The World’s Weirdest Festivals
La Tomatina, Spain
La Tomatina is a festival that offers world’s biggest food fight in a small Spanish town where 100,000 pounds of tomatoes can be thrown. Considering the various aggressiveness of different food, people typically use tomatoes as their weapons. There is no purpose or champion, it is all just for fun. For one hour, all bets are of and people merrily pelt each other with tomatoes. Seems fun, right?
Cheese Rolling, England
Every year in May people witness this fun festival that takes place in Gloucestershire. But why this festival attracts so much attention when broken bones, bruises and sprained ankles are the only rewards for chasing a huge block of cheese down a hill? Ok, it is fun to watch this deadly race from aside. Cheese rolling festival needs 20 contestants at a time that should try to beat a rolling cheese 30 yards downhill, but somehow the cheese always manage to win.
Boryeong Mud Festival, South Korea
This festival originally began as a way to promote the small South Korean town’s mud cosmetics, but evolved into a fun and traditional festival. Boryeong Mud Festival takes place in July and lets guests to swim, loose, relax, play with mud, and all these stuff is not only for kids. The visitors have plenty of dirty activities to choose from, such as mud wrestling, mud facials, mud races and Mr. Mud competition, and those who wish to stay clean can enjoy hip-hop and pop musical acts, pottery and soap making demonstrations.
Holi, India
Holi, the festival of colors takes place in March every year in India and Nepal. Holi is a beautiful time when both nature and humans shake off the gloom of winter to rejoice in the wonders of spring. Obviously, they like to do this with throwing colors at each other. Everybody is throwing and smearing colors on everybody they see, which is supposed to be from natural herbs, but sometimes the colors comprised of oxidized metals mixed with industrial dyes, engine oil and acids. Lead oxide, aluminum bromide and other toxins that can make you sick and cause skin conditions are playfully and joyously sprayed all over.
Goat Tossing Festival, Spain
Goat Tossing Festival takes place also in Spain on 4th of January and the point is to honor St. Vincent de Paul by tossing an unlucky goat. Historians don’t fully know when and how this festival began, but one legend says that one priest’s goat followed him into a church to later take a flying leap off the tower, but was luckily saved by villagers. Surprised? Yes, they take a goat, tie it up and threw it from 20 feet above the ground from a church without a bit mercy to honor St. Vincent de Paul.
Paris Chocolate Festival, France
This festival takes place usually in October in Paris and is a must see for chocolate lovers. Located at the exhibition centre Paris Expo Port de Versailles, 14,000 square meters are filled with chocolate exhibitors that are showcasing their delicious products including chocolate shaped animals or tools. The biggest highlight of this festival is the haute couture fashion show, where models strut their stuff down the catwalk in outfits made entirely from chocolate.
Baby Jumping Festival, Spain
Spain is a country full of bizarre festivals as the third one approach on our list. This festival takes place on 6th of June in Castrillo de Murcia. Baby Jumping Festival is a part of the celebrations for the Catholic festival of Corpus Christi, when bunch of newborn babies are placed on the ground in swaddling clothes on mattresses while men dressed as devils jump over them. The aim is to purify the souls of these newborn babies and protect them from sinning further in life.
Wife Carrying World Championships, Finland
Wife Carrying World Championships became very popular festival in the world as competition in Finland come even from USA. The concept of the festival is simple: the male competitor must carry his female teammate from one point to another, but the course is riddled with obstacles, from fences to water hazards. The wife may be your own, the neighbor’s or you may found her further afield, according to the official rules. There is also plenty of music, activities and brews to be enjoyed on the festival, and if you and your partner feel like you need a stiff drink afterwards, you’re in luck: the grand prize is the winning wife’s weight in beer.
Thaipusam, India
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival that takes place usually in January and it’s about to celebrate the birth of Murugan, the son of Parvati and god Shiva. Why it’s strange? Well, people shave their heads, go on pilgrimage, and worst of all, some people jostle the sharp skewers from their cheeks or tongues. The purpose of all these things is to confer pain to themselves and this festival became popular in Malaysia and Singapore also.
The Monkey Buffet Festival, Thailand
In the small village of Lopburi a.k.a. “monkey town”, over 3,000 macaque monkeys are being treated to a fest fit for King Kong once a year. The streets are full with huge platters of food, such as candies, fruit and cakes. The festival started as a way to honor the animals which are seen as blessed descendants of a great warrior monkey. Nowadays, the event lures thousands of tourists, but be aware that the macaques are not shy and are known for getting a bit grabby when they see something they want.
