The strangest traditions and celebrations in the world: Every year in different countries of the world, different celebrations and festivals are held on special days. In the Weird section, we have highlighted the strangest traditions that you may not have heard of in different parts of the world!
From egg festivals to monkey buffets, the culture of the people is diverse!
The strangest traditions and celebrations around the world:
1. Spanish Tomato Festival
The biggest tomato fight in the world. It is unclear exactly how this tradition began, but there are some possible theories. The most popular is that during a parade in 1945, non-participants brawled in the main square and threw tomatoes from a local vegetable stall.
Regardless of who started the festival, every last Wednesday in August Spain kicks off a week of festivities in Buñuel where people throw tomatoes for fun!
2. Breaking coconuts on people’s skulls in India
Breaking coconuts on people’s heads is a ritual that has been popular in southern India for a long time.
Their extreme superstitions made the event an obsession, so despite the warnings, they continued the practice that had existed since colonial times.
Hindu devotees gather inside a temple and the priest bangs coconuts on each head as a sign of the gods wishing for health and success.
3. Scrambled Egg Festival – Bosnia
In Bosnia, every year people celebrate the start of spring with an unusual tribute to eggs locally known as Čimburijada.
Residents start the day with a big breakfast of eggs cooked in a large skillet in the city park near the river, then spend the rest of the day grilling and swimming in the river.
4. Cinnamon for singles in Denmark
The strangest tradition is cinnamon. If you’re over 25 and single, you’ll have to put up with the cinnamon cloud your friends and family throw at you in Denmark!
This tradition, established in Denmark for hundreds of years, is common for any unmarried man or woman over the age of 25.
5. Monkey buffet in Thailand
On the last Sunday of November, people at Phra Prang Sam Yot Temple in Lopburi, Thailand, celebrate to honor the thousands of macaques by preparing a huge feast for them!
The festival features dancers dressed as monkeys at the opening ceremony and towers of fruit and vegetables that monkeys climb, jump and dive into.
6. Poltraband tradition in Germany
Polterabend means “wedding” and it is a unique tradition in Germany that usually takes place the day before the wedding. It is a big party where friends and family gather in front of the house and bang things on the floor like; Dishes, flower pots, tiles, anything that makes a lot of noise for good luck, the only exception being glass and mirrors.
Once they have finished breaking the plate, the bride and groom work together to clean it up in preparation for the future.
7. Party Pushing Faces in Cake, Mexico
The La Mordida Festival is a fun and quirky tradition held at every Mexican birthday where the birthday person is pushed into the cake while the rest of the guests shout “Mordida! Mordida!” This word is Spanish and means “a bite”.
8. Battle of the Oranges in Italy
Every year something strange happens in Ivrea, Italy. Residents are divided into nine different squads and dressed in combat gear, then over the next few days carry oranges to eliminate the other squads.
The origin of this game is unknown, but it became one of the biggest food fights in Italy and one of the strangest traditions after the battle of the tomatoes!
9. Cutting a finger in tribalism
People express grief after losing a loved one. But tribal women in Indonesia have a strange way, by cutting off a part of the finger!
When they lose a loved one, the upper joint of a woman’s finger is amputated. The thread is tied tightly around the finger to numb it, and then a family member, often a sibling or parent, cuts off the top of the finger. The wound is then cauterized to stop the bleeding and prevent infection.
This act is done as a symbol of the pain that a person suffers after losing a loved one, and the spirit of the deceased person is rejected according to their rituals!
10. Throwing babies in India
In India, they have a ritual that involves throwing newborn babies from the sides of temples. When someone gets married at the 50-foot-tall Sri Santiswar Temple in India, it’s a tradition to return with their child and drop him from the top onto a cloth that people carry below.
