The quickest way to learn about a culture is to see how they party and these celebrations from around the world speak volumes about their respective hosts. But don’t forget, they think our celebrations are just as strange. Well maybe not those celebrating the frozen dead guy, but you get the idea.
Tunarama
Something’s a little fishy down under in Australia. Get your mind out of the gutter – it’s Port Lincoln’s annual Tunarama Festival. The three-day event, which just celebrated its 56th event this January, is a three-day family event based around a tuna toss. Yes, that’s right, people throwing tuna fish around. Although that is the main attraction, there’ll also be lots of shrimp on the barbie as well as lots of other seafood to eat and activities to do.
Cheese rolling festival
One of the most peculiar sights could be a bunch of Brits running down a hill after a rolling cheese at Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake. The annual event has thousands of spectators a year, all of whom are all at risk of getting hit by a cheese wheel, which reaches up to 70mph, and competitors dashing down the hill to claim the prize.
La Tomatina
It’s crazy to imagine thousands (we’re talking 40-60,000) of people fighting with over a hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes. At La Tomatina, once a year, people from all over the world meet in Bunol, Spain where they wait for one brave soul to climb the mound of tomatoes in the center of the town to initiate the fight. Beware, things may get a little saucy.
Battaglia delle Arance
If a tomato battle isn’t you thing, why not try oranges in Ivrea, Italy. Battaglia delle Arance, otherwise known as the Battle of the Oranges, celebrates the city’s freedom by recreating a full on fruit war with a ruling tyrant from years back. Unfortunately, this festival is not open to all tourists and instead has designated teams. Don’t feel too sour, it’s just as fun to watch.
Noche de Rábanos (Night of the Radishes)
Introduced to Mexico by the Spanish, the radish is not just something you may see as decoration sliced on top of your taco. At the the Noche de Rábanos, it is a medium for art. Among the folk art festivals in Mexico, crowds line the streets to view displays made up of carved radishes.
Monkey Buffet Festival
If wasting food isn’t an option, why not give it to the monkeys? Just north of Phuket, Thailand there is a Monkey Buffet Festival dedicated to feeding the locals – the local monkeys. Once a year, a huge buffet is set up in front with around 4000 kilograms’ worth of fruits, vegetables, cakes, and sweets for the some 3,000 monkeys in the area.
Konaki Sumo
Konaki Sumo is a 400-year-old Japanese tradition all about the babes – babies that is. This is a competition where grown men wearing diapers are carrying babies wearing the same thing. It’s not a who-wore-it-best competition, instead it’s an intense battle. Sumo wrestlers hold babies in one-on-one face offs with each other to see whose baby cries first or cries the loudest.
El Colacho
If watching overweight men carry babies doesn’t give you the thrill you seek, why not head to El Colacho, in Spain and watch men dressed as devils jump over babies? Up to ten babies, who were born during the year leading up to the event, lay on a bed waiting to be blessed by the jumpers while throngs of crowd watch the spectacle.
Frozen Dead Guy Days
Celebrating new life is one thing, but celebrating the frozen dead is another. The Frozen Dead Guy Day, takes absurd celebrations to a new level that even Game of Thrones characters might question. Taking place in Nederland, Colorado, the festival celebrates Bredo Morstal, a Norwegian whose animated frozen body is housed in a Tuff Shedd on dry ice above the town. Events for the three days include ice themed t-shirt contests, coffin racing, and a frozen salmon toss.
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