While all the religious festivals around the world are popular and well known among us, the bizarre ones do catch us off guard and all we want to do is travel to these places and witness the celebration ourselves.
Here is a list of 15 jaw dropping festivals around the world which probably you never knew they existed.
1. Baby Jumping Festival | Spain
It is declared as one of the most dangerous festivals. Men dressed like devils jump over a row of 1 year old babies on the street to protect them from illness, sin and guard them from evil spirits. The act of devil jumping is called El Salto del Colacho.
2. The International Highline Meeting Festival | Italian Alps in Monte Piana
The chillest festival in the world, but challenging too. People in the festival sleep in hammocks hung 1000s of feet above the Italian Alps. They play music or attend music jams, smoke pot, attend yoga workshops, para-glide, drink at the bars and what not! The view of the festival offers the best pictures you could ever see.
3. Moose Dropping Festival | Talkeetna , Alaska
Moose crap painted in white are dropped fro helicopters and balloons during this festival in July. Town locals would place bets on where the droppings will fall.
4. Gloucester Cheese-Rolling Festival | England
The locals race down a dangerously steep hill falling, tumbling and flailing to catch a hefty 7.8 pound roll of cheese. Whoever reaches the bottom and raise the cheese roll above the heads wins. Funny part- a team of local rugby players wait to stop any uncontrollable falling athlete.
5. Festival of the Horns or Festa del Cornuto | Rome
Men who have been dumped or cheated on by their better halves run around the streets wearing horns breaking objects which their ex-es had gifted them. Interestingly, in Italian culture a horn represents a man who has been cheated on. During war times, Romans used to give their soldiers horns upon their return that signifies that their better halves have moved on in life after years of waiting for them to return.
6. Rayne Frog Festival | Rayne, Louisiana
The festival involves everything about Frogs! The Frog Capital of the World organizes frog races, frog jumps, Frog Derby Queen Contest and of course serves many frogs to eat along with a lot of musical acts.
7. Naki Sumo | Japan
Giant and tough sumo wrestlers each holding a baby step into the ring with one purpose to make their opponents baby cry! Yes, sounds funny. But it has a significance in their culture, the act brings god luck to the baby.
8. Wife Carrying Championship| Finland
Men carry their wives through a 253.5 meters path with carefully plotted obstacles. The fastest best costumed couple wins the race.
9. Roswell UFO Festival | New Mexico
Sometime in 1947, people witnessed a disc like object flying in Mexico. Since then people think that the aliens have landed on their land and so they celebrate the Roswell UFO Festival dressing up like aliens and attending talks and conferences by alien authors and experts.
10. Deadly Fiesta or Fiesta de Santa Marta Ribarteme | Spain
The festival celebrates people who had near life experiences or escaped death. These people are laid in coffins, taken to the church and cemetery and blessings are offered to Santa Marta for giving them their lives back.
11. Turkey Testicle Festival | US
The festival involves relishing battered and friend animal testicles.
12. Kanamara Matsuri | Kawasaki, Japan
Penis is the festival’s highlight. You will see candy, illustrations, food items in its shape taken to a local penis-venerating shrine. The festival is said to protect from sexual diseases, and helps in business prosperity.
13. Hadaka Matsuri |Japan
Men dressed only in red loincloths in front of the Saidaji-Naka temple for the purification of their soul.
14. The Songkran festival | Thailand
The entire country soaks in water. The festivals is not just limited to buckets, bottles and water pipes, some people even hire elephants to celebrate the festival.
15. The Monkey Buffet Festival | Thailand
People lay down a buffet for monkeys in their cities and eat along with them. The festival has no historic significance, it is only an act of promoting tourism.
Love the article? Like, comment and share! The International Highline Meeting Festival is my favorite, which one’s yours?
Ciao!
