The Cheese Rolling Festival on Coopers Hill – Gloucester, England
You won’t want to miss some of the unusual festivals happening around the globe this year. So, make sure you have your passport in tow while you take part in festivities that definitely demonstrate thinking that is outside the box. For example, don’t forget to mark your calendar for the ever-popular Cheese Rolling festival that happens each spring on the muddy, steep incline of Coopers Hill in Gloucester, England.
An Unofficial Gathering in 2010 and 2011
The traditional gathering can place its roots back to the nineteenth century although concerns for peoples’ safety resulted in the event being cancelled in 2010 and 2011. Nevertheless, the unusual festival still was held unofficially the past two years with competitors scrambling down the hill after a heavy, eight-pound circle of cheese. If the event this year is not officially announced, then, no doubt, an unofficial competition will still be held on June 4, 2012.
A Number of Casualties
Indeed, the event is challenging, what with the muddiness and perpendicular nature of the hill. Again, safety has been an issue in the past and, no doubt, is still a concern as participants have been treated for fractures, scratches, bruises, and broken bones. Even a bystander was hurt one year by a wayward disc of cheese. Yet, for those intrepid competitors who make it down the hill, they are rewarded for their efforts with international acclaim and, yes, a double Gloucester cheese.
La Tomatina – The Town of Brunol in Valencia, Spain
Another unusual festival that is quite the featured event is La Tomatina in the town of Brunol in the Spanish state of Valencia. This celebration or, more appropriately, melee, which was believed by some to have begun as the result of anti-Franco protest demonstrations in the mid-40s, is basically one colossal food fight. Others support the theory that the tomato brouhaha came about when unhappy residents pelted city councilmen with tomatoes during a Brunol celebration. Regardless of how it originated, La Tomatina is one messy celebration. However, some rules have been established nonetheless.
Some Guidelines for the Event
For example, participants who take part in the festival cannot throw tomatoes unless the tomatoes have been mashed or quashed first. Also, tomatoes are the only projectiles that participants are permitted to hurl. So, if you want to attend the event, set your sights for the last Wednesday in August this year and don’t be too concerned about what you wear.
The Boryeong Mud Festival – Boryeong, South Korea
If you don’t mind being doused with squashed tomatoes, you may take it a step further by attending the Boryeong Mud Festival in Boryeong, South Korea. This annual festival attracts well over a million visitors a year. The festival, which takes place in July, features mud wrestling, mud swimming, mud sliding, and mud painting, and is highlighted with fireworks and musical entertainment in the area of Daecheon Beach.
The Monkey Buffet Festival – Lopburi, Thailand
The Monkey Buffet Festival is yet another festive celebration that isn’t to be missed. Approximately 600 primates converge in Lopburi, Thailand where they consume, if not demolish, tons of ice cream, sausage off the grill, and other fare. The local residents host the event for the monkeys in their appreciation for the simians’ influence on the lucrative tourist trade in that part of the country. The event this year will fall on the 25th of November.
The World Bog Snorkeling Championships
While not exactly a festival, the World Bog Snorkeling Championships is still an unusual and grand sporting event that one cannot miss. The event, which draws more than one hundred competitors annually, is held in Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales. This year the bog snorkeling championships will include triathlon activities with a 12-mile run cross-country followed by snorkeling through a 60-yard bog trench and riding 25 miles on a mountain bike.
Or, you may choose to forego the terrestrial route by competing in the mountain bike bog snorkeling championship, taking a mountain bike underwater and pedaling two lengths through a 45-yard, six-foot deep trench. The mountain bikes for this event have been specially made, sporting premium bog-equipped tires filled with water and lead.
This is a guest post by Dan Ripoll. Dan is the founder and CEO of Passports Without The Stress, an expediter of US passports. The company assists busy travelers with same day passports in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and a host of other cities around the country.