The strangest festivals and celebrations held around the world
When you hear the word celebration or festival, it is likely that what comes to mind is the form of local celebrations in your country or region, or perhaps the form of famous festivals on a global scale, but just as there are celebrations and festivals that are usual, or have at least a usual character, there are also, on the other hand, many strange festivals and celebrations that make any A stranger looks at her in amazement.
These festivals and celebrations will not be strange in the places where they are held, but cultural differences around the world make what is usual in one place very strange in another, and here in this article we will talk about some of the strangest festivals and celebrations that are held in various places around the world:
Day of silence
On the Indonesian island of Bali, most of the population embraces Hinduism, which means that the Hindu New Year is a very important celebration for them, but unlike other places, the celebration in Bali includes many strange rituals, perhaps the most prominent of which is the fact that this day is silent, as it is forbidden to use electricity, light a fire, drive a car, or Work or pleasure In general, this day seems like the Sabbath for highly religious Jews, where almost everything is forbidden.
In fact, compliance with these matters is so important that some neighborhoods include patrols that check people’s compliance with the order. During the day of the celebration, the tradition of Omed-omedan takes place, where single young men and girls between the ages of 17 and 30 line up in two rows facing each other and then move towards each other, where the young men kiss the girls. .
Celebrating the Day of Silence in Bali, Indonesia
Battle of the tomatoes
Every year, approximately 20,000 residents of the Spanish city of Buñol (in the province of Valencia) take to the streets and begin throwing tomatoes at each other in a battle that seems very entertaining. The origin of this annual festival goes back to a food fight that began accidentally more than 7 decades ago, but it It quickly turned into an organized annual festival that today includes approximately 150 tons of tomatoes that participants throw at each other.
Battle of the tomatoes
Iron Rod Festival
In this context, we do not mean the word penis in its original meaning, but rather specifically in the sense of the male penis, as an annual celebration is held on the first Sunday of April in the Japanese city of Kawasaki. Unlike most celebrations in the world, this celebration includes large statues of male penises and a lot of sweets and products. Which is made or designed in the shape of a penis to commemorate a Japanese folklore story and to celebrate the status of an important religious shrine in the city.
According to legend, a demon with sharp teeth fell in love with a Japanese girl and hid in her vagina. On her first wedding day, he bit off her husband’s penis and cut it off. He repeated the same thing when she got married a second time. After that, the girl sought the help of a nearby blacksmith who made an iron penis for her, as the demon’s teeth were shattered when he tried to bite it, and thus This iron rod received a shrine dedicated to it It has become the focus of an annual celebration that attracts many people.
Iron Rod Festival
Devil's Leap Festival, jumping over children
Although it does not receive media coverage, this festival is really very interesting. It is a traditional Spanish celebration dating back to the seventeenth century and is usually held in the spring in conjunction with one of the Catholic holidays. As is clear from the title, the most important part of the festival’s events is the performance of men dressed in costumes. Red and yellow jumpers (representing Satan) jump over groups of newborn babies, according to local legends in the towns holding the celebration. These jumps are supposed to rid the babies of original sin (a very central part of the Catholic faith) and also protect them from evils later in life. their lives. In any case, regardless of how traditional the celebration is, the idea of adult men jumping over infants remains very dangerous, as a small mistake or stumble could lead to the immediate death of one of the children.
Devil's Leap Festival, jumping over children
Nudity festival
Every year on the third Saturday of February, dozens of celebrations are held in various regions of Japan with almost completely naked men wearing traditional underwear and in some cases completely naked.
The largest of these celebrations takes place in the Japanese city of Okayama, where he grew up, and nearly 9,000 semi-naked men participate in it. Participants dance and wrestle to reach an icon of luck that one of the priests throws among them. Participants believe that the person who receives the icon and places it in a wooden box filled with rice is guaranteed a full year of happiness and good luck.
Nudity festival
Beltane Fire Festival
Historically, this annual celebration goes back to the ancient pagan tribes that inhabited Ireland, Scotland, and some other regions, where the festival was held to celebrate the arrival of summer, and its date was often at the end of April or the beginning of May, although the celebration had largely disappeared over the centuries. The past, especially with its pagan roots, has begun to return recently with the Irish and Scottish nationalist movements.
The rituals of the festival include both men and women stripping off all their clothes except the bottom of their underwear. Then they paint their bodies with bright red dye, after which torches made of wood are lit, and camp fires are lit and danced around to celebrate the coming of summer.
Beltane Fire Festival
Day of the Dead
This annual celebration began as a pagan tradition by the indigenous people of Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards to the region, where it was held in the summer at that time, but it began to gradually delay until it became limited to one of the days between October 31 and November 2. As the name suggests, this celebration is dedicated to remembering relatives. The deceased, where the living visit their dead in the graves and bring with them the dead’s favorite foods and drinks, and also build altars to offer sacrifices. La partie la plus célèbre de la célébration a lieu après la visite des tombes, où de nombreuses personnes se déguisent en squelettes décorés de fleurs et de couleurs variées et se promènent dans les rues au milieu d'apparitions festives. Bien que le festival ne soit généralement pas connu à l'échelle mondiale, il s'agit d'un festival officiel. fête au Mexique et est célébrée dans presque tous les États du pays.
Fête du Jour des Morts
Fête des Singes
Dans la plupart des endroits habités par les singes, ces animaux souffrent grandement de l'expansion humaine continue et de la destruction de leurs habitats d'origine. Bien que ce soit le cas dans la ville thaïlandaise de Labori, les singes se sont habitués à la vie citadine et aux déplacements entre bâtiments et arbres, et ils sont également relativement gâtés par les résidents locaux qui évitent de leur nuire. They hold a grand banquet every year in her honor with about 4.5 tons of fruits, vegetables, and sweets.
According to local legend, the celebration and banquet are in gratitude to a brave monkey who saved a bride from an evil ten-headed demon. Regardless of the reason, the outcome is positive in the end, allowing our relatives on the evolutionary tree to enjoy an abundance of food at least once a year.
Monkey Festival
Thai New Year celebration
Like many countries around the world, Thailand has its own local calendar that is not compatible with the Gregorian calendar, which has become the dominant global calendar today. Every year, it celebrates The Thais celebrate the New Year in a special way that extends between April 13 and 15, as celebrants spray each other with water, and the matter develops into water battles in major cities, as Thais believe that doing this ritual washes away negativity, bad luck, and the sins of the past year.
For a large part of the Christian world around the world, Christmas on December 25 holds great sanctity and is an important family occasion in which conflicts and disagreements are abandoned and resolved (at least in theory), but in the Chimpevilcas region in Peru, disputes are resolved in a different way on Christmas Day. In addition to dancing and traditional Christmas celebrations, men engage in individual battles against each other and fight in front of an audience. The main purpose of fighting here is to resolve old disputes and settle disputes, but in many cases it is for entertainment purposes or as an attempt by the combatants to prove their manhood and physical strength.
Thai New Year celebration
Hindu pilgrimage
Unlike most types of pilgrimage, the Kumbh Mela Hindu pilgrimage is not annual, nor does it have a permanent location. Rather, it is usually held at intervals of time, usually 3 years, and in one of four sacred places for Hindus, where millions of Hindus gather during the celebration, strip off their clothes, and bathe on the banks of the Hindu Kumbh Mela. One of the four rivers that pass through the holy sites. Although many people do not know about this Hajj at all, it is the largest human gathering on the surface of the Earth, with numbers usually exceeding 70 million pilgrims. In some cases, such as the 2013 Hajj, estimates indicate the arrival of more than 120 million pilgrims. What is interesting perhaps is that the rituals of this Hajj continue until... Now, despite the fact that the rivers in which pilgrims bathe are highly polluted, bathing in them often leads to diseases and health problems.
Hindu pilgrimage
Holy Week in Spain
The Holy Week Festival, which is held annually in Spanish cities and towns during the last week of fasting, that is, the week before Easter. The festival does not include very strange activities other than its special costume, which usually consists of loose clothes and a pointed hood in various colors. But sometimes it is white, which reminds of the KKK group, which is famous for this uniform.
Holy Week in Spain
Fireballs celebration
At the end of August every year, the residents of Negaba in El Salvador celebrate a festival that takes place in the streets and includes throwing balls burning with flames at each other. Although this type of behavior is extremely dangerous and irresponsible, it has been held continuously for more than a century. From time immemorial, its origin goes back to two different stories: the first talks about the volcano that exploded in 1658 and led to the village residents fleeing their former home after it spewed balls of flame, while the other story talks about Saint Geronimo fighting Satan with balls of flame.
Fireballs celebration
Yadnya Kasada Festival
Every year, farmers east of the island of Java head towards Mount Bromo to offer sacrifices there. This mountain is an active volcano and is very steep, but the farmers climb it every year, carrying with them crops, livestock, and other possessions. Then the sacrificers throw their possessions into the crater of the active volcano in the hope that it will bring Their sacrifice is a happy, lucky and epidemic-free year. This festival is believed to have started nearly 5 centuries ago and has been continuing since that time until now.
Yadnya Kasada Festival
Busójárás March
If you think you hate winter, you probably don't hate it as much as the residents of Hungary in Central Europe. Every year the residents of the town of Mohacs celebrate a special festival at the end of winter. They wear traditional masks and thick wool coats and dance to the tunes of folk music. At the end of the festival, an empty coffin is burned on top of a pile of firewood as an embodiment of the end of winter and its “death.”
Celebration of the Bozo March
Shrovetide week Maslenitsa
As is the case with the town of Mohacs, many residents of Eastern Europe seem to hate winter and hold an annual celebration when its end approaches. In the week preceding Great Lent, many residents of Eastern European Slavic villages celebrate by eating sweets and holding carnivals that include games for children in addition to snowball fights and fist fights. In an organized manner On the last day of the festival, participants usually pray for forgiveness and burn a doll in the shape of a woman called “Maslenitsa,” which represents winter according to local beliefs.
Shrovetide week Maslenitsa
Days of the Frozen Dead Man
Unlike most of the other festivals on the list, this festival did not come for traditional or cultural reasons. Rather, it began as a celebration to preserve the frozen remains of a man named Bredo Mortsol, who lived in the town of Nederland in the American state of Colorado. When he died, his body was frozen to preserve it, but the plan soon came together. She faced problems in terms of financing, and in an attempt to provide a financial source to keep this man frozen, an annual celebration was started in the town to attract tourists and keep the freeze going.
Of course, the festival that attempts to keep a dead man frozen is not ordinary. It includes many activities such as music and dancing. It also includes puppets in the form of the frozen man and even a race in small carts made of shrouds. Years after the beginning of the festival, it seems that things are still good and the frozen dead man is still frozen. .
Frozen Dead Man's Celebration
Cheung Chau Bread Festival
Like many other Chinese regions, the famous city of Hong Kong has its share of legends and celebrations related to it. Every year, an annual festival is held in April or May, with statues of traditional Chinese gods being carried and walked around the streets.
The origin of the festival goes back to a famine that struck the island in the 18th century The legend tells that the famine continued until the residents carried statues of their gods and walked around with them in the streets, praying for good luck.
Currently, the festival includes carrying statues of gods and even wearing costumes similar to them, but perhaps the most famous part of it is the baking competition, where a bamboo tower is erected and covered on all sides with loaves of bread, and then young men climb it carrying large bags, and when they reach the top, they begin filling their bags with bread. Until it is full and they race again to reach the ground.
Cheung Chau Bread Festival
Radish night
In December of every year, the Mexican city of Oaxaca holds an event known as Radish Night, where many amateur and professional contestants alike gather and compete in carving and engraving radishes to make small masterpieces out of them. Although the idea seems very funny, the results are very special, and the enthusiasm is great. Shadeed, despite the relatively small prize (about $650).
According to what is known, this event originally began as a way to attract customers to the annual market held in the city as Christmas approached, but with time the event began to take on its own identity and became an independent event held primarily for entertainment and competition.
Radish night
Source: websites