkim.
Calgary StampedeTen days of rodeo, chuckwagon races and cattle shows in Calgary each July, with the city dressed in cowboy hats.
Semana CriollaIn Uruguay's Holy Week, the Prado in Montevideo fills with gauchos, horses, rodeo and the culture of the cattle country.
Fête des GardiansOn the first of May the mounted cattle herders of the Camargue ride through Arles, with a Mass, games and courses camarguaises.
San Fermín and the encierroPamplona's July feast, when bulls run each morning through the old town's streets to the bullring, with runners ahead of them.
Pasture and transhumance
Cure Salée at In-GallAt the end of the rains, Tuareg and Wodaabe herders bring their cattle to the salt pools near In-Gall, in northern Niger.
The cattle crossing at DiafarabéEach late November, Fulani herders swim thousands of cattle across the Niger at Diafarabé to the dry-season pastures of the delta.
Beltane and the cattle firesThe Gaelic first of May, when herds were driven between two fires before going up to the summer pastures.
Fête de la transhumance on the AubracOn the Sunday nearest 25 May, decorated Aubrac cows walk up to the summer pastures of the plateau, with villages lining the way.
Alpaufzug, the climb to the summer pasturesIn June, herders in the Alps lead their cattle up to the high summer pastures, often with bells, flowers and music.
Viehscheid in Bad HindelangOn 11 September, about a thousand cattle come down from five alps to Bad Hindelang in the Allgäu and are handed back to their owners.
DésalpeAt the end of September, cows of the Swiss Romande come down from the alpage wearing flowers and great bells, to village festivals.
AlmabtriebFrom mid-September, herds in Tyrol, Salzburg and Bavaria come down from the alm in decorated processions.
Fiesta de la TrashumanciaOnce a year, shepherds lead their flocks through central Madrid along the old royal drove road, a reminder of the right of way.
Religious days
Vasu Baras (Govatsa Dwadashi)The first day of Diwali in Maharashtra, when a cow and her calf are worshipped together in thanks for the milk that feeds the home.
Tihar: Gai Puja and Goru PujaIn Nepal's festival of lights, the cow is worshipped on Laxmi Puja morning, and the ox is honoured the day after.
Govardhan PujaThe day after Diwali, when Krishna's lifting of Govardhan hill is remembered and the cattle of Braj are bathed, painted and fed.
GopashtamiThe day Krishna is said to have first taken the cows out to graze: cows and calves are worshipped and gaushalas fill with visitors.
Royal Ploughing CeremonyAn old royal rite in Bangkok and Phnom Penh opening the rice season, when a pair of sacred oxen choose the foods that foretell the year.
St Anthony's Day and the blessing of animalsThe feast of St Anthony the Abbot, patron of farm animals, when priests in Spain and Italy bless the livestock of the parish.
St Wendelin's DayThe feast of the herdsman saint of the Rhineland and the Alps, when cattle and horses are blessed in his processions.
St Modestos's DayThe Greek Orthodox feast of the protector of farm animals, when priests bless the cattle and flocks of the village.
Seasonal
Lichun and the spring oxThe start of spring in the Chinese solar calendar, when a clay or paper ox was once whipped to wake the farming year.
Imbolc and St Brigid's DayThe first day of spring in the Irish year, the feast of Brigid, patron of dairy work, cattle and the milking of cows.
Samhain and the coming down of the herdsThe Gaelic first of November: the end of the grazing year, when cattle came home from the hills for the winter.
MartinmasSt Martin's Day, the old turn of the farming year in northern Europe, when the cattle went into their winter quarters.
Cattle fairs and markets
Pushkar Camel and Cattle FairA week of trading on the dunes round Pushkar's lake, ending at the full moon of Kartik; camels lead, but cattle are sold too.
Sonepur MelaThe month-long fair at the meeting of the Ganges and the Gandak in Bihar, once the largest cattle fair in Asia.
Nagaur Cattle FairRajasthan's great winter livestock fair at Nagaur, where the trotting Nagori bullock is the main business of the day.
Eid al-Adha cattle marketsIn the first days of Dhu al-Hijjah, temporary cattle markets fill the cities of Bangladesh and Pakistan before Eid al-Adha.
Hortobágy Bridge FairA summer fair at the Nine-holed Bridge on the Hungarian puszta, home of the grey long-horned cattle of the plain.
National and breed days
Races, contests and shows
Jallikattu at AlanganallurThe best-known jallikattu of Tamil Nadu, held near Madurai in the Pongal week, when young men try to hold on to a running bull's hump.
Karapan sapi, the President's Cup finalThe final of the Madurese bull-racing season, when pairs of yoked bulls pull a jockey on a wooden sledge down a 130-metre track.
Kafkasör bull wrestlingThe summer pasture festival above Artvin in northeastern Turkey, where village bulls wrestle head to head on the meadow.
Savika at EastertideIn the Betsileo highlands of Madagascar, young men wrestle zebu bulls in contests often held around Easter and Pentecost.
National Western Stock ShowSixteen January days of cattle judging, sales and rodeo in Denver, held since 1906 and one of the oldest stock shows in the West.
Fort Worth Stock Show and RodeoThree weeks of cattle shows and rodeo in the old stockyards city of Fort Worth, Texas, held since 1896.
Houston Livestock Show and RodeoThe largest livestock show and rodeo in the world, three weeks each March in Houston, with youth cattle shows at its heart.
Iowa State FairThe great Midwestern farm fair in Des Moines, famous for its life-sized cow sculpted in butter and its crowded cattle barn.
World Dairy ExpoThe dairy world's great autumn show in Madison, Wisconsin, where the best cows of seven breeds compete on the coloured shavings.
Royal Agricultural Winter FairToronto's November farm fair, held since 1922, with Canada's national dairy and beef shows under one roof.
ExpozebuThe great zebu fair of Uberaba in Minas Gerais, held since 1935: Brazil's showcase of the humped cattle that fill its pastures.
ExpointerNine days of livestock judging and sales at Esteio near Porto Alegre, the leading farm show of southern Brazil.
Exposición Rural de PalermoThe Argentine Rural Society's July show in Buenos Aires, held since 1875, where the champions of the pampas are judged.
Combat de Reines, the national finalIn May, the best fighting cows of the Valais meet at Aproz to decide the queen of queens, the reine des reines.
Bataille de Reines final in AostaThe autumn final of the cow fights of the Aosta Valley, held on a Sunday in October at the Croix-Noire arena.
Balmoral ShowNorthern Ireland's main agricultural show, four days each May at Balmoral Park near Lisburn, with large cattle classes.
Royal Highland ShowScotland's national farming show, four days each June at Ingliston near Edinburgh, with the Highland, Angus and Galloway breeds.
Great Yorkshire ShowFour days of farming each July at Harrogate, where Yorkshire shows the Shorthorn and its other breeds.
Royal Welsh ShowFour days each July at Llanelwedd near Builth Wells, the gathering of Welsh farming and the show ring of the Welsh Black.
Salon International de l'AgricultureParis's great farm show at Porte de Versailles, where a cow chosen as the year's égérie meets the President and the country.
Sydney Royal Easter ShowThe Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales's great show, around Easter at Sydney Olympic Park, with its grand parade of cattle.
Beef AustraliaA week-long gathering of the Australian beef industry at Rockhampton, Queensland, held every three years.
FieldaysNew Zealand's great farm show at Mystery Creek near Hamilton, four days each June in the heart of dairy country.
EkkaThe Royal Queensland Show in Brisbane each August, where the tropical cattle of the north come to the city.
Canterbury A&P ShowChristchurch's November farm show, the largest A&P show in New Zealand, ending on the city's Show Day holiday.