Want to make your Halloween more exciting? Then head to Louisville, Kentucky, spook your car out, and see if you can beat Danger Run. This event runs on the weekends in October.

Founded in 1994 and inspired by "Ghost Run" events, this road rally scavenger hunt leads to famous haunted houses in the area. Each team must solve a clue to move on to the next part of the mystery. Winners are determined by how well they stay on route measured by their vehicle's odometer. The top 25 participants compete at the end for the grand prize.

Africa

Nov

Advertising Week, Mexico City (MX-MX): November 5-7

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ADVERTISING WEEK LATIN AMERICA

Advertising Week is a conference and the world's premier gathering of marketing & communication leaders. This event occurs in London, Mexico City, New York City, Sydney, and Tokyo on different dates throughout the year. Established in 2004, Advertising Week is a global thought leadership platform featuring the industry's best and brightest.

Advertising Week combines inspiring thought leaders with engaging special events and year-round content. It draws from the brand, agency, technology, startup, media, and broader cultural communities, focusing on critical conversations designed to drive business forward and influence the global industry.

PLEASE NOTE: Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, the event should always be verified with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are only a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Jun

Raindance Film Festival (UK): June 19-28

06:20 AM | -

Raindance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the UK, that Variety recognizes as "one of the world's top 50 unmissable film festivals".

Raindance showcases the boldest entries of British and international filmmakers. It is a qualifying festival for Oscars®, BAFTA, and BIFA.

Founded in 1992, the Raindance Film Festival combines film training courses and higher education with awards and showings. Workshops cover screenwriting, production, directing, and virtual reality in addition to three fully accredited higher education film programs. It is the only major film festival in the world to offer accredited higher education.

PLEASE NOTE:
Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, always verify the event with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are unknown until a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Oct

Beautyfull World Day, Intl.: October 1

06:20 AM | -

Internation Beautyfull World Day encourages artists and individuals to work toward peace and use their talents to create a kinder, gentler, and more beautiful world.

Africa

Oct

Critical Illness Awareness Month: October

06:20 AM | -

Critical Illness Awareness Month seeks to educate the public about the availability of insurance in the event they are diagnosed with a severe illness. Critical Illness Insurance provides a lump-sum benefit upon diagnosing an acute illness or medical event. This can include, but is not limited to, conditions such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, organ transplants, coronary bypass surgery, or other severe illnesses as defined in the insurance policy.

Critical Illness Insurance aims to cover costs associated with treating and managing the illness and any financial obligations that may become more challenging to handle due to the disease. These could include daily living expenses, out-of-pocket medical costs, mortgage payments, or even travel expenses related to medical treatment. Reasons people purchase Critical Illness Insurance include:

Financial Security: Diagnosed with a critical illness can be financially devastating due to high medical costs and the potential inability to work during treatment and recovery. The lump-sum payout from critical illness insurance can provide necessary financial support.

Coverage Gap: Health insurance may not cover all the costs associated with treating and managing critical illnesses, such as deductibles, copayments, out-of-network treatments, or experimental therapies. Critical Illness Insurance can help fill this coverage gap.

Flexibility: Unlike health insurance, which typically pays directly to the healthcare provider for specific services, the payout from a Critical Illness Insurance policy goes to the policyholder for medical expenses, household bills, or other financial obligations.
Increasing Incidence of Critical Illnesses: Cancer, heart disease, and strokes are the most common illnesses covered. Having Critical Illness Insurance provides a financial safety net if such a diagnosis occurs.

Higher Survival Rates: Advances in medical science mean more people are surviving critical illnesses. However, the costs associated with the aftermath and recovery can be steep.
Critical illness insurance can help manage these expenses. Critical Illness Insurance policies specify what illnesses are covered, the specific definitions of illnesses, any waiting periods, and any exclusions that may apply.

Africa

Oct

Felabration (NG): October 9-15

06:20 AM | -

Felabration is an annual music and arts festival held in Lagos, Nigeria, created in memory of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and human rights activist who was a significant figure in African music and the creator of Afrobeat. Fela Kuti (October 15, 1938 - August 2, 1997) was a successful musician and a political activist, famously outspoken against the Nigerian government and other political authorities.

Fela's music was a powerful voice for social justice, and his Afrobeat sound, which fused traditional Yoruba music with jazz, highlife, and funk, has significantly influenced global music. After Kuti's death, his eldest child, Yeni Kuti, came up with a music festival to celebrate his life and his contributions to Nigerian and African society. Felabration was born and held annually (except in 2020-2022 due to COVID-19) at the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos, a venue built to replace the original Shrine nightclub that was a hub for Fela's performances.

Felabration occurs annually during the week of Fela Kuti's birthday in mid-October. It attracts visitors from all over the world who come to celebrate Fela's legacy. The festival includes performances by top Nigerian artists and international musicians. The performances are mostly Afrobeat, in homage to Fela, but you'll also hear other genres like hip-hop, R&B, and reggae. But Felabration is more than just a music festival. It also includes street parades, symposia on social and cultural issues, debates, and art exhibitions promoting Fela's cultural, political, and musical ideals centered around African unity and government accountability.

Over the years, Felabration has grown in size and importance and now includes a Felabration Afrobics Dance Competition and a secondary school debate that stimulates intellectual discourse amongst the youth.

PLEASE NOTE: Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, always verify the event with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are only a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Oct

New York City Wine & Food Festival, Capital One (US-NY): October 12-15

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The Capital One New York City Wine and Food Festival (NYCWFF) is an annual star-studded lineup of celebrity chefs, food personalities, and culinary experts, a gastronomic extravaganza typically held in October. It offers a series of tastings, cooking demonstrations, and intimate dinners that aim to celebrate the rich culinary tapestry of the city and beyond.

The festival is presented in partnership with Food Network & Cooking Channel and is hosted by the charity God's Love We Deliver organizations committed to ending hunger and food insecurity. Over the years, NYCWFF has raised millions of dollars for these charitable causes, highlighting the festival's mission to entertain and educate while giving back to the community. Foodies can indulge in a wide array of offerings, ranging from burger bashes hosted by famed chefs to exclusive wine tastings featuring selections from around the world. With various locations across Manhattan, the festival showcases the expertise of internationally acclaimed chefs and the diversity of New York City's culinary scene.

Advance ticket purchases and reservations are strongly recommended due to the festival's popularity. Founded in 2007, the New York City Wine and Food Festival is a staple in the city's fall calendar, drawing food enthusiasts nationwide.

Africa

Oct

Urban Wildlife Week, Intl.: October 14-22

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International Urban Wildlife Week occurs during Urban October and began in Los Angeles in 2015. Its original focus was on P-22, the beloved wild cougar that roamed the hills and cities of the greater Los Angeles area. Unfortunately, P-22 had to be euthanized in early 2023, plunging the entire metropolis into mourning, with over 6,000 Angelinos attending his memorial service.

Despite it being one of the largest cities in the world, Los Angeles has a robust wildlife population, including coyotes, deer, golden eagles, rabbits, cougars, bobcats, raccoons, and even its flock of green parrots who have thrived in the city since they escaped a pet store fire in the early 1980s. In fact, all cities have wildlife, even yours (and not just rats). P-22's legacy continues with the now International Urban Wildlife Week by the National Wildlife Federation, which is supported by nature conservancies worldwide. It focuses on the necessity of wildlife zones, animal crossings over highways, green spaces, and clean-up rivers to encourage cohabitation.

For example, in 2019, Utrecht, Netherlands, started a trend in Europe by planting flowering plants atop its city bus stops to provide bees and pollinators with an environment. Other cities in Europe quickly followed suit. Additional examples include:

China's sponge cities double as flood mitigation.

Milan, Italy's plant-covered skyscrapers.

MENA nations, including Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, use grey water (recycled water) for everything from gardens to toilets.

Urban wildlife projects create a more livable environment for people, plants, and animals. They preserve habitat, clean toxins from the air, reuse valuable resources, and provide defense against flooding, fires, and landslides. International Urban Wildlife Week is your opportunity to consider the nonhuman living entities around you and how best to ensure you both thrive.

Header image: Desert dove cares for her newly hatched chicks in a windowsill nest on the Saudi Aramco campus in Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Photo LD Lewis

Africa

Oct

Bat Appreciation Month: October

06:20 AM | -

Bat Appreciation Month celebrates and creates awareness about the incredible creatures that rule the night skies. Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera and include over 1,400 species, representing about 20% of all classified mammal species worldwide. As such, bats are the second largest order of mammals after rodents and live in every part of the planet except for extreme desert and polar environments.

Sizes of bats vary, ranging from the smallest with a wingspan of 15 cm to 170 cm for the largest bat species, the giant golden-crowned flying fox. They also exhibit a wide range of diets: most bat species feed on insects, but others eat fruit, nectar, small mammals, fish, and even blood, like the three species of vampire bats. Bats play vital roles in many ecosystems around the world:

Pollination and Seed Dispersal:
Bats are pollinators for many tropical and subtropical plants. They eat fruit and nectar, then disperse seeds, contributing to the growth of plants and trees, forming habitats for other wildlife.

Insect Control:
A single bat can eat hundreds to thousands of insects a night, depending on the species and size of the bat. They are essential in controlling insect populations and reducing the need for pesticides.

Indicator Species:
Because they are sensitive to environmental changes, bats are often considered indicator species. A decline or shift in bat populations can highlight habitat destruction or climate change issues.

Nutrient Distribution:
Bats also help distribute nutrients across environments. For example, when bats in caves defecate, their droppings (guano) are rich in nutrients, which can benefit cave-dwelling organisms and are harvested by humans as a valuable fertilizer.

However, bats are threatened globally by habitat loss, hunting, invasive species, and diseases such as the White-nose Syndrome in North America and Europe. Also, they've been implicated in the spillover of zoonotic diseases to humans, such as the coronavirus. Despite these challenges, they are essential to our planet's health and biodiversity.

Africa

Oct

Inktober: October

06:20 AM | -

Inktober is an annual event that encourages artists worldwide to engage in the art of drawing with ink during October. Jake Parker initiated the event in 2009 to improve his inking skills and drawing habits. It has since gone global, with thousands of artists participating annually.

The year's topics post on September 1, and the rules of Inktober are straightforward:

1. Make a drawing in ink.

2. Post it online on any social media platform, blog, or website.

3. Hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober2023 (or whatever the current year is).

4. Repeat this every day of October.

Topics for ink drawings change daily throughout the month. Each is a single word that participants can interpret however they like.

Inktober helps artists to develop positive drawing habits, improve their inking skills, and create a body of work. It also fosters community as artists share their work, engage with each other, and gain exposure.

THE INKTOBER COPYRIGHT AND PLAGIARISM SCANDALS

In 2017, due to a scandal surrounding the trademarking of the name Inktober by Parker and the artwork produced by participants in the month, the month fell out of favor with artists. Artists started receiving cease and desist letters dating back to 2013 using "Inktober" in the title of their works for sale. The legal team behind the strategy sought to retroactively "clear the market" for Parker's upcoming art instruction book—Inktober All Year Long, due for release in 2020.

The artists targeted took it as a legal shakedown, as the letters asked for compensation for their original artworks. Parker insists his lawyers acted overzealously, and Amazon and Etsy were responsible for the cease and desist letters that intimated compensation was owed him due to the new trademark. Ultimately, the trademark controversy alienated the art community, and by 2019 Inktober fell out of favor.

Then, Parker fount himself roiled in a second scandal that year over his book when youtuber and author of the "Pen and Drawing, a Simple Guide", instructional drawing series, Alfonso Dunn, accused Parker of plagiarism after seeing that a number of the drawings in his book were suspiciously similar to his own.

Parker's book followed his using parallel presentations, layouts, and descriptions, as well as similar images, to teach artists to draw in ink, which is highly unusual as each artist has his or her creative process and style. Dunn posted his suspicions and examples on social media, and the global artist community quickly engaged, becoming amateur sleuths and testing the thesis. Social media exploded with examples and tutorials arguing for and against plagiarism. Ultimately, the publisher pulled the book from its 2020 release, and Deviant Art pulled out of hosting the awards. As of this writing, Parker's book has yet to be published. In 2023, the event is coming back with new partners and a professional PR firm behind the event.

Africa

Oct

Pescatarian Month, Ntl.: October

06:20 AM | -

National Pescatarian Month seeks to build awareness about the health benefits of eating seafood and fish. Pescatarianism is a dietary choice wherein a person eats fish and other seafood but does not consume the meat of other animals. Many pescatarians also eat plant-based foods, dairy, and eggs focusing on the potential benefits of a pescatarian diet, which includes a low-fat content and high protein intake, and the environmental impact of different food choices.

Pescatarianism can be part of a healthy and environmentally conscious lifestyle. It's essential to ensure that the seafood consumed is sustainably sourced to avoid contributing to overfishing and damaging aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, concerns about mercury levels in fish and other seafood mean that it's vital to choose seafood wisely.

Africa

Oct

Chessboxing Championships, World (IT): October 28 - November 2

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The World Chessboxing Championships are held annually in late October or early November. The hosting nation changes each year.

Chessboxing is a hybrid sport combining two traditional disciplines, chess and boxing, with competitors facing each other in alternating rounds. This unique sport tests its contestants' physical prowess and mental agility, as they need to be adept at boxing and chess to succeed. Players must maintain their concentration and strategic thinking under the physical duress of boxing, making it a unique test of mind-body coordination.

A chessboxing match consists of 11 three-minute rounds: six-speed chess and five boxing. Scoring a knockout, checkmate, judge decision, or exceeding the time limit in chess determines the winner of each round.

Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh (1974-2020) invented the sport in the early 2000s, inspired by French artist and filmmaker Enki Bilal's comic book "Froid Équateur." It has grown into a recognized competition with a world championship and is very popular in Germany, the United Kingdom, India, and Russia.

Africa

Oct

Red Bull Tuk Tuk Tournament (LK): October 22 - November 3

06:20 AM | -

The Redbull Tuk Tuk Tournament is an exciting 13-day "Amazing Race" style journey filled with adventure and exploration featuring a treasure hunt across the diverse landscapes of Sri Lanka. The search culminates in a thrilling race to the finish line, where teams compete for a coveted trophy.

The Tuk Tuk Tournament is an event and an adventure travel experience where non-professional athletes and explorers pay to be on teams. The tournament, which features 80 teams from around the globe (team entries sell out 12-18 months early) with two or three participants each, promises a blend of quests and challenges that will take competitors off the beaten path. Participants will explore lesser-known attractions, offering them a unique perspective of Sri Lanka's rich cultural and geographical diversity. This route will guide participants through villages, cities, beaches, waterfalls, monasteries, and surf spots. It will also lead them through winding roads, rice mills, tea plantations, and mountain tops, providing stunning views at every turn.

The tournament offers an array of experiences designed to immerse participants in the local culture. Stays in local homes, farm visits, tractor rides, and even beach clean-ups are included in the itinerary. Participants will also be able to assist artisans in creating their masterpieces, ensuring a well-rounded and enriching experience. The event is a unique blend of adventure, culture, and exploration, allowing participants to see Sri Lanka like never before. Whether for the thrill of the hunt, the lure of adventure, or the beauty of Sri Lanka, this tournament promises to be an unforgettable experience.

PLEASE NOTE: Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, always verify the event with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are only a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Sep

Banned Websites Awareness Day: September 25

06:20 AM | -

Banned Website Awareness Day raises awareness of the overly restrictive blocking of legitimate educational websites and academically useful social networking tools in schools and school libraries. On the Wednesday of Banned Books Week, school librarians and other educators promote awareness of how overly restrictive filtering affects student learning.

Africa

Apr

Infection Preventionists (IP) Day Intl.: April 5

06:20 AM | -

International Infection Preventionist, or IP Day, celebrates the men and women on the frontlines of disease and infection prevention. An Infection Preventionist (IP) is a healthcare professional who works to prevent and control the spread of infections in healthcare settings such as hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities. Their role is crucial because infections, including those resistant to antibiotics, can spread quickly in these settings, causing serious illness or even death. Here are some of the critical duties of an Infection Preventionist: Surveillance: IPs regularly monitor and analyze infection data from various hospital departments to identify trends and outbreaks. They might use sophisticated software to help with this. Education: IPs provide training and education to healthcare staff on infection prevention and control best practices. They may also be responsible for educating patients and their families. Policy Development and Implementation: IPs are often involved in developing and implementing infection control policies and procedures. They must ensure that these policies comply with local, state, and federal regulations and guidelines from organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Outbreak Management: If an infection outbreak occurs, IPs take the lead in managing it, including identifying the source, implementing control measures, and evaluating their effectiveness. Consultation: IPs work with other healthcare professionals on preventing and controlling infections related to anything from a specific patient case to the design of a new healthcare facility. Research and Quality Improvement: IPs participate in research to develop new infection prevention and control techniques. They also lead and participate in quality improvement initiatives related to infection prevention. Collaboration: IPs often collaborate with other professionals such as microbiologists, epidemiologists, public health officials, and hospital administrators. They might also be part of an interdisciplinary Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) committee. Infection Preventionists typically have a background in nursing, medical technology, microbiology, or public health. They also usually have specialized certification in infection control, such as the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CBIC) certification. Their role is critical in healthcare settings to protect patients and staff from infectious diseases.

Africa