Bizarre World Festivals You Have To Hit: Experience The Craziness!

We all love to be a part of festivals and enjoy our time. For the past several years, community gathering occurs in every part of the world, celebrating a good harvest, religious beliefs, and various other events. However, there are several events that are truly bizarre. Every country in the world has two different sides, one of which is lighthearted and slightly absurd. There is nothing better than attending the best festivals in the world to take a glimpse at them. While we all have indulged ourselves in traditional and regular festivals, it's time to step back and be a part of some wacky strange festivals that we might have never heard of before. 

 

Since we all know a lot of fun-filled and enjoyable festivals, we have decided to go bizarre and wacky this time.

 

Up for some fun? Why not schedule a trip around any of these best bizarre festivals in the world? You might find these festivals a little bit odd, but trust us, they are great to experience at least once. Review this leisure travel guide and learn what makes these festivals utterly bizarre.

 

Best Festivals In The World: Have A Bizarre Experience

 

1. El Colacho – The Baby Jumping Festival

2. Wife Carrying World Championship

3. Boryeong Mud Festival

4. Bolas de Fuego- Fireball Festival

5. World Toe Wrestling Championships

6. Underwater Music Festival

7. International Hair Freezing Contest

8. Nakizumo- Crying Baby Festival

 

These are some of the strange, crazy, and wackier festivals that will make you scratch your head. Keep this leisure travel guide handy and experience the wilderness this world has to offer. So, without letting you wait for long, let’s start exploring.  

 

1. El Colacho – The Baby Jumping Festival

 

 

What It Is? Hosted by the land of best festivals in the world- Spain, El Colacho is a brutal or terrifying experience. At this festival, families with newborn babies come together and lay their babies on the mattress in the streets. The younger men get to dress as evils, run down the streets, and jump over the kids. This weird festival is considered a baptismal ceremony wherein the newborns are cleansed from their original sins. The country has been following this tradition back since the 1600s. It is believed that the infants who do not take part in this cleansing- live a life full of burden. 

 

When: Mid-June

Where: Castrillo de Murcia, Spain

 

2. Wife Carrying World Championship

 

 

What It Is? Widely known as “eukonkanto”- this festival has now turned into a sport in the country. Although no one exactly knows about the origin of the festival, every story you will hear connects it to thieves. In one of the best bizarre festivals in the world, the participants have to carry their wives from one point to another in multiple ways and have to reach the endpoint first. Looks easy? Well, it’s not. The track where the participants have to carry their wives is full of hurdles and obstacles. At the finishing line, the winner will be awarded delicious beer which equals the weight of the wife. If you need some drinks, then “run with your wife”. 

 

When: July

Where: Sonkajärvi, Finland

 

3. Boryeong Mud Festival

 

 

What It Is? Started back in 1998, this festival first took place as a promotion of mud cosmetics. Although it was a marketing event, it captured the attention of over 2.2 million people, and hence, it becomes one of the best festivals in the world in terms of weirdness. In this festival, a lot of mud is taken and visitors wallow in it to enjoy the benefits of the mud. Here, various mud-themed activities take place to make the best time at this festival. Activities include mud-massage, mud-photography, mud-skiing, mud military training, etc. Enjoy the mud, else you might get thrown into it. 

 

When: July

Where: Boryeong, South Korea

 

4. Bolas de Fuego- Fireball Festival

 

 

What It Is? If tomato throwing excites you, then how about being a part of a festival full of fire? It is one of the dangerous yet best bizarre festivals in the world. At this festival, various people gather in the town square to commemorate the historic volcanic eruption. In order to represent the volcanic disaster, locals hurl ‘balls of fire’ at each other which is quite risky. This weird festival actually represents a battle between the locals and the devil. The most dangerous part of the festival is- no restrictions and rules. If you are planning to visit, remember- it is a vicious event.

 

When: 31 August (Every Year)

Where: Nejapa, San Salvador

 

5. World Toe Wrestling Championships

 

 

What It Is? On this leisure travel guide of bizarre best festivals in the world, we have another weird event- World Toe Wrestling Championships. This crazy festival was started back in 1970 and has surprisingly become popular in the country. It is just like arm wrestling and takes place between two contestants who sit opposite each other. Their toes get interlocked and the battle starts. Their fight continues for three rounds and in each round, both the participants try to pin down each other's toes. The one who wins the maximum matches among the three gets declared as the winner. Isn’t it interesting?

 

When: June

Where: Ashbourne, UK

 

6. Underwater Music Festival

 

 

What It Is? Almost all of us must have enjoyed singing in the shower at least once. But what about dedicating a whole event for singing underwater? In Florida, the Underwater Music Festival takes place with a motive to increase the awareness of people to preserve coral reefs of Florida Key. At this bizarre yet one of the best festivals in the world, a pre-selected playlist is played via speakers underwater and various divers and snorkeling enthusiasts get dressed and play whimsical instruments. This is the festival for all the water seekers, however, if you are a landlubber, then you enjoy the festival on the shore. 

 

When: July

Where: Looe Key Reef, Florida, USA

 

7. International Hair Freezing Contest

 

 

What It Is? When it comes to the best bizarre festivals in the world, the International Hair Freezing Contest is a great mention on our leisure travel guide. While the winters in Canada are unimaginably chilled, this festival invites people to freeze their hair and create bizarre and weird coiffures. Here, the participants stand in the  Takhini Hot Pools and are required to soak their heads in the warm water. They have to create frosty and weird hairdos that get locked under the water when they take out their head in the freezing Canadian air. Since the temperature in winters reaches down to -30° Celsius or -22° Fahrenheit, the hair gets frozen. 

 

When: March

Where: Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

 

8. Nakizumo- Crying Baby Festival

 

 

What It Is? Doesn’t you find the “Crying Baby Festival” name a little weird? Well, it is. This is one of the bizarre best festivals in the world that justifies its name. Nakizumo- also known as Konaki Sumo- is a competition of children crying. Here, two giant sumos compete with each other holding infants in their hands and the child who cries first and the loudest is titled as a winner. To make it more interesting, a priest stands in between, makes different faces, and yells at them to prompt them to cry. This crazy festival is held based on one of the Japanese sayings- “A child who cries a lot will grow stronger and healthy.” 

 

When: May

Where: Various Temples in Tokyo, Japan

 

Also Read:

Bizarre Travel Places You Must Visit: Experience The Goosebumps!

Creative And Fun Ways To Create Everlasting Travel Memories

5 Crazy Travel Stories: Explore The Hilarious World!

 

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