When we travel to different places, we learn about their culture and lifestyle; festivals are an essential part of understanding different cultures and also give us a glimpse into the history of our destinations. From Holi in India to the Tomatina Festival in Spain, we all have a unique way to celebrate. So we bring to you some most astonishing festivals that will leave you shocked and are sure to end up on your travel itinerary for your next trip.
Guisachan Gathering – Golden Retriever Festival In Scotland
This festival is every dog lover’s dream. A whole festival full of golden retrievers; truly the happiest place on Earth. This festival is held at the ancestral home of the breed and was first conducted in 2006 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the organization. Is there anything better than drawing in a sea of dogs? Make sure to attend this festival next time you visit Scotland.
Salto del Colacho – Baby Jumping Festival
As if Spain wasn’t famous enough for its Tomato Festival, here’s another festival that is just wild. Once a year, in mid-June, devils run wild in the Spanish village of Castrillo de Murcia. Started sound the 1600s, this festival is celebrated to cleanse the new-borns of their original sin. The child is then showered with rose petals and given back to the parents. It used to only consist of children from the village, but now people all around the world take part in it.
Air Guitar World Championship – Oulu, Finland
This is probably the weirdest thing you have ever read, but you read it right, there is an Air Guitar World Championship! The purpose of the Air Guitar World Championships is to promote world peace and create a platform where everyone is equal. People from all around the world take part in it, and it is considered a truly mind-blowing experience. So if Air Guitar is your thing, try out for this competition.
Monkey Buffet Festival – Lopburi, Thailand
Well, we did have dogs on the list. Why not another animal? The Monkey Buffet Festival is held as a “thank you” from locals to the monkeys for attracting tourists to their city. In the week leading up to the festival, locals pass out “invitations” to the monkeys with cashews attached to them as a small incentive and the festival begins with the humans dressed as monkeys calling them out, and then it’s feast time! Make sure to feed a furry friend on your next trip to Thailand.
Cheung Chau Bun Festival – Cheung Chau, Hong Kong
It was about time buns were recognized for their amazing properties. The Cheung Chau Bun Festival originated during the plaque which had devastated the people and they offered different things to the gods in return for the restoration of the good times. In this festival, all the young men who had taken part in the festival would climb 60-foot bamboo towers, covered in buns, and try to collect as many of them as possible. The higher the buns, the more points are scored. Who hasn’t dreamed of climbing a tower of buns?
Underwater Music Festival – Looe Key Reef, Florida, USA
Perfect place to play music, within the fishes and beautiful plants under the glowing light of water. Who wouldn’t enjoy it? Bill Becker, founder, coordinator, and music director started the underwater music concerts to raise awareness for coral preservation. Becker selects all the ocean-themed songs, such as the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and “Octopus Garden,” and even insists that the fish like to dance to Jimmy Buffett’s “Fins.” The audience enjoys the tunes from underwater as well; since sound travels 4.3 times faster in water than in air, the sonic experience has been described as particularly ethereal.
Bolas de Fuego–Hurling The Fireballs, Nejapa, El Salvador
We’ve thrown colors, water, and even tomatoes. Now it’s time for fire! Every year on Aug 31, the residents of Nejapa, El Salvador throw flaming kerosene-soaked balls at each other in the streets surrounded by thousands of onlookers. The event is called Bolas de Fuego and it started almost 100 years ago as a religious commemoration of a 1658 volcanic eruption.
Well, you could say this festival is the new ‘hot’ thing in town.
Cheese Rolling Festival – Gloucester, England
I know you might think, why would they just roll cheese down the hill? Well, that’s not all this festival is about. The cheese is rolled down the hill with a headstart, and following the cheese are different participants that roll down the hill to catch the cheese. Just a bunch of people rolling down the hill. It reminds us of the nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill. Everyone comes tumbling down after the cheese, and the winner is decided by catching the cheese.
Boryeong Mud Festival – South Korea
For two weeks every July, thousands flock from all around the world to celebrate this festival with mudslides and mud fights and so much more mud. When it was first established in 1999, the festival was intended to promote cosmetics made from the region’s mud, however, it soon turned into the big party it is today. Various areas, some free, some requiring admission fees are equipped with mud pits, mud fountains, mud pools, mud massage zones, and even a mud prison, all of which are guaranteed to have you looking like a mud monster by the day’s end.
Naki Sumo – Tokyo, Japan
We have all seen big scary sumo wrestlers fighting and competing, but now imagine those same sumo wrestlers carrying a tiny baby. Naki Sumo, a baby crying contest which has turned into a huge festival where two sumo wrestlers carry two babies and the baby to cry first loss. What happens if they cry at the same time? The baby crying the loudest loss. So if you have a silent baby, this is the place to show it off.
