Festivals are a summer tradition and when you talk of a festival, you usually think in terms of a music festival or a food festival or even cultural festival that celebrates the arts. However there are some places in the world that don’t celebrate festivals in the traditional sense rather their celebrations center around themes which add a touch of wackiness to the festival. Listed below are some of these oddball festivals which seem to delight and enthrall the crowds regardless.
Photo Credit:husin.sani
World Mobile Throwing Contest, Savonlinna, Finland
Finland is the home of Nokia , which the world’s largest mobile phone company and it seems fitting then that the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships have been held in the town of Savonlinna in Finland since 2000. This mobile throwing contest is usually held in August these championships this year are scheduled to be held on 22nd August.
The contest will feature many different events namely ‘the Original’ or traditional contest wherein competitors will compete by executing an over the shoulder throw to determine who can chuck the mobile phone the farthest. The freestyle section of the competition where contestants will score points for aesthetics and choreography if they are incorporated into the routine of throwing and the team event which will feature teams of 3 members whose throws will be added together to determine the winning team The contest will even feature a contest for juniors . The mobile phones which are used during the competition are of various different types and brands but they are usually supplied by a single company. Perhaps the British supermodel, Naomi Campbell should consider entering these championships as she is a well known ‘chucker’ of mobile phones .
Photo Credit:zionorbi
Cow Festival, Kathmandu ,Nepal
Cows are considered to be scared by Hindus and in Nepal where the majority of the population belongs to the Hindu faith, cows are celebrated and venerated in Nepal during the annual Gai Jatra festival which features a cow themed parade in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital city. This cow parade is held annually in the month of August.
Hindus believe that the sacred cow is the vehicle that helps you get to heaven but you have to remember to hang onto a cow’s tail as you breathe your last .If for some reason this doesn’t happen then your family members can help your soul along by taking part in the Gai Jatra festival. Every family which has suffered a bereavement during the previous year has to send a male child and a cow to take part in the cow parade during the Gai Jatra festival. However if for some reason a cow is not available then the young child can make do my donning a cow costume for the parade that celebrates this festival.
Photo Credit:nelsonminar
Teddy Bear Festival, Zurich, Switzerland
This beloved soft toy is celebrated at the annual Swiss Teddy Bear festival which is usually held at a medieval building called Schützenhaus Albisgütli that is located in the heart of Zurich. This year The Teddy Bear festival will be held over the weekend of 22nd and 23rd of August and will feature many interesting and interactive events like doll making, a teddy doctor, an exhibit of antique teddies and even a beauty farm for teddy bears.
Photo Credit:darwinbell
Weird Contest Week, Ocean City , New Jersey , USA
However the prize for the weirdest and wackiest festival will surely go to this week long festival that is held Ocean city, a popular family beach resort which is located in Southern New Jersey. Ocean City plans to again set aside an entire week for outlandish and bizarre contests this summer. The Weird Contest Week will kick off with the salt water taffy sculpting contest which will be held on August 18th and will feature participants who will attempt to create works of art with this sticky but pliable confectionery. This contest will be followed by a french fry sculpting contest on the following day and a pie sculpting contest on the day after that. Previous competitions have thrown up some remarkable works of art during these food sculpting contests.
The contest that is scheduled for August 21st will feature wet t-shirts that the contestants will chuck over the sand. Whoever throws the wet t-shirt the farthest will then be declared the winner.
This weird contest week will finally conclude on the 22nd of August with beauty pageants of the offbeat kind including the Mister and Miss Miscellaneous Pageant, and the Little Miss and Little Mister Chaos Pageant during which contestants will be judged on eccentric talent routines and outlandish costumes rather than the traditional parameters of beauty, poise and grace.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 2:18 am and is filed under Festival, Strange, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Hey!!! Where is our Winnipeg Manitoba Summer Festival? we have had such @#$@#$$%%@# weather this summer,I think we deserve a good Molson Summer Festival, Don’t You?????
July 29th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
[...] Wacky But Wonderful Summer Festivals From Around the Globe [...]
August 30th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
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September 10th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
i like World Mobile Throwing Contest very much,sometimes i really want to throw the phone out of windows.
September 11th, 2009 at 4:26 am
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September 15th, 2009 at 7:29 am
nice info thanks..
October 6th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
I wanna take part in the mobile throwing contest. It really touched a chord! Wish we could do that all the time
October 28th, 2009 at 6:02 am
In Nepal, Cow festival seems interesting:)
January 17th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Like this post about the summer festival, we have a lot of summer festival all around the world, by which we can enjoy our summer vacation.
regare
thank you
santosh