Las Vegas lights up for Frank Sinatra, Europe celebrates Van Gogh and Ireland finds inspiration in the poetry of WB Yeats. Join in the celebrations.

Art is the great mover and shaker: through an artist’s inspiration and your interpretation, you will journey the circles of heaven and hell.

Stand in front of a Rembrandt portrait and the strokes of light and shadow will be a lesson in reading character. Curiosity will get the better of you before you realise that a river stained green, a waterfall in New York or a burning, rising sun are Olafur Eliasson’s way of playing tricks on your mind.

Goya will evict you to mad, frightening places while Theodore Gericault will push you in the waters on which The Raft of the Medusa floats. And even though thousands gather in front of Edward Hopper’s Office in a Small City, which hangs in New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the painting will always move you far from the madding crowd to a place where you’re on your own.

This year, there’s even more reason to travel and sample a three-course meal of art and culture

Yes, art is the best mode of travel. Not only metaphorically but also literally. You travel to Paris to spend your days at the Louvre or the Musee d’Orsay. No trip to Madrid is complete without queuing up to gaze at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza’s collection of works by Dali, Caravaggio, Hans Holbein, Gauguin and Francis Bacon. And you really haven’t been to Florence if you haven’t wandered around the Uffizi Gallery.

This year, there’s even more reason to travel and sample a three-course meal of art and culture: Las Vegas is celebrating Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday, the Netherlands, Belgium and France are commemorating 125 years since Van Gogh’s death, and Ireland has dedicated 2015 to the 150th birthday of WB Yeats. For inspiration, join the celebrations.

Las Vegas is all aglow to celebrate Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday.

Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday
Where: Las Vegas
When: December 12

The city of artificial lights is celebrating Ol Blue Eyes’ 100th birthday with a bash to remember. Only a few events have been confirmed yet, including the Venetian hotel’s theatrical production Frank. The Man. The Music, which opened last January. However, the Sin City grapevine is all excited with unconfirmed hearsay that the hotel facades on the Strip will be illuminated with images of Frank Sinatra and that singer Steve Lawrence will be playing a tribute show at Wynn Las Vegas, where Sinatra used to perform.

The makers of Jack Daniel’s will be bottling a special edition called Sinatra Select while singer Bob Anderson and Sinatra’s former musical director Vincent Falcone are planning a show featuring a 32-piece band. While in Las Vegas, you can also tour some of Sinatra’s old haunts, including the Golden Steer Steakhouse, Caesars Palace, Morelli House and Golden Nugget.

When Sinatra died, the lights on the Strip were dimmed: this will probably be repeated on December 12, which would be a fitting tribute by the city that Sinatra helped make cool.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will be holding a comparative exhibition featuring work by Van Gogh and Edvard Munch.

125 years since Van Gogh’s death
Where: The Netherlands, Belgium, France
When: Throughout 2015

On July 29, it will be exactly 125 years since Vincent van Gogh died aged 37. The Dutch post-impressionist artist will be celebrated with a series of exhibitions and projects throughout Europe, but especially in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

The Van Gogh Europe Foundation, an association that includes more than 30 institutions, has scheduled a varied programme of events under the theme 125 Years of Inspiration. The most important exhibition will be held at Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum: the comparative exhibition will bring together work by Van Gogh and Edvard Munch. This is the first time that the two great artists will be sharing an exhibition space.

The Belgian city of Mons, which is also European Capital of Culture 2015, will open the house where van Gogh once lived to the public while the artist’s birthplace Noord Brabant has completed a glow-in-the-dark bicycle path inspired by The Starry Night.

Dublin is celebrating the 150th birthday of one of its favourite sons: WB Yeats.

150th birthday of WB Yeats
Where: Ireland
When: Throughout 2015

This year, it’s the 150th birthday of Ireland’s beloved son WB Yeats and locations which are associated with the poet’s life – including Sligo, Galway and Dublin – will be putting on a show.

In Ireland, poetry and pubs go well together. In fact, Hargadon’s, Sligo’s oldest pub, will host a reading of Yeats poetry every day throughout the year. Music will also play an important part in the celebrations. The National Concert Hall in Dublin, together with the Yeats 2015 organisation, will present a weekend of performances in September: the performances will be curated by Thomas Bartlett and will feature contemporary poets and musicians who will give a musical and visual interpretation of the poet’s work.

The Model arts centre in Sligo will be hosting an exhaustive programme, including creative talks, Yeats-inspired family days, music and film.