Strange Festivals in the World

Festivals around the world are celebrated according to traditions inherited from their ancestors or folklore beliefs. Some are celebrating feasts of different saints of the Catholic religion. Some celebrate their festivals in vivid colors and different foods and cuisine are served.

1) Alien Festival or UFO Festival in Roswell, New Mexico

The annual parade of the UFO festival or Alien Festival in Roswell, New Mexico, the allegedly crash site of the UFO in 1940. Roswell town had the beautiful and weird celebration with the music of Twilight Zone and one of the highlights of the festivity is the Animal Pet Costume Contest.

2) La Tomatina in Bunol, Spain

La Tomatina is celebrated every last Wednesday of the month of August annualy; the festival of the Battle of Tomatoes or famously known as La Tomatina. Around 60,000 residents, tourist and neighboring towns celebrate the throwing of thousands of ripe and big tomatoes with each other. And almost the town are colored red with tomato juices.

3) Bull Running in Pamplona, Spain

Raging bulls in Pamplona streets are celebrated annually. The bull running is to transfer the bulls from Santo Domingo through walled-streets of Pamplona to the bull ring where matadors fights with bulls. Tourists, local residents and neighboring towns and cities participates in bull running where the run ahead of the bulls. This dangerous event of racing from the raging bulls that cause injuries and death.

4) Jumping Over the Babies, El Colacho in Spain

The most weirdest festivals held in El Colacho, Spain. Grown-up men jump over the babies with the mother’s consent, with their beliefs to get rid of any unknown evil spirits that might hide in these babies.

5) La Noche de los Rabanos (Night of Radishes) Oaxaca, Mexico

Radishes carved in different sculptures of saints, animals and many others as celebration for Christmas as their traditions, which started in 1897 and celebrates the feast every 23 of December.

6) Binche Festival in Belgium

Binche festival in a small town of Belgium, celebrates Binche festival every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before the Ash Wednesday. People wear masks, called Gilles and carrying large basket full of oranges, and hand it over to to the residents or tourists they meet on the streets. But some Gilles throw the oranges at the residents and tourists who are not lucky enough to catch the oranges.

Battle of the Orange Festival in Ivrea, Italy

7) Boryeong Mud Festival, Korea

During summer in Boryeong, South Korea they celebrate the mud festival in Daechon Beach Area, by digging and trucked and dump at the “Mud Experience Land”, where the people dive and throw mud at each other.

Kimchi Festival, South Korea

Kimchi Festival is celebrated annually and parade the various kind of Kimchi; the famous favorite delicacy of Koreans and used as side dish every meal or called” banchan” served with rice. Kimchi are used in Korean dishes as ingredient like, stew “kimchi-jjgae, soup “kimchi-guk” or korean pancake “kimchi-jeon”. One of the world’s healthiest food is Kimchi.

9) Holi Festival in India

During Holi Festival in India, maybe you should not wear your clean and best clothes when you are strolling down the street. The celebration are thrown anywhere walls of buildings, people in the crowd, cars with colored powder known as “abir”.

10) Gotmar Festival in India

It was celebrated annually in the River Jam of Madhaya Pradesh one of the strangest celebration of a forbidden love affair of caste villager in India. The failure of supposedly elopement of two lovers, but was stoned to death by their respective villagers. This festival was now banned by the authorities that causes many injured people and death as well.

11) Vegetarian Festival, Phuket, Thailand

The Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand is one of the strangest and weird traditions of devotees who believed by having the ” Ma Song” or sticking of swords or any sharp spear-like in their cheeks as shown in pictures, to shift the evils from their community into themselves.

Songkran Festival, Thailand

Throwing of water in the street and all over the city using water guns, and big hoses.

12) Thaipusam Hindu Hook-Piercing Festival

Thaipusam is an ancient Tamil religious festival, by piercing their flesh with variant accessories and connected by hooks and pierce it to their flesh. The Thaipusam Hindu Hook-Piercing festival is now very famous for its weird and bizarre practices.

13) Loy Kratong Festival , Samut Prakan, Thailand

Loy Kratong festival is held on the full moon of the 12th month of the traditional Thai Lunar calendar. In the Western calendar this usually falls in November. They use Khom Fai floats and light it and release it on air.

14) Monkey Buffet Festival

The monkeys are significant symbols of Lop Buri City; to the residents they believed that they are Hanuman’s descendants. The festival is celebrated yearly in honor of the monkey, and held evry last Sunday of November in San Phra Kan and Phra Prang Sam Yot.

15) Onbashira Festival (Riding Big Logs) Japan

Cutting a big tree and men participates in this festival sits on the log, in which tied with big ropes controlled on the side pulled by people and slide the big log on the mountain or hill slopes with men sitting on it concentrating not to fall down. The risk of falling down is being crushed by the big log.

16) Setsubun Festival or Soy Bean Festival, Japan

During Setsubun Festival and happens to see a member of your household holding a handful of ” roasted soy beans”  or “Mamemaki” and shout at you “Oni wa soto! Fuku wa Uchi!” ( Demons Out! Luck in!”) the traditonal words before the beans are thrown out of the front door or any member of the family.

17) Gothic Festival, Leipzig, Germany

In 1992, ten groups of band started a festival and called it Wave Gothic Festival, and became famous because of its Gothic weird and unique fashion and vintage items used as accessories in clothing and fashion of parades and later on became a biggest festival in Leipzig, Germany.It is a four-days celebration with more than 100 bands performing.

18) Arngugu Fishing Festival , Nigeria

The strange and crazy fishing festival in Nigeria in the town of Arngugu North Western Kebbi province is a former sleepy and lazy fishing village, but became as spectacular place because of the festival where the real men pulling and catching big fish by their bare hands. And now they celebrate the International Fishing Festival or AIFF.

19) Frog Festival In Pampanga, Philippines (Tugak Festival)

Every October, in San Fernando, Pampanga they celebrate the Frog Festival every month of October, and parade of different cuisine of frogs are prepared by the local residents. Frogs are unique delicacy of Pampanga culinary traditions. By organizing and celebrating the yearly festival.

Lechon Festival In Lucban, Quezon Province

Pig Parade on Malolos, Bulacan

The fertility festival in Bulacan is a dancing parade where childless couples join the parade, old-maids or spinster who wish to have a husband have their wishes granted while dancing in the streets and offering 13 eggs to the patron saint of Obando Santa Clara or Saint Claire. Weird beliefs that to some; their wish was granted.

20) Falles Festival, Valencia, Spain

Falles Festivals Valencia Spain (weirdomatic.com)

The people in Artisans of Valencia, spend their money making ninots (dolls) and manufacture their crafts for a long period to perfect it. Each craft is a mixture of Renaissance masterpiece and 3D animated crafts, in a sarcastic way. The figures are made, ignited to burst it into flame during the night celebration and become ashes in the morning.