March 26th, 2010 by admin

For travelers who put a premium on authentic experiences, the world’s great festivals are ideal attractions. What could be better—and less touristy—than spending Lunar New Year in Hong Kong or hopping the Atlantic to attend Oktoberfest in Munich?
Some festivals have an element

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For travelers who put a premium on authentic experiences, the world’s great festivals are ideal attractions. What could be better—and less touristy—than spending Lunar New Year in Hong Kong or hopping the Atlantic to attend Oktoberfest in Munich?

Some festivals have an element of outrageousness (Carnival in Rio) or danger (Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls). And then there are those that can only be described as bizarre or extreme. These lesser-known festivals are compelling whether you are participating (not advisable for some of the events on the list, as you’ll learn) or simply observing them.

The following festivals promote a spirit of uniqueness and weirdness with reckless abandon.

Most Extreme Festival: Thaipusam

Location: India

Thaipusam is a Hindu festival celebrated in Tamil communities on the Indian subcontinent and around Asia. It takes place in January or February, depending on the Tamil calendar. A religious event, Thaipusam marks the victory of good over evil during a battle between deities. The largest celebration actually takes place outside of India at the Batu Caves near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Many worshippers perform acts of purification by undergoing hardships. This usually means carrying offerings on the long procession to the caves. Especially-devoted Tamils will pierce their tongues or cheeks with small spears or place hooks in their backs and attach them to a cart, which they then pull—literally by their skin—from the city center to caves fifteen kilometers away. Nearly one million people take part in KL’s Thaipusam, and tens of thousands of tourists are also on hand to watch the procession.

Wettest: Songkran

Location: Thailand

Songkran is a three-day festival held in Thailand in April. It marks the Thai New Year. Goings-on include making offerings to ancestors, visiting Buddhist temples and, mostly, spending time with family. The most visible part of the festivities is the gigantic water fight that takes place throughout the country. What began as a gentle sprinkling of water to pay respect to elders and to the Buddha has turned into a tradition of using water guns, buckets and garden hoses to douse everyone in sight. April being one of the hottest months in the Land of Smiles, this might be a welcome activity, but no one, even tourists totting expensive digital cameras, is immune to inevitable drenching.

Reddest: La Tomatina

Location: Spain

La Tomatina takes place on the final Wednesday of August in Bunol, Spain, a town near Valencia. It is the culmination of a week-long feast honoring the town’s patron saint. Most of the aspects of the celebration are not unlike the hundreds of others that take place around Spain: fireworks, concerts, parades and plenty of eating. Then, for a single hour on the last Wednesday of the proceedings, things get red. Thousands of pounds of excess, overripe tomatoes are brought into the city and a gigantic food fight takes place. The town only has 9,000 residents, as many as 50,000 visitors descend on the town to take part. Most wear old clothes and some don goggles to keep the acidic juice from stinging their eyes. Though the fight is fun-spirited, it is aggressive, with people hurling the juicy, soft (usually) fruit at others as hard as they can. A similar, but perhaps more painful, event takes place in Italy. It is known as the Ivrea Carnival. The only difference: they use oranges instead of tomatoes.

Quietest: Nyepi

Location: Bali

Each year on March 16th, the colorful island of Bali becomes dead silent. The festival of Nyepi is celebrated on that day. But perhaps celebrated is the wrong word. Nyepi is one of the world’s more solemn holidays. The island literally shuts down for 24-hours. Lights are kept low, no one is allowed to speak, travel or turn on music (usually a constant in tourist areas). Not only are banks closed, but the airports, seaports and public roads are also shuttered. No, this is definitely not the most outrageous festival, but one of the most widely observed and an obvious shock to any unsuspecting tourists who happen to be in Asia’s most popular tropical vacation destination on March 16th.

Most Naked: Hadaka Matsuri

Location: Japan

Hadaka Matsuri (translated as “Naked Festival”) encompasses events which are said to bring good luck and forgiveness of sins that take place throughout the year around Japan, with the most popular in Okayama in late February. Japanese men, dressed in sumo wrestler-like attire process to a Shinto shrine. They march (or run) through the streets to the shrine while cold water is splashed upon them as a means of purification. There is a scrum at the temple steps as two wooden talisman are tossed from above. The loin-clothed participant who is able to catch one of these can look forward to an immeasurable amount of luck in the coming year.

Most Unexplainable: Sao Joao Festival

Location: Portugal

The Sao Joao Festival is a religious festival that is held in Porto, Portugal in late June. There is little evidence of religion though, as locals and tourists engage in one of the country’s largest street parties with music, food (including impromptu barbecues) and a large midnight fireworks display. It is a great time by all accounts, but after the fireworks show things get a bit strange. People take up large toy hammers and stalks of wild garlic and head to the city’s Old Town, where they proceed to bang each other on the head. No one knows the origin of the head banging, but it has continued year after year, with a majority of the hammers used to attract the attention of comely members of the opposite sex.

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Thaipusam@BatuCaves: Ariff Tajuddin
2009 La Tomatina: ShortChineseGuy

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