FESTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL

Some may dismiss Comic-Con as a geek fest, but true fans know

that it’s four days of fun where they can meet industry stars and

play in a fantasy world, all in downtown San Diego. Packed with

events from autograph signings to film screenings to costume

competitions (many people show up in costume), this celebration

of popular arts is a behemoth convention. And to be perfectly

clear here, nobody is too geeky to hit Comic-Con, a monstrous

convention that embraces comics and other popular art forms.

TESTICLE FESTIVAL

Each year in Clinton, Montana, locals gather to celebrate, well,

testicles. The Testy Fest includes several different events, the main

one being the ball-eating contest. You are given four minutes to see

how many bull testicles you can consume. Yes, you have to eat

bull testicles. They also have an Undie 500 race, which is pretty

much what it sounds like—people racing in their underwear.

WIFE CARRYING

You’d have thought a petite partner would be favourable in the

Wife Carrying Championships, but don’t be fooled. While a

lightweight missus will help hubbies navigate the assault course

in the quickest time, their life partners will count against them

when organizers award the prize—the wife’s weight in beer.

BURNING MAN

Less a festival, more a way of life, Nevada’s Burning Man is the

celebrated soiree that turns the Black Rock Desert into an

alternative, free-thinking city for a week. Attracting imaginative

extroverts and creative self-expressionists, attendees aren’t

merely observers but participants who dream up, build, and

dismantle a world of mutilated cars, interactive communal camps

and otherworldly art in a temporary, utopian space.

UNDERWATER MUSIC FESTIVAL

The Underwater Music Festival is held every year in the Florida Keys.

Music is broadcast by local radio stations and piped underwater.

Musicians dressed as mermaids and mermen join in the fun

and put on a show for all spectators. Many dive enthusiasts come

out for the fun and food, but the festival also promotes the

preservation of the Keys’ coral reef ecosystem.

WODAABE GEREWOL & CURE SALEE

Roles are reversed for the Wodaabe men, who wear makeup and

elaborate costumes in the beauty pageant known as Gerewol.

Gerewol might be a beauty pageant, but it is also a courtship ritual,

as the pageantry often leads to flirtation and potentially a love match.

Wodaabe traditionally have arranged marriages, and many are

already married when the pageant takes place. It is possible that

a flirtation that develops from this beauty competition could lead

to a second marriage (or third), something that is not out of the

realm of possibility for the Wodaabe people.

GOLDEN SHEARS

It might be hard to believe, but one year the crowds at this sheep

shearing festival were so large that the army had to be called in

to control them. These days it’s all about speed and the

quality of the cut as clipper-ready contestants vie for the

championship title. Competitors literally need to be a cut above

the rest to win the wool handling and wool pressing competitions.

BATTLE OF THE ORANGES

The Spanish are well known for their annual food fight, La Tomatina,

but that’s nothing compared to Italy’s Battle of the Oranges.

The origins of this festival are unclear, but we do know that being

hit in the face by citrus fruit is painful. However, that doesn’t deter

participants who turn up in the thousands to join the fight.