Far-Fetched Festivals
Let’s be honest, who among us isn’t a little bit interested in watching Finnish air guitar maestros or being drenched in red wine? Read on to find out how you can do just that.
Galway, Ireland (53°01’48.6″N 9°17’23.0″W)
LISDOONVARNA MATCHMAKING FESTIVAL – SEPTEMBER
Billed as Europe’s largest festival for singles, this event – held in the community of Lisdoonvarna, a County Clare town of approximately one thousand villagers – sees the population swell to an enormous 60,000 for the six weeks that the festival takes place.
Pubs hold dances that go all day for the entirety of the festival. It has run for 120 years, and generations of matchmakers descend to set up everything from flings to matrimony.
Trust the Irish to use superstition to find love.
Oulo, Finland (65°00’45.4″N 25°28’17.2″E)
AIR GUITAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – AUGUST 26-28
With a motto like “make air not war”, there’s no doubt that this is one quirky festival. The best air guitarists have their pick holds and strum moves down pat, but it’s not just air guitar. The whole act is a performance, with clapping, hands in the air and of course, plenty of long hair swaying and head banging.
If you want to do more than watch, the festival also offers training in the niche talent. Who knows, with the right teacher it may be you on the neon-lit stage next year.
Haro, Spain (42°34’36.7″N 2°51’00.8″W)
HARO WINE FESTIVAL – JUNE 28-30
Imagine a large crowd of Spaniards dancing around in rose coloured rain, all courtesy of an army of red wine loaded super-soakers, large kegs, hoses and water guns.
The dress code is all white – the purple hue you will get from being wine drenched is not like anything a fashion house can produce.
The festival is opened by the town mayor at 7am and the red wine imbibing begins. As you can imagine, stamina is not the point of this festival. Come midday, boozed up participants are heading for an afternoon recovery siesta.
Edirne, Turkey (41°40’00.0″N 26°34’00.0″E)
KIRKPINAR OIL WRESTLING FESTIVAL – JUNE 29-JULY 5
Turks wrestling? It doesn’t get more Ottoman than that.
And it’s all on display at this festival, billed to be the oldest annual sporting festival in the world. Greasy wrestlers have been gripping and grappling here since 1346.
The oily participants get smacked down in grassy fields as a tribute to wrestling’s Central Asian origins. The wrestlers wear cowhide pants and if they get ripped, then the wrestlers have officially lost.
Don’t be alarmed by all the head slapping – that’s to disorientate the participants.
Montreux, Switzerland (46°26’09.6″N 6°54’37.0″E)
MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL – JULY 3-18
Montreux is the French Riviera of Switzerland so where better to indulge in some sophisticated jazz? The event runs for two weeks and in that time more than 200,000 people attend.
The location also seals the deal. This part of Switzerland looks like Lake Como and Tuscany’s love child. Lake Geneva laps at hills trellised with grape vines and the language here is Swiss-French.
It’s not all sax and brass however; Bob Dylan came to play one year. As long as you can dance to it, you will hear it at this music festival.
Chios, Greece (38°24’49.3″N 26°07’56.5″E)
ROUKETOPOLEMOS – EASTER
Two churches fire tens of thousands of rockets at each other to celebrate Easter. Enough said. Oh, and did we mention it all takes place on a Greek island?
The two churches are sat on opposite hills, and the fire rockets are made of wood and gunpowder. With 60,000 fired, it makes for a spectacular show the Saturday before Easter Sunday, from dusk until midnight. The aim is to directly hit the church bell, with marks tallied up the next day.
Now that’s Easter entertainment.
Sonkajarvi, Finland (63°40’17.9″N 27°31’19.5″E)
WIFE-CARRYING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – JULY 3-4
The Finns really punch above their weight when it comes to bizarre festivals. While this competition might seem a nightmare to any bickering married couples, what doesn’t kill you … will make both husband and wife biceps grow.
It’s hard to know who gets the worst end of the deal. The husband for lugging the extra weight, or the wife who must hand upside down, clinging to his waist as she gets dunked in water and mud.
There’s the start of an argument already.
Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales (52°06’27.3″N 3°38’14.7″W)
WORLD BOG SNORKELLING CHAMPIONSHIPS – AUGUST 29
Snorkelling in a field? Totally normal in Wales, as it turns out.
This festival champions all things boggy, and participants snorkel through channels of muddy water and reeds. The bog is 133 metres long and contestants compete for a green frog trophy. Which is appropriate, given that breaststroke is the only permitted style in the narrow channel.
This is another event that classifies as a world championship despite having very few practitioners.
Notting Hill, England (51.5096° N”0.2043° W)
NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL – AUGUST 30-31
If you can pick one weekend to really get under the skin of London, and act like a Londoner, choose the August bank holiday weekend.
Every year, Notting Hill is taken over with a celebration that captures both Caribbean and city culture. With dancers and floats that resemble Rio’s Carnivale, as well as Jamaican jerk chicken stalls and pop-up DJ sets that draws Red Stripe-drinking crowds, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to downtown Kingston.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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