What festivals and celebrations are there?

Answer 1

Well, let's see…

There's the Sao Joao festival, the Portuguese of running around in circles and bopping people on the head with soft hammers.

Or, dating as far back as 1620, and even more popular today than ever, there's the Latin-American festival of El Colacho. It entails jumping over groups of small children, positioned side-by-side on the ground. The larger the number of children being jumped over the higher the level of success in cleansing them of evil spirits and ridding them of 'original sin,' and illness. I suppose the illness of healing from physical and emotional trauma from having an adult landing on you is a given.

Then there's a favourite among many husbands around the world; Spain's La Tomatina Festival. It's the festival when you get to (legally), hurl tomatoes at your mother-in-law's massive bum!

Following a similar thread; are you tired of exercising all this energy and are now seeking a light repast to restore your vigour? Then hop over to The French hamlet of Trie Sur Baise, where the locals celebrate Pourcailhade, (Festival of the Pig). Everyone, except perhaps pigs, enjoy an all day bash of sausage eating, piglet racing, and a pig imitating contest, ending the day with a massive pig roast (presumably for the little piggies who lost the race).

Understandably, after all that physical exertion, you might be seeking imbibement and are drawn to the renowned Krakelingen Festival of Belgium. As thousands of loaves of bread are thrown into the assembled crowd, holy men queue up for the dubious pleasure of drinking tiny live fish from a 16th century silver goblet.

Having fun yet? Well, Great-Balls-O-Fire, there's more to come! Keeping the fires of the piggy roast going, head back to Spain for the Arizkun Festival, where the locals of this Basque community lay up to twenty bonfires in the streets. The local lads hurl themselves over the fires in a demonstration of virility and testosterone. All the while, the streets are mobbed by the Ioaldunaks - men dressed in costumes which resemble wet sheep wearing Madonna style brassieres

Not interested in strange costumes and fire to prove your virility? And perhaps hoping for something a bit , er, um…dirtier? Then hop on over to Korea for the Boryeong Mud Festival. Thousands of people gather on the Western shores of South Korea, rubbing one another down with the famous thick grey mud, rich in minerals. Dirty as it may appear, the mud is famous for it's wealth of cosmetological nutrients, which is used in the manufacture of many world-wide cosmetics.

Never wanting to be shone up by 'them foreigners,' the americans have their own memorable events. Take a ride on Amtrak (america's passenger rail service), over to Clinton Montana for the world-renown annual 'Test-Festy.' The entire day is dedicated to nothing more than…, well, bollocks! It's a day for celebrating the Rocky Mountain Oyster. Fried, baked, broiled, or even pâté - they're the bee's knees or the bull's b…oh well, you get the point. Come with an open mind and an empty stomach and don't forget to take a doggie bag home to someone you, er, um love! You'll never forget Montana's Testicle Festival!

Following that Amtrak ride through Montana, and many more like it, the american public, never being shy to speak out regarding their expectations of customer service, have created another annual festival. The Annual Mooning Amtrak Festival. Scores of former passengers who didn't quite obtain the catharsis they were hoping for by writing in to Trip Advisor, queue up along the main line where Amtrak runs through La Jolla, California. As each passenger train passes by, presumably carrying the head of Amtrak's customer relations department, who just happens to live in La Jolla, scores of people drop their trousers, showing Amtrak that they're always willing to turn the other cheek when they've been wronged.

Wherever you travel there's always the opportunity to find local festivals; whether it's the Land Jumping Festival on the Pacific island of Vanuatu, where locals tie tree vines to their legs and hurl themselves off of towers many stories tall, or Bull racing through the streets of a Spanish village, there's something for every taste. If you're a person of more distinguishing taste than running bum naked through the streets, or rubbing strangers down with copious quantities of mud, there's always the Stiletto Race Festival in Amsterdam.

And if you're experiencing what 90% of the world already feels, then hop over to Finland for their annual Mobile Phone Throwing festival. Be it an Ipod 6 or an original 'brick' mobile, there's never discrimination. However, the Finn's always seem to shed a tear when they watch someone toss a Nokia phone - they're almost like family members!

Of course, the English would never consider such outlandish displays of idiocy. We're British, after all. But then someone whispers into your ear, reminding you there's 'that lovely hill alongside a muddy field in Gloucestershire,' and images of the English Cheese Rolling Festival, where the English (allegedly), roll full round blocks of cheese downhill to see who has the fastest. Losers are left at the bottom of the hill, doing little more than cutting the cheese.

And the Scots, being such lovely neighbours to England, would never willingly reveal their annual Haggis Hurling World Championship. Say no more!

Celebrations can range anywhere from the removal of a hangnail to the removal of a dictator. Festivals, filled with revelry and conviviality, honour those earlier celebrations, often with reverence and joy. They all start when you begin them.