2024 will be a landmark year: dozens of elections around the world, unresolved conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and Gaza to resolve, and other milestones expected in everything from global temperatures to space exploration and to artificial intelligence.
Here are some of the major events scheduled for the year.
January
January 1st
Energy price cap comes into force
UK participation in EU Horizon resumes
Brics expansion: Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and possibly Argentina will join
January 7
General elections in Bangladesh
Golden Globes ceremony. View the full list of nominations here
January 12
US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration releases global temperature report for 2023
January 13
Taiwanese presidential election
January 13-February 11
African Cup of Nations
January 14-28
Australian Open
January 15-19
Davos World Economic Forum
January 19
Japanese Moon Sniper attempts to land
January 23
Oscar nominations
US Republican primaries, New Hampshire
January 27
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The world’s largest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas, makes its maiden voyage
January 28
Finnish presidential elections
Twenty years after the publication of the Hutton Inquiry Report
FEBRUARY
February 2-March 16
Six Nations rugby tournament
February 4
Grammy Awards
February 6-8
US Republican primaries, Nevada
7 FEBRUARY
Azerbaijani presidential election
February 8
Pakistani general elections
February 9-17
Carnival of Rio
February 10
Lunar New Year
February 11th
American Football Super Bowl
February 11-15
Swiftposium academic conference on Taylor Swift
February 14th
Indonesian general elections
February 16
Trial begins for German man accused of kidnapping Madeleine McCann
February 17
EU Digital Services Act comes into force
February 18
Bafta Film Awards
February 23
Second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
February 24
US Republican primaries, South Carolina
February 25
Elections in Belarus, Iraqi Kurdistan and Senegal
FEBRUARY
NATO set to launch Steadfast Defender, largest military exercise since Cold War
March
1st of March
Iranian legislative elections
March 1-3
World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow
March 2
British prices
March 5
Super Tuesday presidential primary election day in the United States
March 7
World Book Day
March 7-10
Crufts, the largest dog show in the world
8 March
International Women’s Day
Irish referendums on gender and family
8-23rd of March
African Games in Ghana
March 10
Portuguese elections
The Oscars
March 10-April 9
Ramadan
March 11
Fourth anniversary of WHO declaration of Covid pandemic
March 17
Russian presidential election
March 23
WWF Earth Hour
March 30
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
March, 31st
Ukrainian presidential election expected
Elections expected in Slovakia and Togo
April
April 4
75th anniversary of NATO
April 5
Thirty years since the death of Kurt Cobain
April 8
Total solar eclipse in North America
April 10
South Korean elections
April 20-November 24
Venice Biennale
April 21th
London Marathon
April 22
April May
Indian elections. Also Maldives, North Macedonia and Solomon Islands
Can
May 2
London mayoral elections
Local elections in the United Kingdom
3 Can
May 5
Panamanian elections
May 10
Bicentenary of the National Gallery in London
May 11
Eurovision in Malmö, Sweden
The Great Wall Marathon, China
May 12
Lithuanian presidential elections (general elections in October)
Bafta TV Awards
13-May 19
American PGA Golf Championship
May 14-25
Cannes Film Festival
May 19
Elections in the Dominican Republic
May 20 – June 9
French Open
May 21-25
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
May 22
UEFA Europa League Final
May 23-June 2
Hay Festival
Ivor Novello Prize
May 25
FA Cup Final
European Rugby Champions Cup Final
May 26-June 9
French Open
Elections expected in Madagascar and South Africa
China plans to launch Chang’e 6, a sample return mission involving a robotic lander, to the far side of the Moon.
June
June 1st
UEFA Champions League Final
Icelandic presidential elections
June 2
Mexican elections
The “devil’s comet” closest to Earth
June 4-30
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
June 5
World Running Day
June 6
Eightieth anniversary of the Landing
June 6-9
European parliamentary elections
June 9
Belgian federal elections
June 10-16
US Open golf tournament
June 13-15
Italy hosts the 50th G7 summit
June 13
Women’s Prize for Fiction
June 14-July 14th
UEFA Euros
June 14-19
Hajj
June 16-21
June 18-24
Royal Ascot
June 20
World Refugee Day
June 26-30
Glastonbury Festival begins
June 27-28
European Council Summit
June 29-July 21
The Tour de France begins
Elections expected in Kiribati, Mauritania and Mongolia
July
1st of July
Hungarian Presidency of the EU
July 1-14
Wimbledon tennis championships begin
9-11 July
US hosts NATO summit
July 14th
Euro final
Copa America Final
15-July 18
American Republican National Convention
July 15-19
International Botanical Congress in Madrid to vote on proposal to allow changing culturally offensive animal names
18-July 21
The Open Golf Championship
July 19-September 14
BBC Balls
July 26-August 11
Paris Olympic Games
Summer 2024
South African elections. Also Croatia and North Macedonia
August
2-August 26
On the sidelines of the Edinburgh festival
August 12-18
Tour de France Women
August 17
New city of Nusantara is officially inaugurated as the capital of Indonesia, replacing Jakarta
19-August 22
American Democratic National Convention
August 26-September 8
US Open Tennis Championships
August 28-September 8
Paralympic Games
Elections expected in Rwanda
September
September 1-8
Cycling Tour of Brittany
September 8
Great North Race
September 9
The last night of the ball
September 14-January 19, 2025
Major Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery in London
September 18
First US presidential debate
September 22-23
UN Future Summit opens in New York
September 25
US vice presidential debate
Likely:
Mercury Price
Women’s T20 World Cup
Elections expected in Austria, Sri Lanka and Tunisia
The Japanese space agency Jaxa will launch its MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission to explore Phobos and Deimos, the small moons of Mars
October
October 1st
Second US presidential debate
October 5
Final horse race of the Singapore Gold Cup
October 6
The EU will begin rolling out its Entry-Exit System (EES), requiring non-EU citizens to scan their passports when entering the Schengen free movement area
October 9
Final presidential debate in the United States
October 11
Nobel Peace Prize announced
October 23-27
Worldwide Music Expo (Womex), the music industry’s biggest conference, kicks off in Manchester
October 24
Russia hosts Brics summit in Kazan
October 26
Georgian elections
October 27
Uruguayan elections
Elections expected in Bosnia and Botswana
NASA prepares to launch Europa Clipper, a probe to study the habitability of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa
The last America’s Cup race takes place in Barcelona
October
Vatican to hold synod on direction of Roman Catholic faith
November
November 5
American election
November 11-22
Cop29 climate summit
November 13
Somaliland Elections
November 18
Brazil hosts the G20 summit
November 21-24
Elections expected in Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius and Namibia
November
US set to launch first crewed mission to the Moon in 52 years
December
1st December
World AIDS Day
December 7
Ghanaian elections
December 8
Notre-Dame de Paris reopens five years after a fire
December 20
South Sudan Elections
Elections expected in Algeria, Croatia and Uzbekistan
Indian space agency Isro set to launch Shukrayaan space probe to Venus
Sometime in 2024
A malaria vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India is set to be distributed to 12 African countries.
Giant spherical structure dedicated to studying neutrinos will become operational in Jiangmen, China
