Devotees walk on burning coal during Phuket vegetarian festival

On Benin's national voodoo holiday, performers dressed as guardians of the night swirled in their costumes like technicolour haystacks, delighting worshippers and tourists alike.

The Lunar New Year is a huge holiday in China, but also in other Asian countries like Korea and Vietnam. More than one billion people will be celebrating the event, which begins on January 22. For most, it's the Year of the Rabbit but in Vietnam, people will mark the Year of the Cat.

More than 20 acts from across Africa have shown support for victims of conflict at a music festival in eastern Democratic Republic of COngo - taking to the stage despite rising insecurity in the area.

At the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, or FESPACO, African cinema has freed itself from Western models, with women leading the way.

For the tenth edition of FIMO, Togo's international fashion festival, founder Jacques Logoh wanted to raise awareness of environmental issues by paying homage to a group of women on the frontlines of that fight: the street sweepers of the capital Lomé. Designers, meanwhile, were keen to show off their recycling prowess.

The Songkran Festival has come as "a national relief" as Thailand celebrates a return to normality after three years of COVID-19. Revelers enjoyed water fights and other festivities throughout the country.

In Lomé, the capital of Togo, Jacques Logoh has good reason to be cheerful. The young designer and founder of the Togo International Fashion Festival has made it his mission to ensure the event embodies the values of diversity. Alex and Kim are androgynous models. They're walking for – among others – Fauvette Nacto, in a show that's a celebration of marriage in all its forms.

A weekly news show produced with photos, videos and personal accounts from France 24 Observers around the world - all checked by our staff here in Paris.

Film critic Lisa Nesselson flags up some of the headliners at this year's cinematic feast at Cannes, as new features from Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Glazer, Todd Haynes and Wes Anderson are set to premiere at the festival. We take a closer look at last year's winner of the Camera d'Or – the prize for best début at Cannes – as "War Pony" hits French cinemas.

The cinema industry in Nigeria, known as Nollywood, is the second-largest on the planet in terms of films produced, after Bollywood. Over the next few days, the best TV and films from across Africa are being showcased in Paris for the tenth edition of Nollywood Week. The festival celebrates the newest voices on the scene, highlights the best that African cinema has to offer and brings it to a French public.

South Africa plans to head up a peace mission with African nations set on mediating the war in Ukraine. Also, African and European innovators meet in Marseille to talk sustainability and the importance of re-imagining Africa's cities of the future. Finally, we celebrate African films at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Movies from Senegal and Tunisia are in the running for the prestigious Palme d'Or award.

Marking Johann Sebastian Bach's arrival in Leipzig 300 years ago, this year's festival features conductor Jörg Widmann and pianist Lang Lang — as well as a message from outer space.