15 of the brightest and most unusual festivals from around the world and for every taste

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

There are amazing festivals all over the world that bring together people with common passions and interests. Often they are just crazy for most people from other countries, but it is indisputable that there is a festival for every taste.

1. Pirate week

Every November, the Cayman Islands hosts the Pirate Week festival. Pirate-themed lovers from all over the world flock to this fun event that lasts for eleven days. Needless to say, a prerequisite is the presence of a pirate costume.

2. Walpurgis night

Walpurgis Night (the night of the witches) is an ancient holiday celebrating the arrival of spring and warding off evil spirits. Although there are many variations of the festival, it is usually celebrated with dancing around bonfires on April 30 or May 1 throughout Central and Northern Europe. Like Halloween, Walpurgis Night evolved from ancient pagan customs.

3. Festival of the Giants

For almost five centuries, a festival has been held in northern France, during which giant stuffed people are carried through the streets.

4. Comic-Con International

Some consider Comic-Con to be a veritable gathering of geeks, but true fans know that this is four days of fun where you can meet the heroes of the Marvel comics and feel like a part of the fantasy world.

5. Holi

In India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, during the last lunar cycle of winter (usually in late February - early March), one of the brightest and most colorful festivals on the planet, Holi, takes place. During it, crowds of celebrating people throw colored powder at each other and spray everyone around with paint.

6. Testicle Festival

Every year in Clinton, Montana, locals gather for a festival of … eggs. During it, several competitions are held, the main of which is considered to be eating fried bovine testes at speed.

7. Carrying wives for speed

For those who think a petite wife is perfect to win this ridiculous competition, there is bad news. The winner receives a prize in the form of beer, the weight of which is equal to the weight of his wife.

8. Burning man

It's not even a festival, but a way of life. Every year, all creative personalities come to the Nevada desert, as well as people who want creative self-realization. The organizers themselves advertise the festival as an experiment in creating a community of radical self-expression.

9. Underwater Music Festival

An underwater music festival is held every year in the Florida Keys. The musicians dress up as mermaids and mermaids, put on scuba gear, pick up instruments and dive under the water. The purpose of the festival is to draw public attention to the problem of preserving the only living coral reef in the United States.

10. Gerewol - male beauty contest in Niger

Wodabe men put on makeup and dress up in their best outfits during a beauty pageant known as Gerewol. During this unusual beauty contest, women choose their husbands, and often not the first.

11. Battle of the oranges

In Spain, the famous La Tomatina tomato battle is held every year, but this is nothing compared to the Italian battle of oranges. The origins of this festival are unclear, but the fact is that this festival attracts thousands of people who are not afraid to get an orange right in the forehead.

12. Kazantip

According to local residents, the Republic of Kazantip (also known simply as "Z") is everything that people who love the sun, electronic and club music, freedom and sexuality can only dream of. During the festival, its territory has its own constitution, religion and rules.

13. Roswell UFO Festival

All ufologists and just lovers of UFOs every year come to Roswell, New Mexico, where an alien ship allegedly crashed in 1947.

14. Cannabis cup

The festival was founded in 1987 by Stephen Hager, an American writer who campaigned for the legalization of marijuana. Since then, neo-hippies from all over the world have come to the event, during which anyone can use marijuana in any way they want, and not just smoke.

15. Festival of those on the verge of death

Mexico is famous for its Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) - a holiday dedicated to the memory of the dead. In Spain, there is the Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme festival, which is attended by thousands of people who were close to death. For them, this holiday is a way of honoring Saint Martha, the patroness of the resurrected. During the festival, people lie down in their own coffin, and friends carry them from the church of Las Nieves to the nearest cemetery.

This list could be supplemented by the grandiose festival "Burning Man" - a holiday where everyone expresses themselves as best they can. It takes place in the US state of Nevada.