In Honor Of Odd Taste
Food festivals are common across the world but some stand out more than others. People love to celebrate with food and at these events, we're not eating burgers and fries, we're munching on bug-pops and garlic ice cream. From bizarre food competitions to questionable cook-offs, here's a taste of the world's wackiest food fests.
1. La Tomatina
We’ve heard of a snowball fight but what about a tomato fight? La Tomatina is the world’s largest tomato fight and it gets juicy. In August since the 1940s, the Valencia region of Spain hosts a messy tomato-smashing festival that leaves you looking like human spaghetti.
Graham McLellan from London, UK on Wikimedia
2. Bugfest
If you’re not into eating creepy-crawlies then avoid attending Bugfest. This annual festival is held by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and attracts curious visitors with a taste for critters. From sweet treats to savory snacks, the festival features cuisine made with insects.
3. Olney Pancake Race
Residents of Olney England claim this legendary pancake race has been happening every Shrove Tuesday since the mid-1400s. Traditionally, women participate in a competitive race carrying a pancake in an iron pan for 400 meters. Everyone’s a winner with a pancake lunch that’s served after the race.
4. Chinchilla Melon Festival
Australia is home to the world’s wackiest melon festival. They know how to turn melons into sporting equipment with competitions like melon skiing, melon bungee, and melon pip spitting. The festival grounds end up looking like a post-battle scene with melons smashed everywhere.
5. Gilroy Garlic Festival
A garlic festival sounds pretty tame until you see what’s on the menu. Chefs at the Gilroy Garlic Festival take garlic to another level of snacks and dishes. From garlic mustard to garlic ice cream, you’re in for a stinky day of garlicky treats.
Derek Wolfgram from San Jose, CA on Wikimedia
6. Night Of The Radishes
Every December in Oaxaca, Mexico, artists turn their skills to the radishes. They carve elaborate pieces out of gigantic radishes in a radish sculpting contest. The festival is short and sweet due to the quick perishing of the carved radishes and competition can get pretty intense.
7. Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling
In Brockworth, England each May, a nine-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese is rolled down Cooper’s Hill and then chased by contestants trying to catch it. The competition is no joke as the wheel can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. Expect a lot of hilarious tumbles as competitors chase their cheese.
8. Giant Omelette Celebration
At Easter in Bessieres, France, locals gather to honor Napoleon’s favorite breakfast in a massive way. To keep up with tradition, they crack 15,000 eggs to cook one omelet for hundreds of people. To say this event is an eggstravaganza would be an understatement.
9. Battle Of The Oranges
Thankfully this battle isn’t as violent as it probably was back in the Middle Ages but it’s a sticky mess. Every year, the townspeople of Ivrea, Italy use citrus weapons in a 3-day food fight. Attacking armored enemies arrive on carts, prepared to be hit by thrown oranges as they fire back.
10. Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Competition
Porridge lovers gather in Scotland every October in honor of the beloved oats. Competitors fight for the title of World Porridge Champion as they whip up innovative creations of oatmeal. The porridges are judged based on taste, texture, and presentation.
11. Blackfoot’s Potato Festival
Known as the potato capital of the world, Blackfoot’s Potato Festival features everything spud-related. Potato-themed activities include potato sack races, a potato parade, and even a Miss Russet beauty pageant. You’ll learn everything there is to know about the beloved spuds with educational booths and vendors selling potato dishes and snacks.
KRRK at English Wikipedia on Wikimedia
12. Roadkill Cook-Off
In Marlinton West Virginia hosts a wild cooking competition like no other. Adventurous chefs and eaters gather at a cook-off with roadkill as the main ingredient. Chefs use animals commonly found dead on the road like squirrels, raccoons, and possums to demonstrate that delicious meals can be made from uncommon animals, hoping to reduce the waste of wildlife on the streets.
13. Waikiki Spam Jam Street Festival
The Hawaiians love the tinned meat so much they celebrate it at a festival. The Waikiki Spam Jam Street Festival attracts visitors to enjoy all kinds of goodies made from processed meat as they dance and celebrate down the street.
14. Els Infarinats Festival
Evidently, Spain likes to get involved in massive food fights. On December 28th each year, people gather in Ibi to pelt each other with flour and eggs, basically transforming one another into human baked goods. The messy festival has been held for over 200 years.
15. World Pea Shooting Championship
England likes to get weird and competitive with their food. Cambridgeshire hosts a pea shooting championship where contestants get serious. Each participant comes equipped with a homemade pea shooter and they compete to see who can hit the most targets with peas.
16. Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival
Over four days in January, the people of Florida get all hopped up about the Frog Leg Festival. Vendors share their samples of mouth-watering frog leg and gator tail meals and snacks. After chowing down on reptile limbs, there’s a fairground with rides to enjoy as well.
17. Wildfoods Festival
It’s in the name so you know this food fest is about to get weird. WIldfoods Festival in Hokitika, New Zealand is all about embracing the wacky and wonderful foods of the nation, pushing Kiwis past their limits. Food vendors have to meet their criteria to be accepted, meaning if they don’t have a weird enough snack, they’re out. Expect to see insects and strange animal meats at the very least.
18. What The Fluff? Festival
Somerville, Massachusetts is home of the marshmallow brand Fluff which was launched in 1917. The small town is proud of their squishy treat so they throw a festival every year in honor of it. The whole festival is marshmallow-themed, from the games and entertainment to the costumes and the food.
19. Ugly Food Festival
Iceland has no shame in their nation’s ugly cuisine–– they embrace it. At the Ugly Food Festival, vendors serve up Iceland’s traditional foods which tend to be on the uglier, grotesque side. Visitors munch on things like boiled sheep’s head, pickled ram’s reproductive organs, and blood pudding.
Alpha from Melbourne, Australia on Wikimedia
20. Humongous Fungus Festival
This funky festival is very specific. It celebrates a type of giant mushroom that grows in Crystal Falls, Michigan. Calling it a giant mushroom is an understatement–– this 1,500-year-old fun guy is over 21,000 pounds and spans 37 acres underground. To celebrate this beast of a fungus, locals hold a festival where they make the world’s largest mushroom pizza.
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