Festivals insolites

The editorial file

A devil jumping over babies, a cheese thrown at 110 km/h, hairstyles carved by the gel at -20 °C... Festival TV has passed its catalog in the sifting: these are the ten most unusual festivals in the world, and each one has its own record below.

La Tomatina — Buñol, Spain

Every last Wednesday in August, the village of Buñol is covered with red: dozens of tons of ripe tomatoes become, for an hour, the ammunition of the most joyful battle in the world.

Monkey Buffet Festival — Lopburi, Thaïlande

Every last Sunday in November, Lopburi sets up a banquet of several tons of fruit for his macacos, descendants of Hanuman according to legend. A feast of gratitude — and a very current debate on cohabitation.

Battle of the Oranges — Ivrea, Italy

For three days, from Sunday to Tuesday gras, Ivrea replays in real magnitude the revolt of his people against the tyrant: nine teams on foot, in costumes, face the guards juried on tanks fired by horses — in a rain of hundreds of thousands of oranges.

El Colacho — Castrillo de Murcia, Spain

Since the early 1620s, during the Festivals of Corpus Christi, a "devil" in red and yellow suit, whisk in hand, jumps over the babies of the village lying on mattresses in the street. In Castrillo de Murcia, it is a blessing.

Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling — Brockworth, Angleterre

A double Gloucester wheel dropped from the top of a nearly vertical hill, thrown at nearly 110 km/h — and dozens of runners who throw themselves behind it, roll, fall, fall down. The first one who arrived down wins... cheese.

Eukonkanto — Sonkajärvi, Finlande

In Sonkajärvi, the world championships of bride's wear run for 253.5 meters of obstacles — water crossing, logs, sand — partner on the back or head down. And the champions' trophy weighs in beer.

Guéréwol — Sahel, Niger

In Guérewol, men prepare for hours — red ochre on their faces, white dots drawn with care, black lips, more beautiful attire — before dancing in front of women, who choose. The reverse beauty contest of the Wodaabe, Peuls nomads of Niger and Chad.

International Hair Freezing Contest — Whitehorse, Canada

The concept holds in a bath and a cold stroke: a hot spring at about 40 °C, the head comes out in the freezing air at -20 °C or less, and the frost freezes hair and beards in spectacular white sculptures. Photographs, re-dive.

Kanamara Matsuri — Kawasaki, Japon

On the first Sunday of April, in Kawasaki, a Shinto procession promenades in palanquins of gigantic phallus, of which the most famous, sweet pink, is called "Elizabeth". Behind the smiles and the party, an old tradition of fertility and protection.

Takanakuy — Santo Tomás, Pérou

On December 25, in Santo Tomás, in the Peruvian Andes, the conflicts of the year were settled with bare fists, in front of the whole village. Then we kiss each other, we drink, and the year begins to zero — "strike each other," said the Quechua.

Up Helly Aa — Lerwick, Shetland

At the end of January, the night falls early in Lerwick — then it starts to fire: hundreds of costumed men march through the torch behind the Guizer Jarl and his Vikings troop, drakkaring a replica to the stake. The biggest festival of the Shetland fire.

The series grows as the discoveries unfold: a new unusual festival joins this page to each editorial dossier.