10 Weird Food Festivals In The World

If you’re going to travel all over the world, it’ll be better if you knew all about the countries you’re planning to visit. It’ll be such a big advantage for you, when you know the language of the country, its culture, its kitchen and all about it. You should also learn about the festivals, which are going to take place during the time period you’re going to be there. Thus, we present here the top 10 weird food festivals in the world to help you make your mind on which country is better to visit first.

1. La Tomatina

One of the most famous and funny festivals in the world is La Tomatina, which takes place in Buñol, Spain. This “bloody” festival gathers over 50.000 participants at one place and lets them have a good time by throwing tomatoes on each other. This festival takes place each summer, on the last Wednesday of August. At first, the participants had to buy a tomato, but soon tomatoes became free. Now La Tomatina is a worldwide festival and everyone hurries to take part in that.

2. Gooseberry

The British famous festival known as Gooseberry festival takes place on the first Tuesday of August in North Yorkshire. Thus, the gardeners gather in the church of the country and start to compare their berries. This festival has been celebrated for many years, as British people have been familiar with berry since the 18th centuries. By the way, the biggest berry had the size of a golf ball.

3. Mango Festival

Do you know that mango is a sacred symbol for Indians? Hence, unambiguously they should celebrate the mango festival, as they give too much importance to mango. So, one of India’s most famous events is the International Mango Festival, which takes place in Delhi. All the farmers and specialists of mangoes from different states of India gather together to compete with each other. Therefore, mangoes are free during this festival, so you can go and taste it to express your opinion.

4. Roasted Pigs’ Festival

Roasted pig has a big importance in the Philippines. There are a lot of festivals about roasted pigs throughout the year. However, Lechon parade is the most famous festival, which is celebrated every year, on June 24. So, pigs should be marinated and cooks prepare them in the same way as the barbecues. After the cooking, the roast pigs are adorned in fancy dresses and costumes to take part in the parade. After the parade, you may go and taste them.

5. Maple Syrup Festival

Maple syrup is Canada’s special holiday, when people collect maple sap in February and prepare for spring to make a big and interesting festival in April. All the dishes are made from maple syrup, such as pancakes or vegetable soups. Thus, if you’re interested, come and have fun in this tasty festival. Be part of the cherished community tradition!

6.“Wild Foods” Festival

Of course, we all are interested in wild animals. Therefore, it’s obvious that we should be interested in the food made of those animals too. New Zealand’s “Wild Foods” festival is a proof for that. Claire Bryant was the originator of the festival, who created fine wine from the flowers of gorse. During the festival you can taste different dishes made of different wild animals and fishes. You just have to pay for festival ($30, plus $15 for entertainment) and have a really “wild” time.

7.“Chinchilla Melon”

The watermelon festival has been a tradition since 1994 and it is celebrated once in two years. It’s one of the tastiest festivals in the world and has some similarities with Spanish festival “La tomatina”. All the participants get together and create a blood-red pulp from a watermelon. For an excellent result, they choose the biggest and the heaviest watermelon. They should wear old shoes and dresses, as the ground is covered with watermelon.

8. “Thorrablot Feast”

Another interesting festival is Thorrablot Feast. In ancient times, Vikings organized sacrifices to their gods with different wild animals. So, this was an idea for the Icelandic students and they started to organize this festival. During the festival you can taste such wild dishes as the sheep stomach stuffed in blood or maybe shark meat, sheep or bull eye. However, you should know that you have to pay for these dishes ($100 for each dish), still you get the potato and vodka free of charge.

9. “Marunada Chestnut” Festival

In Croatia the harvest time is a special holiday as it is the time for the “Marunada Chestnut” festival. The Marunada Chestnut festival is celebrated every year in Croatia, during which the participants collect chestnuts and roast them, putting them into the paper bags with some meat and fish. So, you may taste candies and cakes and other sweets there.

10. Festival of Pine Mushroom Sony

Pay for a ticket and take part in a really adventurous and joyful festival, in South Korea. During the “Mushroom Sony” festival you can go into the woods to pick up mushrooms by yourself. By the way, they are very tasty and at the same time rather expensive to buy, as they grow in pine woods and you are not allowed to collect them on other days. So, don’t spare money and hurry to taste different dishes made from mushroom during the festival.