Weird & wonderful
Results by RANK
Displaying 1 to 20 of 28 results.
During Hadaka Matsuri bare-bottomed men ensure their good luck by crowding the streets of Inazawa City in the hope of touching a naked man! Since 767 BC the Naked Man, aka Shin-otokoa, has…
Each January, the Parkes Elvis Festival celebrates the King of Rock 'n' Roll's birthday with numerous activities and swarms of impersonators. The festival programme is jam-packed with events…
The Lerwick Up Helly Aa is a magnificent fire festival, incorporating the burning of a Viking galley and a torchlit parade. Nearly 1000 people dressed as Vikings or in other fancy dress take…
The small artists' colony of Langley, Washington State, is completely taken over once a year by the investigations surrounding a diabolical crime. Visitors and residents attempt to solve the…
Firing massive rockets into the sky might not seem the best way to lure the rain gods, but that's how the villagers of Yasothon do it. Things get very noisy at Phaya Thaen Park for the…
If you want to see people risking life and limb chasing cheese, head for Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, where competitors battle it out in pursuit of an eight-pound Double Gloucester.
The Baby-Jumping Colacho Festival
Since 1620 Castrillo de Murcia has celebrated Corpus Christi with an act that is known as El Colacho. The famously bizarre event sees grown men dressed as the Devil leaping over a row of…
Watch men performing early bungee-jumping techniques in traditional land-diving ceremonies on Vanuatu's Pentecost Island. For this hair-raising fertility rite, vines are used instead of…
The Redneck Games first appeared as a sideshow to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. The folk of East Dublin have since warmly embraced their "traditional" cultural heritage and flocked to the…
World Punkin' Chunkin' Championships
During the World Punkin' Chunkin' Championships in Long Neck, Delaware, generations of fathers and sons battle it out using ever-improving machines to blast pumpkins into the ether with messy…
Santa Claus World Championship
The Santa Claus World Championship in Samnaun sees teams of Father Christmases battle it out in all kinds of festive disciplines. Watch them climb chimneys, decorate gingerbread and deliver…
Radishes are lovingly sculpted into everything from animals to saints and nativity scenes at Oaxaca's curious annual Radish Festival. The Zócalo fills with stalls, music, traditional dancing…
World Cow Chip Throwing Championships
Who else but the Americans would conduct the laborious task of collecting dried-up cow dung and transform it into a national sport? Since 1970, hopeful competitors in Beaver, Oklahoma have…
The beautiful village of Vrondados lights up with a Rouketopolemos, literally a rocket war, during midnight mass, just before Easter Sunday. Rival congregations launch rockets across town…
The Hunting of the Earl of Rone
This annual event at Combe Martin is a strange English tradition which involves the search for, and dispatching of, the imaginary Earl of Rone. Colour and music make this ancient celebration…
Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition
Surfing dog lovers rejoice! The Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition brings together the cream of the competitive surfing dog circuit at Imperial Beach for one almighty showdown. Cowabunga.
The truth isn't just out there, it's in Roswell. UFO fans from around the globe meet each year to broaden the sphere of human knowledge on aliens and extra terrestrials and have a great time doing it.
In 1979, K T Smith, drinking in the Mugs Away Saloon, offered a free drink to anyone who would run across the street and moon the next Amtrak train to pass by. Many people did and a tradition…
Annual Hemingway Days Festival
American legend Ernest Hemingway comes to life at the bizarre but interesting Annual Hemingway Days Festival in Key West. There are several parties and events, including Sloppy Joe's Annual…
Head to the Swiss Alps for a beauty contest with a twist this summer. Wild whiskers and marvellous moustaches are the focus of Chur's Alpine Beard Festival, a highlight of the popular…
