Most religious or social festivals and events have a historical significance or are a part of a local tradition or custom that has been honored for ages. Modern festivals where people from across the world celebrate music, dance, culture, and food are hosted almost every single week at one part of the planet or the other. You might not know, but there exist some bizarre festivals that are actually pretty much fun. From throwing cow dung at one another to a buffet for monkeys, the list is pretty long. Here are the top four weirdest events and festivals celebrated across the globe.
Hair Freezing Contest, Canada
Winter in the North, as everyone knows, is so cold that you can’t afford to step outside the house without headwear to protect your hair from freezing. However, people in Canada love to celebrate this as a festival, where participants have to create the most outlandish sculptures by freezing their hair. The International Hair Freezing Competition is held every year in February in Whitehorse, Yukon. The temperatures go down to -20 Celcius, and that is deemed to be the appropriate time festival participants would dive into the Takhini Hot Pools to come up with their frozen coiffeurs. You just need to take a dip in the water, and after you put your head out, the incredibly low temperatures, as well as the icy breeze outside, will complete the task for you. However, participants need to wait until March to know the name of the winners.
Monkey Buffet Festival, Thailand
On your visit to most animal sanctuaries that are scattered across the world, you will be instructed not to feed the animals. However, things are a bit different in Thailand. The Monkey Buffet Festival is all about feeding the monkeys there, and Lopburi, one of Thailand’s oldest cities, gears up to celebrate it on the last Sunday in the month of November every year. A gigantic buffet is prepared for the monkeys living in the city. The macaques, or popularly known as the Old World monkeys, reside in the world-famous ruins of the ancient Khmer empire, and you can spot them roaming around the city. The locals consider these monkeys to be the direct descendants of the Monkey King and are thought to bring good luck. Thus, a buffet is held to honor them. The Lopburi residents beautify their homes with various attractive fruit sculptures to attract the long-tailed creatures which they believe usher in prosperity and good luck.
Underwater Music Festival, United States
Many of you love to sing in the shower, don’t you? However, you might have been oblivious to a music festival dedicated to underwater singing, until now. Yes, a festival of this kind is held in July every year off the famous Florida Keys. The event was created in the 80s to spread awareness on the importance of preserving the coral reefs found off the coast. Snorkelers, as well as divers, get into the water to witness different musicians, who dress themselves up as fishes and mermaids and play instruments such as the trom-bonefish and fluke-a-lele. Music, with the ocean as its theme, is streamed with the help of underwater speakers from the radio station that’s located nearby, and people in water have a gala time enjoying the sessions.
Water Gun Festival, South Korea
A celebration that started as a midsummer activity for local college students used to indulge in to find relief from the scorching heat, this has now turned into one of the biggest festivals in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. The level of fun associated with the festival has reached new heights, and it doesn’t come as a surprise at all. Festival-goers dress up in fancy outfits, arm themselves with water guns of different shapes and sizes that they buy from market stalls, and battle it out with each other. In case if you enter a zone that’s specifically marked for a water battle unarmed, you can get hold of a weapon from any random stall and have fun!
These are some completely offbeat and unconventional festivals that are celebrated every year across the globe. They are, indeed, unusual in every sense of the term, and that’s where the fun lies!