by 
GERMANY, Oct. 15-19: The Frankfurt Book Fair, established in 1949, is the world’s largest trade fair for books. Held annually in October, the event attracts publishers, authors, literary agents, librarians and cultural enthusiasts (including, in 2024, one Bob Dylan). The fair is immense in scale, with more than 230,000 attendees and exhibitors from more than 100 countries in 2024 alone. But its significance in recent years has extended beyond books, as the fair attempts to strike a balance between fostering international dialogue and taking a moral stand amid two global conflicts. The fair decided to exclude Russian state institutions after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, although individual Russian publishers have been allowed to attend independently. In 2023, the fair postponed an award for the Palestinian author Adania Shibli amid the Gaza-Israel conflict, igniting accusations of censorship and bias. The guest of honor in 2025 is the Philippines.
NOVEMBER
BRAZIL, Nov. 10-21: The U.N. Climate Change Conference, known as COP30, is coming to Belém, a city in the north of the Brazilian Amazon, but locals are complaining that the meeting may actually harm the environment. To facilitate traffic into and out of Belém, regional officials have approved the construction of a new highway, the Avenida Liberdade, which environmentalists say will cut through the Belém Environmental Protection Area — a protected conservation area — and disrupt wildlife movements from the adjoining Utinga State Park.
DECEMBER
PANDORA, Dec. 19: “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the third installment of James Cameron’s five-part “Avatar” series, hits theaters. Few directors have had the Midas touch quite like Cameron, both financially (the first and second “Avatar” films each grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, joining “Titanic” on the list of the top five highest grossing films of all time) and in weaving his stories into the cultural fabric. This time, Cameron takes the Sully family into darker waters, noting at a recent Disney fan event that the film’s titular fire reflects themes of “hatred, violence, trauma, possible misuse of power” and ash reflects the “aftermath of all that energy, which is grief and having to live with what you’ve done.”
SOMETIME IN 2025
ABU DHABI: Embracing an opportunity to assert its cultural identity on the world stage, Abu Dhabi unveils the enormous Zayed National Museum on Saadiyat Island, joining the outposts of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums nearby. Its silhouette, inspired by the wings of a falcon in flight, is composed of five aerodynamic towers that will house exhibits showing evidence of human activity in the United Arab Emirates dating back 300,000 years.
UNITED STATES: Are you dying for a new type of theme park? Consider yourself summoned by the dark spirits of Las Vegas to the first year-round experience of Universal Studios’s fairly expansive collection of horror franchises. Sink your teeth into a creepy combination of attractions based on classic horror characters — Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Mummy — and attractions based on new horror from directors like James Wan (“The Conjuring”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”).
WORLD: More than 175 countries are expected to sign a United Nations treaty agreeing to reduce single-use plastics and encouraging a shift toward sustainable alternatives. Small island states, which suffer the worst impacts of ocean plastic waste, are collectively onboard, as are Japan and South Korea, which have advanced recycling programs. Less certain is the participation of the United States, China and Saudi Arabia — which participated during treaty negotiations but number among the world’s largest plastics producers.
Go to Source
Author: Masha Goncharova
