While most festivals involve singing, dancing and eating, there are a few cultures which do not celebrate the conventional way. We bring to you some festivals from across which are not for the faint hearted.
Running of the Bulls, Spain: The world’s most famous of all dangerous festivals, the running of the bulls in Spain, is held every year in the month of July. Participants run through an 850 metre long track on the cobbled streets of San Fermin, accompanied by six angry bulls, which weigh more than 500 kilograms each. The festival originally began as a way of transporting the bulls to the fighting arena, but is only a tradition now. Many people die in the festival every year, with incidents of trampling and goring by the bulls abound.
Ikari, Bosnia and Herzegovina: The world’s longest running high diving competition is also one of the most dangerous ones. Divers jump from the Stari Most, an old bridge which runs across the Neretva river in the beautiful city of Mostar, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Known to be a rite of passage for males in the local culture, the tradition has been practiced since the bridge was first built in 1556. Many of the world’s best divers, such as Zvezdan Grozdik, trace their first dive to Stari Most. The bridge was destroyed in the Bosnian war in 1993, and has since been rebuilt, and the tradition reinstated in 2004, as a sign of peace.
Yanshui Beehive Rockets Festival, Taiwan: This festival, held on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month each year, sees thousands of people gather in the city of Yanshui in Western Taiwan. Beehive crackers are set off amidst a crowd of helmet-wearing spectators, with the belief that standing in the way of a lit firecracker wards off bad luck. The event is held every year to commemorate a cholera epidemic that hit the country a century ago.
Onbashira, Japan: Huge logs, selected from the mountain-forest region of Lake Suwa, and are manually transported to the shrines of Suwa Taisha. Kitoshi, a particularly dangerous part of the journey, involves local men climbing the logs and then trying to stay on as the logs tumble down the hills. Many people die by being crushed under the logs, although it is considered good fortune to die during the festival. The festival is held once every six years.
Copper’s hill cheese rolling, England: Held in Gloucester, England, this annual contest involves having participants look for a round Gloucester cheese down a bumpy hill. It is virtually impossible for participants to not trip or fall at least once. Though the task seems easy and harmless, incidents of broken bones and concussions are extremely common.
Kirkpinar Wrestling Festival, Turkey: A UNESCO Intangible Heritage Event, this weeklong oil-wrestling festival is held in Edirne, Turkey every year. The 700 year old festival is said to be the oldest annual sporting event in the world. Men of all ages, bathed in olive oil and dressed in kisbet (cowhide trousers), battle it out one on one. The last man standing wins the title of Chief Pehlivan (Chief wrestler) and The Kirkpinar Golden Belt.Â