If throwing tomatoes at people, chasing a cheese down a hill, or shopping for earrings made of moose droppings are your idea of fun, then this is the travel list for you.
Men's website AskMen.com has come up with a list of the world's 10 weirdest festivals. (This list is not endorsed by Reuters):
1. La Tomatina, Buol, Spain - August
The world's biggest food fight draws thousands to this small Spanish town, where in the last day of a weeklong festival, trucks unload 90,000 pounds of tomatoes. For one hour, all bets are off, and people merrily pelt each other with the ripe red fruit.
2. Cooper's Hill Annual Cheese Rolling, Gloucester, England - May
Cheese can be dangerous to your health. Broken bones, sprained ankles and bruises are often the rewards for chasing a huge block of cheese (about 8 pounds of double Gloucester) down a hill. Its origins unknown, this Gloucester festival sees about 20 contestants at a time try to beat a rolling cheese 30 yards downhill. Beware, as the cheese always seems to win.
3. Frog Festival, Rayne, Louisiana - Labor Day weekend
At the Frog Capital of the World, up to 50,000 people gather each year to honor frogs with races, concerts, festival rides... and then eat some.
4. Sao Joao Festival, Porto, Portugal - June
One of Europe's liveliest festivals, yet one of the least known, is in the Portuguese city of Porto. Saint John, the patron saint of lovers, watches over as the town gets all lit up, decked out, and the good food flows like sweet Port wine — then the hammers come out. No one knows why, but if you meet an attractive member of the opposite sex, whack them in the head with a big plastic hammer.
5. Golden Shears Sheep Shearing Festival, Masteron, New Zealand - March
In New Zealand, sheep shearing is the battleground for those seeking fame and fortune. Since it began in 1961, the festival has gotten so huge that sometimes the army is called in to control the crowd.
6. Moose Dropping Festival, Talkeetna, Alaska - July
Craftsmen hawk art and jewelry made from moose dung, and in the end, people in balloons drop big old droppings on numbered targets. Whoever holds the same number as the target, wins.
7. Songkran Festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand - April
Up to 100,000 people show up with massive water guns, water balloons and colored sprinkles. The festival's roots are quite serious, as the water symbolizes one's inner cleansing into the next year.
8. Ivrea Orange Festival, Piemonte, Italy - February
Centuries ago, the people in this town rebelled against an evil count who was beheaded and his guards stoned to death. Now Italy has to destroy its yearly surplus of oranges, so replace stones with the excess fruit and the guards with clowns on chariots, and you've got a very juicy celebration.
9. Cow painting festival, Luxembourg City - April to Sept
Every summer this capital city comes alive with metal, wooden, concrete, and fiber-glass cows sporting the wildest whims of its artists. There are cows with zebra udders, and others with painted on Alpine landscapes and paisley swirls.
10. Garlic Festival, Gilroy, California - July
Dr. Rudy Melone, a college president, was shocked to learn that a small French town considered itself the Garlic Capital of the World, so he decided to prove to the world that Gilroy, an even smaller California village, should hold that honor. This led to the largest event in the world featuring everything garlic. Garlic soup, garlic pie, garlic kebabs, and garlic sandwiches. Musicians sing odes to garlic while artists sell their garlic masterpieces. If you can't make it to California, there is a garlic festival held annually every August on the Isle of Wight too.
