Want to have the most fun year of your life? If you’ve got the time, the money, and a spirit of adventure, we’ve found 12 of the world’s most bizarre festivals, gatherings, and sporting events for you to attend.
JANUARY: Camel Wrestling Championship, Turkey
Description: You’re standing among a crowd of thousands of cheering fans. The main event begins when two elaborately saddled bull camels are walked to the center of a dirt field. Then, to get them in the mood, a lavishly decorated female is paraded in front of them. The animals’ nostrils flare, their saliva froths, and the little bells on their humps jingle as they trip, push, and sit on each other in a battle for dominance. A winner is declared when one of the animals falls down or runs away. But more often than not, the camels just stand there. Or they both run away. Or their handlers become so worried that their prized animal will get injured that they pull it from the competition.
History: This pastime has been a tradition throughout Turkey for centuries, but is now limited mostly to the region bordering the Aegean Sea. The annual championship takes place in Selçuk every winter during camel mating season.
Don’t miss: The owners trash-talking each other during the pre-fight camel parades through the city. But watch out for saliva and urine—anyone within 10 feet of a camel is at risk of getting hit with one of these projectiles.
FEBRUARY: Ivrea Carnevale, Italy
Description: Your next stop is the largest food fight in Italy, held annually in the town of Ivrea a few days before Lent. You and about 10,000 other “rebels” are divided into nine “combat teams.” Then you run through the streets throwing oranges at each other and at hundreds of “aristocrats,” who defend themselves from chariots and balconies. By the end of the battle, the peels and pulp blanket the town’s streets in a foot-deep layer of orange goop.
The small town of Las Nieves, Spain, is home to the annual Fiesta of Near Death Experiences.
History: According to legend, a 12th-century maiden named Violetta fought back against the tyrannical ruler Count Ranieri when he tried to clain the “right” of the local duke to sleep with every new bride on her wedding night. In the struggle, Violetta decapitated him. Upon hearing the news that the hated tyrant was dead, the townspeople stormed the castle and threw rocks at the guards. Afterward, an event was held annually to reenact the rebellion—some participants played the castle guards, others played the rebels, and they all ran around and threw beans at each other. In the 19th century, imported oranges became the preferred weapons.
Don’t miss: Not only is participation free, so is the food. Locals serve regional specialties such as fagioli grassi (beans boiled with sausages and pork rinds), cod with polenta, pastries, and Italian wines.
MARCH: Hokitika Wildfoods Festival, New Zealand
Description: Ever eaten fried lamb testicles? You and about 15,000 other tourists can sample that and other “gourmet” foods at this feast provided by Hokitika’s “Coasters” (people who live on the thinly populated west coast of New Zealand’s South Island). The menu is different every year; past feasts have featured grasshopper bruschetta, smoked eel, “huhu grubs” served on toothpicks, and, for dessert, wasp larvae ice cream followed by mealworm Jell-O shots. What will they serve next year? It could be just about anything.
History: During New Zealand’s 1860s gold rush, the Coasters learned to make do with whatever protein-rich foods they could find. In 1990, to celebrate the 125th birthday of the town of Hokitika, a winemaker named Claire Bryant came up with the idea of a festival that honors the diverse local fare.
Don’t miss: The gorgeous sunsets, live music…and mimes.
APRIL: Beltane Fire Festival, Scotland
Description: Every April 30, also known as the Eve of May, thousands of people gather near Calton Hill above Edinburgh and wait for the sun to go down. As it does, a fire is lit that will provide the spark for the dozens of ritualistic fires to follow. Then there’s a procession—an actor dressed as the “May Queen” emerges from the ground, and hundreds of performers march together as thousands of drums beat in unison. The May Queen is brought to her King, the “Green Man.” As darkness falls, more players perform dramatic reenactments of the lives of ancient gods and goddesses. It all culminates with a giant bonfire, and everyone dances the night away.
The transgender mayor of Silverton, Oregon, was chastised in 2009 for wearing a miniskirt to a youth-group event.
History: Although this particular festival—the largest of its kind in the world—is only about 30 years old, the Gaelic festival of “Beltane” dates back thousands of years, as farmers celebrated the end of winter by lighting bonfires to honor the fertility of the land. In the late 1980s, a group of musicians formed the Beltane Fire Society, a nonprofit organization that puts the festival on every year.
Don’t miss: A chance to participate as one of the performers. Contact the Society a few months ahead of time to join in.
MAY: Mike the Headless Chicken Days, Colorado
Description: The town of Fruita celebrates its most famous historical figure, Mike the Headless Chicken, with an annual weekend of fun and chicken. First there’s a lawnmower race, followed by fried chicken. Then a classic car show, followed by chicken tenders. There’s also a chicken dance, followed by more chicken.
History: As longtime Bathroom Reader fans may know, Mike the Chicken’s neck went under farmer Lloyd Olsen’s axe in 1945. Miraculously, the rooster lived for 18 months after his head was chopped off (he still had a brain stem, and his keepers fed him by dropping liquefied food down his neck). Mike became famous and toured the U.S. and abroad as a star attraction. “Mike’s will to live remains an inspiration,” it says on his official Web site. “It’s a great comfort to know you can live a normal life, even after you’ve lost your mind.” Mike died in 1947.
Don’t miss: The “Run Like a Headless Chicken 5K Race.”
JUNE: Toe Wrestling Championships, England
Description: Each June, competitors assemble in Staffordshire to lock big toes and try to force their opponent’s foot off of a custom-made podium known as a “toesrack.” If you think you can go toe-to-toe with one of the sport’s superstars, such as Alan “Nasty” Nash or Paul “Tominator” Beech, it’s free to join the competition. All you need are clean feet and strong ankles.
History: Toe wrestling was invented in the 1970s by a group of bored pubbers at Ye Olde Royal Oak Inn in Wetton, Derbyshire. Today it’s an internationally recognized sport, attracting big-name sponsors such as Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Don’t miss: Also in June and just a few hours’ drive away is the annual Summer Solstice Festival at Stonehenge, a celebration that’s much larger and, in many ways, weirder—but features little, if any, toe wrestling.
JULY: Boryeong Mud Festival, South Korea
Description: At this festival, you can frolic in the mud with more than 1.5 million revelers in the coastal city of Boryeong. The six-day celebration attracts as many foreigners as locals, making it not only the largest festival in Korea, but also one of the biggest in the world. Enter the Mud King contest, enjoy a mud massage, ride on a mud slide into a giant tub of mud, and when you’re done, take a mud shower.
History: This festival was founded in 1998 to take advantage of the town’s unusually silty soil. Because it isn’t suitable for agriculture, marketing-savvy civic leaders concocted a plan to push the mud’s beauty benefits. With high concentrations of germanium and other minerals, Boryeong mud is said to be great for the skin and hair.
Don’t miss: The opportunity to take some of Boryeong home with you in the form of mud soap, mudpacks, and mud cosmetics for sale at the festival.
AUGUST: Burning Man, Nevada
Description: Each year during the week before Labor Day, nearly 50,000 people gather in the Black Rock Desert, a flat tract of fine sand 80 miles north of Reno. But don’t expect to be able to buy supplies there; the only things for sale at Burning Man are coffee and bags of ice, both available at what’s known as “Center Camp.” Everything else—food, water, fuel, tents—you have to bring yourself. You’ll also need some very sturdy tent poles to keep your homestead secure during one of the inevitable dust storms and wind gusts that often blow over 50 mph. And during the day, the temperature regularly tops 100°F; at night, it can drop down to the 30s. Why put yourself through all of that? To see mechanical fire-breathing dragons lurch by on hydraulic legs, or take a ride on a life-size clipper ship sailing over the sand, or just get to know the thousands of artists, performers, and ordinary people who make Burning Man an annual pilgrimage. Plus there are 24-hour dance parties, live music from all over the world, a Thunderdome (just like the one from Mad Max), and the ceremonial burning of the 40-foot-tall Man on Saturday night.
Montana hosts six different “Testicle Festivals” each year. Participants dine on bull testicles.
History: In 1986 two friends from San Francisco, Larry Harvey and Jerry James, went to a nearby beach and built an 8-foot-tall wooden man—and a wooden dog—and burned them. Inspired by the crowd that had gathered to watch their “spontaneous act of radical self-expression,” they did it again the following year. More people came. The next year, even more people came. Finally, it got too big for the beach. After a long search, in 1991 the organizers moved the event to the Black Rock Desert.
Don’t miss: The chance to take part in Burning Man’s “gifting society.” Bring extra trinkets and supplies to give away to other attendees.
SEPTEMBER: Sputnikfest, Wisconsin
Description: Enjoy the fried cheese, cold beer, and friendly people dressed as big-eyed aliens, and see local celebrities get soaked in the “Splashdown” dunk tank.
History: Around 5:30 in the morning on September 5, 1962, hundreds of early risers in northern Wisonsin reported a spectacular sight: dozens of bright, burning objects streaking throught the clear dawn sky. Around the same time, two patrolmen in the town of Manitowoc noticed a strange object in the middle of a street: a 20-pound chunk of metal that had embedded itself in the pavement. They went to remove it—but it was too hot to touch. It turned out to be a piece of Sputnik IV, a Russian satellite that had gone off course shortly after it was launched two years earlier, and had finally disintegrated in the skies over Wisconsin. In 2008 the town decided to turn the odd incident into a reason for a celebration—and Sputnikfest was born.
Don’t miss: The tinfoil-suit fashion show, the “Miss Space Debris” beauty contest, and for the kids, the Alien Autopsy Room.
OCTOBER: Phuket Vegetarian Festival, Thailand
Description: Squeamish? Then stay far, far away from this festival. Every autumn, Chinese and Thai religious devotees called Mah Song parade through Phuket’s streets in trance-like states, their bodies pierced with, among other things, bicycle wheels, saw blades, and metal skewers of varying sizes—all protruding into and out of their arms, legs, noses, lips, ears, and eyebrows. There’s also hot-coal firewalking and a ladder made of sharpened blades. Why? The Mah Song believe that those who are truly devoted feel little, if any, pain, and aren’t left with scars. You don’t have to participate in the self-mutilation, but like the Mah Song, you’re asked to adhere to a vegetarian diet all week. Luckily, that’s not hard because the festival’s food is excellent.
World’s youngest lion tamer: 8-year-old Jorge Elich, of the Circus Paris. He works unassisted.
History: In the 1820s, when Phuket tin miners and their families were suffering from a malaria epidemic, a traveling opera company from China came to the area. The singers also caught malaria, but for 10 days, they ate nothing but vegetables and performed religious ceremonies. To the surprise of the miners, the performers recovered from the illness much more quickly than the locals did. The opera singers taught the rituals to the townspeople, and within a year the malaria epidemic had ceased. The festival keeps the tradition alive today, though it’s unclear how the self-mutilation became part of the festivities.
Don’t miss: The ear-plug vendors. In addition to being one of the world’s most unusual festivals, it’s also one of the loudest. Drums and firecrackers are sounded all week long to scare away evil spirits.
NOVEMBER: The Quiet Festival, New Jersey
Description: One of the activities at this low-key festival in Ocean City: hearing a pin drop. You can also try your hand at a group whispering session, enter a yawn-off, and take as many naps as you like. It’s one of the smallest and most obscure festivals in the world (only a few dozen people participated in 2009), and also offers silent movies, a sign-language choir, and mimes.
History: “I’ve been tired for about 40 years now,” says Mark Soifer, 72, who organized the first Quiet Festival for stressed-out people in 1989. “I feel uniquely qualified to represent the millions of tired folks in this nation and the world.” By day, Soifer works as Ocean City’s publicist, but he’s also the president of the National Association of Tired People (NAP), which sponsors the event.
Don’t miss: The “windchime symphony.”
Oxford scientists have discovered a way to implant artificial memories in the brains of fruitflies.
DECEMBER: Night of the Radishes, Mexico
Description: Each December 23rd, this pre-Christmas celebration features the most elaborate radish sculptures in the world. Skilled artisans gather in Oaxaca City for La Noche de Rábanos to show off their pink-and-white sculptures of saints, Nativity scenes, conquistadors, and animals. And these are no ordinary radishes, but giant ones, some measuring 1½ feet long and weighing seven pounds. The festival lasts only one night because after that, the artwork starts to rot.
History: Spanish monks brought radishes to Mexico in the 16th century and encouraged the locals to grow them—and also to carve them. The elaborate veggie sculptures have been a tradition ever since. The Night of the Radishes officially began in 1897, thanks to Oaxaca’s mayor, Francisco Vasconcelos Flores, who wanted to preserve this unique cultural heritage (and sell more radishes to tourists).
Don’t miss: After the judging has ended and a champion radishartist has been named, fireworks light up the sky.
WELCOME HOME!
Congratulations! Now that you’ve dodged camel spit in Turkey, splattered your friends with oranges in Italy, devoured fried lamb testicles in New Zealand, danced around the Maypole in Scotland, run around like a chicken with your head cut off in Colorado, wrestled toe to toe in England, frolicked in the mud in South Korea, sailed on a ship through the Nevada desert, performed an alien autopsy in Wisconsin, traversed hot coals in Thailand, made windchime music in New Jersey, and sculpted a radish saint in Mexico, you can take a month or two off.
Or…you could catch a quick flight to Russia and participate in a truly surreal New Year’s party: At Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake, a hole is cut into the ice and divers haul the New Year Tree more than 100 feet below the surface. After you get your picture taken with Russian folk heroes Father Frost and the Ice Maiden, you plunge into the depths where you’ll celebrate the night SCUBA-dancing among the sparkling lights of the New Year Tree.
Then you can dry off, warm up, fly home…and take that well-deserved sabbatical.
Michael Jackson & Raquel Welch had something in common: Both reportedly bathed in bottled water.