It's a new year for festivals and holidays and weird happenings around the world!

In the UK, home of wacky festivals, they are conducting some sort of celebration this weekend focusing on a bear made of straw. I think. There is mention of a bonfire, and also this tidbit: "Recently the Straw Bear has made friends with a German Straw Bear." Well, okay then!

Meanwhile, Miami is having what looks to be a fantastic Art Deco festival. (No bonfires, however, as far as I can tell.)

The U.S. is observing Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday this Monday with several ways to make it a day of service.

Not an event, but just plain cool: the undercity of New York (and a few other places, too). We are all about urban exploration here at Spooky Librarians.

And finally, just for fun: Le Cyclop! In France! Eeek!