20 World Wide Whacky Celebrations.
You can travel right across the
globe celebrating 20 of the whackiest festivals.
Celebrations and traditions hold a special place in a
nation. It is a time of national solidarity when the general community and
families come together and forget the day to day grind and celebrates a
holiday, for a particular purpose. It is a way of expressing the very heart of
the nation and a time for the people to express themselves.
Besides the national festivals and celebrations, many places
enjoy some whacky celebrations. Here are just 20 whacky festivals:
·
You can run with the bulls in Pamplona,
·
Or race bulls in Madura. Either contest is a
public bone crunching, horn-goring festival.
·
If you want something quieter, trip over to Alice
Springs in the dry heart of Australia.
There you will find the Todd Regatta in a riverbed that normally has no water.
The boats are bottomless and without paddles, or motors. They are usually
constructed from beer cans, which have been eagerly emptied by the boat
builders. The teams run up the riverbed with their feet sticking out of the
bottom of their boats. In 1993 the race was cancelled owing to the threat of a
once in a blue moon rain storm.
·
Coopers’s Hill in Gloucester England is the
scene of a whacky contest where the contestants somersault, chase, roll and
tumble after a wheel of cheese down a ridiculously steep hill. First aid people
must stand by as the result is numerous broken bones, sprains and bruises. No
one has ever been able to catch up with the cheese however whoever gets down
the hill first is allowed to keep the giant wheel of cheese.
·
In Greater Manchester UK
they throw black puddings
·
While the Scots are legendary in their ability
to throw large items.
·
The cheese-chasing feat is less daunting than
when horses and riders race down a 69 meter slope with a 62 degree angle, known
as Suicide Hill in Washington.
·
In the UK
and Finland
there are mobile phone throwing championships,
·
While in Wisconsin State,
USA, there is a champion
dry cow pad (manure) throwing contest.
·
If you prefer it hot, Finland
is the place for you to compete in the Sauna Bathing Championships. Every 30
seconds the heat is turned up, but the contestants must keep their naked bums
firmly on the wooden seat, while remaining seated in an upright position. The
last person left in the sauna is the winner.
·
Every August thousands of Spaniards take part in
the La Tomatina festival in Bunol. Truckloads of tomatoes are pulled in each
year and dumped in the city centre. The people throw tomatoes at each other for
the whole day, but the only rule is that the tomato must be flattened in the
hand first, before being thrown. Even elderly grandmothers have been known to
take part.
·
In Kawasaki
there is a festival where the men carry 12 foot phallus and the women two foot
versions. No one is quite sure what this festival celebrates.
·
There is a Boryeong Mud Festival on the East
Coast of Korea for fully clad contestants
·
While France
has a yearly International Contemporary Mime Festival.
·
In Vanuatu
there is the annual land dive on the tropical island
of Pentecost to celebrate the end
of the yam harvest. The virile young men of the village dive off a 30 meters
high, very rickety looking tower, using home-made vines. The aim is to let
their shoulders (or heads) brush the ground. All this in order for the next yam
harvest to be a good one. The English Queen Elizabeth witnessed the death of
one of the participants in 1976.
·
In the Rocky Mountains
there is an annual ball where daughters pledge their purity to their dads. Some
do not even permit a kiss before their wedding day and many never dance with
anyone other than their father or brothers. Tough luck on all the single guys
of the area.
·
Japan
hosts the Naked Festival. All male contestants are dressed in oversize diapers
and parade through the winter streets. Bystanders throw cold water over the
contestants, who drink copious amounts of sake in an effort to stop from
freezing.
Many people take their national holidays with them when they
emigrate. Some celebrations have become so popular, they have been adopted
outside the immigrant community, by the host country. It is sometimes difficult
to assess the origin of a celebration.
·
Easter and Christmas which originated in the Middle
East have become worldwide celebrations handed down through the
churches and adopted by commerce.
·
The Munich Beer Festival is also one such
celebration. Numerous countries now lay claim to their own beer festival
·
Halloween was Irish in its origin. Now many countries
around the world celebrate Halloween, particularly the United
States of America
Other celebrations remain more localized to a particular
community inside the host country.
·
Melbourne Cup Race Day is celebrated by
Australians, no matter what country they live in.
·
Thanksgiving is an American harvest festival.
Americans all over the world, stop to celebrate this festival.
·
While Chinese New Year is limited to the Chinese
population in a country, there are many countries around the globe where it is
celebrated.
While some say festivals express something about the people
who celebrate them, I wonder! It is important however, as a universal community
we respect without censure , how and what others choose to celebrate. Each
festival meets a particular need in the individuals of that nation and becomes
an integral part of a way of life. Maybe you can come up with some whacky
celebration of your own.
About the author
Here is an even more whacky Blue Moon Opportunity. You could
win a resort and live on a tropical island, sponsored by the author Dr Wendy
Stenberg-Tendys and her husband as CEO’s of YouMe Support Foundation. ( http://youmesupport.org). Do yourself a
favour and spend a few minutes taking a look at Win A Resort http://winaresort.com
Tags: alice springs, beer cans, black puddings, blue moon, boat builders, broken bones, degree angle, giant wheel, gloucester england, moon rain, national festivals, national solidarity, rain storm, riverbed, roll and tumble, s hill, somersault, sprains, steep hill, suicide hill