12 Most Unusual And Weird Festivals In The World

We all know about these important festivals from different religions across the country and have been celebrating them for a long time now, but did you know that there are a number of unique festivals in the world?

You will be surprised to know these festivals exist, and you will desperately want to attend them because they are something you have never imagined or seen in life. 

Let me tell you about the most unusual festivals in the world and sweep your feet off the ground.

1. Hair Freezing Contest, Canada

This unique festival is hosted every year and is known as the International Freezing Contest and is probably one of the most exciting things you can do while in Canada. 

The participants are supposed to dip their hair in a hot spring, and for best results, the outside temperature should be around -20℃. Keep your ears warm by dipping them into the hot water every now and then, and let the cold breeze freeze your hair. 

You have to be a little patient, and within some time, you will notice that your wet hair has frozen like a tree branch in frigid winters. Once the participants are done, they will ring the bell by the pool, and the staff will click their pictures. There are categories under which one will be awarded. How crazy is that? 

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2. Night of Radishes, Mexico

The festival is celebrated on December 23 every year, and the participants of the contest present exquisite carvings of radishes every year, making the area a blend of mauvish crimson and white, which is a treat to the eyes. 

3. La Rioja: The Battle Of Wine, Spain

It seems that Spain has a thing for throwing food and beverages at each other and seems to enjoy it. Taking frivolity to another level, Spain hosts the most unique festivals around the world where people dress up in white clothes and tie a red handkerchief around their necks and get ready to get messy and wet. 

Wine is thrown on each other from containers, buckets, mugs, and water pistols. So maybe that’s how they celebrate their Holi. 

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4. Toe Wrestling Championship, United Kingdom

Ashbourne in the UK, taking it very seriously, came up with the wrestling. This quirky festival attracts people from all over the city to watch people take the one-on-one toe wrestling competition, in which the participants lock each other’s toes until they pin them down. 

The festival is celebrated every year in the month of August and is probably the cutest thing you have heard today. 

5. World Body Painting Festival, Austria

Everything has grown with time since we are all grown up now, along with our bodies. Upgrading the face painting competition to full body painting, Austria organises World Body Painting Festival, splashing various colours around the area. 

Every July, Austria hosts a World Body Painting Festival at Klagenfurt to give a platform for the body painters to showcase their talents and the human body is treated as a canvas. 

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6. Boryeong Mud Festival, South Korea

Are you nodding and smiling while reading this? 

If yes, my friend, book your next flight to South Korea because that’s where you can do all the dirty stuff without shame. 

Boryeong Mud Festival was started in the 90s to promote mud-based products, which turned out to be a fun festival, attracting thousands of visitors from several countries just to play in the mud and get all messy. 

You can shop at the markets where mud-based products are sold and participate in different competitions or have mud fights which are the best part of this festival held in the month of July. 

7. Las Bolas De Fuego, El Salvador

Do you remember how, in one episode, Joey and Chandler were playing a game of fireball? Just like that, Nejapa of El Salvador hosts this annual festival of throwing fireballs in commemoration of the El Playon Volcano, which erupted in the year 1658, due to which the people residing in the area had to flee and leave their hometown. 

This is probably one of the most unique International festivals in the world and quite a lot of fun. The area’s people split into two teams and throw palm-sized burning fireballs at each other. 

Though it may sound a little dangerous, the participants are protected well against the kerosene and wire balls, making it one heck of a game for the adults. 

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8. Bun Festival, Hongkong

The Cheung Chao Bun Festival is one of the busiest and the most frivolous festivals in the world you can think of. It started as a celebration of the end of the plague in Hongkong is now a cultural festival and an exciting one as well. 

The participants are supposed to conquer a bamboo at a towering height of 60 feet and grab as many buns as possible. The one who gets more buns simply wins.

The festival is celebrated in the month of May, lasting for two weeks, along with a vibrant parade and silly bun-grabbing competition, which is more fun than it sounds. 

9. World El Colacho, Spain

This is done in the belief that it is a way of driving out evil and is also a way to have a clear path in life. After the ceremony, the babies are sprinkled with rose water and reclaimed by their respective parents. 

The practice started somewhere in the 1600s and has been continuing to date. People from other places have started to bring their babies to ward off any evil that may befall them. 

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10. Cheese- Rolling Festival, England

Initially, the rules of the competition were a little different, and the participants were supposed to chase the rolling cheese. Still, it was not practical because the speed of the cheese rolling downhill couldn’t be matched with the person’s speed, so the rules were changed, and now the participants only have to reach the finish line.

11. Busójárás, Mohács, Hungary

Named after Busos, which means scary-looking people in costumes, people wear scary costumes and arrive in row boats for a parade on the streets to scare away the last of winters. 

People get creative with their masks and costumes, and you can see their creativity spread all over the street. And here we are, enduring the winters and doing nothing about it. 

12. Naki Sumo, Japan

There is a festival in Japan, held every year in the month of April, where fully grown sumos are required to make the babies cry. 

The only rule is that whoever makes the baby cry first will be the winner. The tradition is 600 years old under the belief that crying babies have the power to ward off any evil. 

This is one of the International festivals, which is also one of the most unusual festivals in the world.

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Conclusion

So if you want to experience the crazy part, full of unusual festivals in the world, then don’t wait anymore and be a part of any of these festivals.