Weird and Wacky Festivals That You Never Knew Exist

TraveloGuide Insight
3 min readSep 5, 2020

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Visiting lesser known towns to enjoy some really wacky festivals is a great way to learn new experiences. Being a part of such weird yet amazing festivals will add some purpose to your future travelling. Since most of us are unable to travel at the moment, you can utilise your time to update your bucket list and later head out to enjoy some of these silly celebrations around the world.

Fasching, German-speaking Europe

Head out to Europe in the months of January or February with an intention to chase away the winter demons and enjoy a wacky festival known as ‘Fasching’. This festival is associated with both Catholic and early- Germanic traditions. The beginning of the festivities and feastings is marked with the crowning of the prince and the princess. Huge parades with kid’s carnival, yummy food and tents are also great with kids, in case they don’t get terrified of the masked creatures. Aiming to target young pretty women, costumed characters are seen playing great tricks in the parade.

Drunken Horse Racing, Guatemala

Have you ever thought about participating in a horse race after binge drinking? The local Mayan men living in the village of Todos Santos Cuchumatán in the highlands near Huehuetenango, participate in unique annual festivities of Guatemala. Officially, the race starts on 1st November, but local men start their drinks party 3 days in advance. On the race day, all participants again binge drink the local alcoholic drink and race horses at a really high speed across the village boundary. This festival is the weirdest of all as the winner of this seven-hour horse race is announced depending on who could stay on the horse for the longest time (without falling).

Afrikaburn, South Africa

Afrikaburn is a celebration of the creative power of collaboration and community. This wacky festival is celebrated in the magical desert world at a place which is just a few hours north of Cape Town in South Africa. Temporary art works are constructed amid semi — desert environment, only to be burnt towards the end of the event. With powerful music, mutant vehicles, festively-decorated bicycles and many crazy activities, this festival will surely satisfy your senses. You can also put on your dancing shoes if you’d like to have an endless dancing experience.

Crying Sumo Festival, Tokyo

Another wacky festival you can enjoy is the Crying Sumo festival. It is celebrated in April every year as a 400-year-old tradition at the Sensoji temple. It’s a hit in the wacky festivals list as it involves two sumo wrestlers holding a baby and facing each other waiting for their babies to cry. If both the babies cry together, the sumo wrestler with the baby crying louder than the other will win. As per their belief, the baby with the loudest cry will receive the most blessings from god. This is based on a popular Japanese proverb — “naku ko wa sodatsu”, which means crying babies grow fast. Traditional Japanese customs state that a crying baby has the power to ward off evil spirits and a loud cry indicates the child will grow up to be strong and healthy.

Aren’t you motivated to experience these wacky festivals and make memories for a lifetime!

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TraveloGuide Insight
TraveloGuide Insight

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