There are 196 countries in the world and hundreds of cities within each country with billions of residents. This means that there are plenty of things to celebrate and this list is filled with interesting facts about 9 events around the world that you didn’t know existed – some of which may seem shocking.
- Egg Rolling Events
If you live in the UK you are aware of this customary tradition that occurs on Easter Monday every year. People who participate will roll eggs down a large grassy hill and it’s a custom that dates back hundreds of years.
- CatCon
Most of us have heard of ComicCon but have you ever heard of CatCon? It is the first ComicCon for people who love cats and paraphernalia related to everything cat-like. You will be able to browse through all of the latest cat gear and see some of the most popular felines in the entire world such as Lil Bub.
- Baby Jumping Festival
Dating back to 1620, the Baby Jumping Festival is a Spanish holiday that the Catholics use to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. To complement the tradition, men will dress up in red and yellow clothing (to emulate devils) and jump over babies. The babies must be born within 12 months before the festival and have to lie on a mattress in the middle of the street.
- Wife Carrying World Championships
As a popular way to show off your strengths in Finland and other Scandanavian countries, the Wife Carrying World Championships is where men will race while carrying a female teammate (generally their wives). They will have to go through a variety of different obstacles and complete the course in the least amount of time.
- La Tomatina
When you participate in La Tomatina (also referred to as the Tomato Festival), you will be able to throw tomatoes simply for fun. There will be thousands of people throwing tomatoes at each other in the middle of the street so it is essentially a giant food fight on the last Wednesday of August in Bunol.
- Hadaka Matsuri (The Naked Festival)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be almost naked with thousands of people around you? The Naked Festival is a Japanese tradition where people will wear the least amount of clothing possible which is generally a loincloth or they may even be completely naked. The purpose of the festival is to increase your chances of having good luck for the rest of the year.
- World Toe Wrestling Championships
Much like a thumb war though with your feet, the Word Toe Wrestling Championships is where two opponents will lock feet together. They will then work to pin the other opponent’s foot to the ground in order to declare a winner.
- Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race
During this race, contestants in the UK will make giant Yorkshire puddings out of flour, water, and eggs. This idea was dreamt of through English folklore as they were supposedly used to rescue people when the streets would be flooded. Participants will coat the Yorkshire puddings in yacht varnish to make sure that they don’t get soggy and disintegrate during the race.
- World Gurning Championships
A gurn is a distorted expression that you make with your face and these championships let interesting individuals make their most skewed impression to see who has the best one. It is an English tradition dating back to 1267. You will notice that there will be a lot of participants without teeth as this allows them to make the best gurn possible because their jaws can move more.