• It may not be quite the bacchanalian party you’re hoping for, but Nashik’s Sula Fest drinks deep to India’s wine-making culture and brings revelry home in the first weekend of February with grape stomping events and musical performances (sulawines.com).
• Mumbai’s art district comes alive again with the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (February 2–10; kalaghodaassociation.com)—a cache of visual displays, theatre, literary discussions, heritage walks and events for children.
• New Year has come and gone, but Goa will party till Lent begins. As always, the Carnival (February 9–12) will hit the streets of Panjim, Margao, Vasco and Mapusa, making merry all along. 
• In India, you can go Angling all year, but the best baits are often laid between mid-February and mid-May. Join High On Travel on their angling trips to Pancheshwar, Uttarakhand and Ranikhor, Meghalaya (highontravel.com).
• You’d imagine, the dust has settled in Pushkar. But the Blue Lotus Music Festival is stirring things up again (February 13–18; bluelotusfestival.com). 

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Up in the air

Go on, take a leap of faith. Start the new year 10,000 feet above sea level, tandem jumping over Aamby Valley in the Western Ghats. The city’s new skydiving project—on till February 16 (Tuesday–Sunday)—is run by the  Spanish crew that trained the actors of Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara. And the prerequisites? A bright day and a soaring spirit (from Rs 30,000; skydive@aambyvalley.com). 

Brush with art

Delhi is giving the final touches to the fifth edition of the India Art Fair (February 1–3; indiaartfair.in)—a mammoth affair, which will bring 105 galleries and 1,000 artists from 24 countries together. Highlights include art displays, curated walks by art history students, seminars and events across the capital and in venues of the Kochi–Muziris Biennale and in Mumbai’s Fort–Colaba area.  

Look east

Before the “Kumbh Mela of Indian and International writing” (Jaipur Literature Festival January 24–28) covers every inch of available newsprint, here’s news about another lit fest that kickstarts the season. This year, the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (January 9–13; kolkatalitfest.in) plans to celebrate a hundred years of Indian cinema, focus on poetry and woo the city’s young readers with book readings and performances. Watch out for Antara Dev Sen’s tribute to the late Bengali poet and novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay.

Playing dirty

On February 9, The Mud Rush, a seven-kilometre-long obstacle course designed by the armed forces, promises to bring you to your knees and drag you through slush pits in sleepy Kolad (near Mumbai). So if an exercise in masochism—balance beams and barbed wire, hay stacks and slides—is your idea of adventure, join the Rush (themudrush.com).

Tune in

Camping in Coorg in early spring is a great idea. But if you think a camp-out music festival is even better, join the headbanging crowds at the Storm Festival (February 1–2; stormfestivalindia.com). This year’s line-up at the no-drugs, no-plastics fest includes Swarathma, Advaita, DJ Pearl and Nikhil Chinapa.