By JFrater
Every year thousands of people gather to take part in, or
witness bizarre festivals. Many of these festivals are ancient but some are
much more modern. While they are all extremely different, they have one thing
in common: they are totally weird. If you wish to mention other festivals that
you know of, be sure to do so in the comments. NOTE: Some images may be Not
Safe For Work.
On the last Wednesday of August every year in the town of
Buñol in the Valencia region of Spain, 9,000 locals and 20,000 – 40,000 foreigners
descend on the town to throw tomatoes at each other in honor of the Virgin Mary
and St. Louis Bertrand. This tradition has been around since the 1940s, though
it was briefly suppressed under the reign of Franco. The festival starts with a
person attempting to scale a greased pole to capture a cooked ham. Once the ham
is taken down from the pole, water canons are fired at the participants and
over 100 tons of tomatoes are dumped into the streets for throwing. Women are
expected to wear white and men to wear no shirts. Anyone caught wearing a shirt
inevitably has it ripped off – including women and especially tourists who tend
to be the main target of locals.
9 Cheese Rolling Festival
The Cheese Rolling Festival is held every May in Cooper’s
Hill, Gloucestershire in the United
Kingdom. The festival involves an official
tossing a cheese down the extremely steep hill, after which hundreds of people
begin to run down the hill (risking life and limb) in order to catch the
cheese. Each year the event results in casualties and for this reason children
are not allowed to participate, though oftentimes boys from the local town will
join in anyway. For the children, there is an uphill race. Women and men race
separately in the main event.
8 Bonfires of Saint John
The Bonfires of Saint John is a popular festival in Spain held on
the 19th to the 24th of June. The strange festival involves the lighting of
bonfires (frequently fueled by old furniture). The locals share hot chocolate
whilst watching the bonfires. But then it gets weird. The children of the
villages then take turns in running through the fires. The entire week is
filled with festivities including fireworks displays and eighty-six women and
eighty-six young girls are elected the “Beauties” of the bonfires. These
“beauties” preside over the festival as Queens.
7 Goat Tossing Festival
The Spanish certainly like their odd festivals. Every year
on the fourth Sunday in January, the locals of a small town named Manganeses de
la Polvorosa gather together for the goat tossing festival, in honor of St
Vincent de Paul, their patron saint. The festival has been around for so long
that no one knows when it started. It involves a young man who finds a goat in
the village, ties it up, and takes it to the top of the local Church belfry. He
then tosses the goat over the side and it falls 50 feet where it is (hopefully)
caught by villagers holding up a sheet of tarpaulin. The village officials
banned the event but it continues regardless. Various animal rights agencies
have complained about it – though their complaints have also been ignored.
6 Hadaka Matsuri
Hadaka Matsuri is a Japanese festival in which the
participants are all but naked. The festival is celebrated many times
throughout the year in various parts of Japan and those involved usually
wear a type of traditional loin cloth. Some of those involved go completely
naked which is not frowned on at all – in fact it is considered healthy. The
festivals often involve the use of mud (for entertainment) and there are often
separate women’s and men’s festivals. In some towns special festivals are held
for children – as a rite of passage, but sometimes children participate in the
adult festival. The festival has its origins as a religious event, but these
days the religious aspects are virtually forgotten.
5 El Colacho
Dating from 1620, El Colacho (or baby jumping) is a festival
in Spain held every year on
the feast of Corpus Christi.
The festival involves the laying on mattresses all babies born in the previous
twelve months. The adult men of the village
of Castrillo de Murcia
then dress up as devils and take turns jumping over the babies. The festival
often results in injuries (usually of the adults) and it is believed that the
jumping rids the babies of original sin – a bizarre kind of baptism. Pope
Benedict XVI has recently asked the local priests to distance themselves from
the festival as it is dangerous and contrary to the Catholic religion.
4 Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme
Every year in Las Nieves, Spain, people who have suffered a
near death experience in the previous year get together to attend Mass in
celebration of Saint Marta de Ribarteme, the Patron Saint of resurrection. But
here is the twist: they turn up at Mass carrying a coffin, or being carried in
a coffin. After Mass, the coffins all proceed to the top of a nearby hill with
a statue of the saint. Despite the somberness of the event, people light
fireworks and shopkeepers fill the streets to sell religious objects.
3 Goose Clubbing Festival
Until recently, an annual festival was held in Germany in
which a goose was tied by its feet to a post and then clubbed by the local men
until its head came off. As a result of complaints from animal rights
activists, the festival-goers now hit a goose which has previously been killed.
A very similar event occurs in Spain
(surprise surprise) every year in which a man hangs from the goose until the
head comes off. Again the goose is killed prior to the event which dates back
350 years. The Spanish festival is called Antzar Eguna.
2 Kanamara Matsuri
Every year in spring, the festival of Kanamara Matsuri (The
Steel Phallus) is held in Kawasaki,
Japan. It is a
Shinto fertility festival and, as you would expect, it involves a rather large
penis statue. During the festival, people can buy candies, vegetables, and
gifts in the shape of a phallus. The festival was very popular amongst
prostitutes who thought that participation would help to prevent them getting
sexually transmitted diseases.
1 Thaipusam
Thaipusam is a Hindu festival (celebrated mostly by Tamils)
held in January/February each year to celebrate the birth of Murugan (the son
of gods Shiva and Parvati). The participants shave their heads and perform a
pilgrimage, at the end of which they shove very sharp skewers through their
tongues or cheeks. Some of the practitioners put hooks into their back and pull
heavy objects like tractors. The aim is to cause as much pain as possible – the
more you endure, the more “blessings” you receive from the gods. The festival
is popular in India, but the
largest celebrations take place in Singapore
and Malaysia,
where it is a public holiday.
Source : http://www.acecabana.com
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