January 29 Vasant Panchami
When the winter air softens, Hindus celebrate the coming of spring with Vasant Panchami. This festival falls on the fifth day of spring in the Hindu calendar, usually in January or February. This day is also believed to be the birthday of Saraswathi, the goddess of learning, wisdom, fine arts, and refinement. Traditionally, people begin Vasant Panchami by honoring Saraswathi; they clean their pens and inkwells, and abstain from reading and writing. Children, however, are encouraged to write the letters of the alphabet for the first time. In many parts of India, people don yellow clothes, prepare saffron rice, and fly kites to mark the festival. You might celebrate Vasant Panchami by dusting off your computer and cleaning your writing space. You could also teach a child the alphabet or spend the afternoon flying a kite.

February 5 Hadaka Matsuri
In Inazawa, Japan, men have celebrated Hadaka Matsuri, a Shinto tradition also known as the Naked Festival, for more than 1,200 years. The festival begins when the lucky man chosen as Shin-Otoko, the Naked Man, shaves off all the hair on his body in a purification rite, then sets off through town. As hordes of spectators watch, 10,000 men crowd the streets to await him. Dressed only in loincloths and sandals, the men drink rice wine, jump, and chant to stay warm. They are desperate to touch the Naked Man when he passes by in order to gather luck for the coming year and to transfer onto him the evils of the community. It takes all day for him to complete his route, during which he is pummeled, chased, and jumped upon. The celebration ends when the Naked Man, bruised and exhausted, pays his respects at the Kounomiya Shrine, puts on clothes, and is symbolically banished from the town, taking all the evil with him.
—Karen Olson