Angelenos love to show off, and the city has no shortage of opportunities for them to do so. Every New Year's Day the Tournament of Roses Parade - marching bands, celebrities and flower-coated floats - makes its way down Pasadena's Colorado Blvd. The Rose Bowl college football championship is played later the same day. A parody of the Tournament of Roses - the Doo Dah Parade - makes its way down Colorado Blvd in November.

February is African American History Month, with films, lectures, exhibits and performances across the county. LA's night of nights, the Academy Awards, is held in March. Cinco de Mayo, marking Mexico's victory over the French army at the Battle of Puebla, is celebrated on 5 May with plenty of south-of-the-border style festivities.

In June, Gay Pride Week is marked with a flamboyant parade down Santa Monica Blvd. The Summer Pops Festival runs from July through September at the Hollywood Bowl, and the International Surf Festival hits the waves of Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beaches in August.

Los Angeles County Fair, held in Pomona in September, is the largest county fair in the world, with music, sideshows, rides and other country-style delights. For those who prefer not to get their glad rags grubby, October's AFI-LA International Film Festival is one of the country's biggest, with more than 75 features from around the world.

For a bit of contrast, check out the Hollywood Christmas Parade, where movie and TV stars join Santa in a typically flashy parade, then join in Las Posadas, candle-lit processions that relive Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem and honor the Christ child Latin-style.