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Each city has its own party that, after years of tradition, is still being celebrated today, gaining worldwide fame.
This is the case of the carnivals of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil or those of Venice in Italy. And there are rare parties, or so they can be considered, that you may not yet know.
If we have the opportunity to experience the festivities of a town or a city, we usually take very good memories, there are parties of all kinds and tastes to be able to choose the ones that we like the most.
The truth is that there are strange celebrations in the world, that you need to know and develop your opinion.
What is convenient is to inform ourselves well, since perhaps we can take the odd surprise at the moment with some rare celebrations.
I personally like local festivals, I think it is part of the culture of the town and it is a way to meet people and traditions.
Thinking about it I have done a little research on the web about the holidays around the world and after finding some surprising, I want to show you the strangest parties on the planet.
And I want to tell you about these rare holidays that you have probably heard of or not.
That they are strange because they come out of what we know as popular parties, does not mean that they are less fun, since practically all of them have made me want to go, although there are some that I am sure would not participate, and you?
Here are the 12 weirdest festivals from around the world:
1. La Tomatina, Valencia (Spain).
It is celebrated in the municipality of Buñol on the last Wednesday of the month of August. The party consists of throwing tomatoes at each other as a pitched battle. It is certainly one of the rare celebrations in the world.
It coincides with the local festivals of the town, in which in addition to the tomatina there are many other activities, such as street paellas, dances, etc.
Approximately 150,000 tomatoes are used each year, distributed among the 20,000 participants who usually attend each year.
All the participants end up dyed red and rivers of tomato juice are formed.
In case you want to encourage yourself to participate in the party, we recommend that you wear protective eyewear, as well as squash the tomatoes before throwing them, otherwise someone could hurt themselves.
Like any party, it is designed for people to enjoy, although it is a party full of controversy for the «improper» use of food, in the face of the situation of scarcity that other cities or countries go through.
2. Day of the dead, Mexico.
Mexican holiday with Mesoamerican origin that is celebrated annually on November 1.
UNESCO has declared it Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
It is one of the strange celebrations only when we do not know it.
The holiday consists mainly of the cult of death, despite being criticized by many Catholic countries that celebrate All Saints’ Day.
Many Mexicans believe that this party allows the use of costumes without disrespecting culture or putting the party at risk in the country.
The streets are dressed in color and offerings are made to those who have left, they are usually given what was their favorite food and drink.
Pictures of the deceased and colorful flowers are placed on the outside of houses and on the streets.
Another important tradition is to place candles on the graves of the dead, thus lighting the way back home, there are people who spend the whole night in the pantheons or even hold concerts in cemeteries playing the favorite songs of the Deceased.
Humor is present at the party, skeletons are dressed in different pompous outfits as a sign of the presence of death in everything everyday.
3. Rolling Cheese Festival, Gloucester (England).
This fun and curious party is celebrated on the last Monday in May on Cooper Hill.
It is a local festival in a town called Brockworth, although it has gained international fame.
The tradition is very simple: a cheese weighing approximately 4 kilos is thrown from the top of the hill and the competitors must run after it in order to reach the cheese.
Without a doubt one of the rare parties in the world ideal for those who have a weakness for cheese.
The person who is able to reach it or who is closest to the cheese at the end, will be the winner and can take the rolling cheese as a prize.
In total up to four races are held, and due to the huge number of people participating and the speed reached by the slope of the mountain, injuries and accidents are very frequent.
It would not be the first time that a spectator is also injured due to the fact that the cheese can reach 110 km / h and, obviously, can deviate from the path.
Still, you can rest easy as there have never been any regrets to fatalities.
4. Holi (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka)
It is a festival of religious origin, that is why it is celebrated in different countries, in all those in which Hinduism is established, generally in South Asia.
Although it’s not one of the rarest weird festivities, it does draw a lot of attention.
It is known as the spring festival, festival of colors or festival of love and has gained so much fame that it has been imitated in cities in Europe and North America.
Children, young and old take to the streets with the aim of filling everything with color.
Colorful powders from washable natural plants are used. Although more and more colors are used with water that are marketed.
In addition to color, various orchestras fill the streets with music and dancing, and people offer various traditional drinks.
5. The feast of Santa Marta de Ribarteme, Galicia (Spain)
This Spanish region is characterized by its pagan past, witchcraft and supernatural belief years ago.
As we know, the traditions are maintained year after year resulting in some extravagant thing today.
Well, in the Pontevedra region we can find this peculiar festival that consists of paying tribute to Santa Marta, patron saint of resurrections, celebrating the «non-death» of people who have almost left us.
It may seem like one of the craziest parties in the world, although celebrating nondeath makes a lot of sense.
For this, a procession is carried out with coffins, but these do not go empty, but inside we find people who have almost died.
A parade is made throughout the town until reaching the cemetery and ends at the church.
Once there, the participants thank the virgin with an offering that has brought them back to life.
After the parade, the streets are filled with fireworks, music, dances, food stalls, and joy where there is no shortage of stories from the lucky ones of how they survived.
6. Monkey Festival, Thailand
In the town of Lopburi, this festival takes place every November in which the monkeys make us very envious.
Obviously, each culture treats animals differently, in some countries cats are domestic animals, in others they eat them, in others they revere cows and in which we are going to see today they organize a macro-festival for monkeys.
The party consists of filling the Prang Sam Yot temple with four tons of food and sweets for the local macaques to enjoy.
Why the macaques?
Well, because they are believed to be the descendants of the god Hanuman.
The monkeys enjoy the buffet as they please while they are accompanied by music shows and choreographies of people dressed as monkeys.
Small animals can enjoy all kinds of food: kilos and kilos of fruit, vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, etc. not counting on the amazing presentation.
We recommend that if you attend, be careful with your belongings since the monkeys have a reputation for being aware of any mistake with objects that attract their attention.
Without a doubt it is a very fun party in which the Thais put on the best finery, since they are convinced that honoring the monkeys will bring them luck all year round.
7. Kanamara Matsuri, Japón
The literal translation of this festival would be «Festival of the metal ‘male reproductive system'», held in Kawasaki on the first Sunday of April.
It is a party that pays homage to fertility and in which the male masculine member is venerated, which we can see turned into illustrations, sweets, decorations, etc. throughout the festival.
The main events take place around a local temple that was formerly a frequent place where many prostitutes came to pray for protection against transmitted diseases.
The metal member comes from a legend that said that a demon with fangs hid in the women’s vagina that castrated two men on the wedding night.
For this reason, a blacksmith created a metal reproductive apparatus, in order to break the teeth of the devil, this story has caused that today a metal member is venerated.
All the money raised at the festival goes to organizations that investigate AIDS. Every year hundreds of American and European tourists are greeted with curiosity.
8. Moose Dropping Festival, Alaska
This curious festival dates back to 1972, when some young people wanted to attract tourists to the town of Talkeetna.
Since one of the most typical animals there was elk, they thought of doing something related to them, and they could not think of anything other than to use their poop to invent games.
As you can see, each one had to find the moose poop, varnish them and put a number on them. Later competitions were made throwing the poop to obtain points.
For 37 years the festival served as a fundraiser in the town. Unfortunately, the party has not been celebrated since 2009 because it became too large, with up to 5,000 people attending and, after several incidents, the people voted to suspend the party.
9. Frog Festival, Louisiana (USA)
A great event that fills the streets of Valley City with parties during days in August.
Amusement parks, dances, music, beauty prizes and fun contests fill the party’s agenda.
Of course, the indisputable protagonists are the frogs, since they also have a costume contest and a mythical jumping contest in which more than 600 people, of all ages, participate with their frog to see which one goes the furthest by jumping.
You do not need to own a frog, there for 5 dollars they rent it to you for the competition.
The rules are very clear, they cannot be touched, but they can hit the ground or shout to make them jump as far as possible.
Last year the winner was a girl just one year old, what face will she have put to scare the frog away like that?
10. Garlic Festival, California (USA)
Although it is not mandatory, it is recommended that you like garlic, as this is one of the largest food festivals in the world and garlic its main protagonist.
Starting on July 24, hundreds of chefs congregate on the streets of California making dishes in large quantities while other activities take place.
Adults and children can enjoy whole days of partying with music, dancing, and without a doubt the best drink and the best food.
There is no shortage of cooking contests, gourmet tastings, as well as different entertainment spaces.
This festival is born from the idea of sharing the best garlic recipes with visitors, as well as exchanging opinions and learning from other cultures.
11. «Carry the Wife» Championship, Finland
Singular championship that has adopted international fame and is celebrated on the first Saturday of July at the festivities in Sonkajarvi, Finland.
The competition is simple: men must carry their wives through an entire obstacle course in the shortest possible time.
Although the race makes mention of the marital status of the participants, in reality the woman can be either his wife or a neighbor, as long as he is over 17 years old.
Although it was formalized in 1992 in Finland, many countries have replicated it, including New Zealand, Estonia or even the United States.
The minimum weight of the woman must be 49 kilograms and in case of weighing less, the runner will be given a backpack with additional weight to match it.
Although the fastest couple wins, there are some special prizes in other categories such as the best costume.
In turn there is a very important and special rule: All participants must know how to have fun and that must be the main purpose.
12. Mooning of The Armtrak, California.
The second Saturday of the month of July you can go to Laguna Niguel, in California, to lower your pants or pull up your skirt and show your butt to the passing trains and, of course, to all the passengers who go inside them.
Curiously, it is a party not organized, nor sponsored by any bar or company, word of mouth has been making tradition and has turned this party into a popular act.
There is no more mystery than showing your nakedness on the train tracks, as people gather with food and drinks and spend the day laughing.
Although there are no established rules, it is recommended that it stay as a party for adults, you have to understand that it is a day to have fun in which you have to accept exhibitionism without taking offense.
The party is getting bigger and more people come, and many times the trains slow down when they pass through this area, so the show is more enjoyable.