Every culture has its traditions. Most of them make sense within their historical context. And then there are the festivals where grown adults chase a wheel of cheese down a near-vertical hill, or where men dressed as the devil leap over rows of babies. These events happen annually, draw thousands of spectators, and are treated with complete seriousness by everyone involved.
La Tomatina: 150,000 Tomatoes and Absolutely No Point
Every last Wednesday of August, the small Spanish town of Bunol hosts La Tomatina, a festival where roughly 20,000 participants hurl approximately 150,000 overripe tomatoes at each other for exactly one hour. The streets become rivers of red pulp. Buildings are coated. Participants are unrecognizable beneath layers of tomato mush. It is glorious.
The festival originated in 1945, reportedly when a street fight broke out near a vegetable stand during a parade, and bystanders began throwing tomatoes at each other. The local government banned it several times before officially sanctioning it in 1959. Today, tickets sell out rapidly, and the town’s population swells from roughly 9,000 to over 40,000 during the festival. Trucks deliver the tomatoes specifically for the event, and cleanup takes approximately two hours thanks to fire trucks hosing down the streets.
Who Thought Chasing Cheese Down a Near-Vertical Hill Was a Good Idea?
The Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling event near Gloucester, England, involves competitors hurling themselves down a near-vertical hillside in pursuit of a nine-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. The hill’s gradient approaches a 1:1 ratio in places, meaning it is nearly as steep as it is tall. Competitors routinely reach speeds of 70 miles per hour while tumbling uncontrollably.
The injuries are legendary. Broken bones, dislocations, concussions, and spectacular wipeouts are annual occurrences. The event has no formal organization, no safety equipment requirements, and minimal medical infrastructure beyond volunteer first responders at the bottom. Ambulances are pre-positioned but routinely overwhelmed. The winner gets the cheese. The event has been officially cancelled multiple times due to safety concerns but continues regardless as an unofficial gathering.
A Festival Where Men Dressed as Devils Jump Over Rows of Babies
El Colacho, held annually in Castrillo de Murcia, Spain, since 1620, involves men dressed as the devil running through the streets and then leaping over rows of babies born in the previous twelve months, who are laid out on mattresses on the ground. The act is believed to cleanse the infants of original sin and protect them from illness and evil spirits.
The Catholic Church has officially distanced itself from the practice, but the residents of Castrillo de Murcia continue it with full conviction. The jumpers, called Colachos, wear bright yellow costumes and carry whips and castanets. The babies are placed by their consenting parents. No baby has ever been injured during the festival, which is remarkable given that adults are literally jumping over infants while dressed as Satan.
South Korea’s Mud Festival Draws Two Million Visitors
The Boryeong Mud Festival, held every July in Boryeong, South Korea, began in 1998 as a marketing campaign for a cosmetics company that uses mud from the Boryeong mud flats. What started as a commercial promotion evolved into one of the most popular festivals in Asia, drawing over two million visitors annually for mud wrestling, mud sliding, mud baths, and various mud-based activities.
The festival spans two weeks and features concerts, fireworks, and organized events alongside the freeform mud chaos. It has become a major international tourism draw, with visitors flying in from around the world specifically to spend several days covered in mineral-rich Korean mud. The economic impact on Boryeong is enormous, transforming a small coastal city into a summer destination.
Thailand Serves a Banquet to 600 Monkeys Every November
The Lopburi Monkey Buffet Festival in Lopburi, Thailand, held every November, involves preparing over 4,000 kilograms of food, including fresh fruit, vegetables, and sweets, and serving it on banquet tables to the approximately 600 macaque monkeys that live in and around the city’s ancient temples. The monkeys are treated as honored guests.
The festival exists because Lopburi’s monkeys are considered descendants of Hanuman, the monkey god in Hindu mythology, and the city views them as both cultural assets and tourist attractions. The spectacle of 600 monkeys swarming banquet tables laden with fruit is exactly as chaotic as it sounds. The event draws significant international media coverage and has become one of Thailand’s most recognizable festival exports.
Finland’s Wife-Carrying Championship: Win Your Partner’s Weight in Beer
The Wife Carrying World Championship, held annually in Sonkajarvi, Finland, requires male competitors to carry a female partner through an obstacle course as quickly as possible. The most popular carrying technique is the ‘Estonian carry,’ where the woman hangs upside down on the man’s back with her legs around his shoulders. The prize for the winner is the wife’s weight in beer.
The competition has strict rules: the wife must weigh at least 49 kilograms (if she weighs less, she must carry a rucksack to make up the difference), the course is 253.5 meters long with two dry obstacles and a water obstacle, and dropping the wife incurs a 15-second penalty. Competitors travel from dozens of countries to participate, and the event has spawned similar championships in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere.
Which festival would you actually attend? Cast your vote in the comments!