Now for something completely different! What do oil wresting, beer can boat racing and tomato throwing have in common? Well, they’re amongst our list of 8 weird and wonderful world events in 2016!
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But for now, here come the weird events!
Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling, Coopers Hill, Gloucestershire, UK – May 30
Apparently it’s a bit dangerous to have lots of people running down a very steep hill after a big cheese, so this is now an unofficial event. But it’s quintessentially English, and a bit of a laugh (unless you happen to break your leg).
Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling, Edirne, Turkey – June 18
Men covered in oil, rolling around in a field, having a good old wrestle. Good for them. They’ve been doing this for over 700 years, but they no longer fight to the death. What a bunch of wusses.
Camel Cup, Alice Springs, Australia – July 9
Don’t get the hump, go to the Camel Cup! It all gets pretty silly at times – you try keeping a straight face watching jockeys trying to keep control of unruly camels.
Boryeong Mud Festival, Daecheon Beach, South Korea – Mid-July
Lots of mud. Lots of rolling around in the mud. Mud cosmetics. Mud wrestling. Like I say, lots of mud. Music too, and a lot of fun. And mud.
Darwin Beer Can Regatta, Darwin, Australia – July 17
Down on Mindil Beach in Darwin, this is a really fun day out, featuring loads of boats made out of – you guessed it – beer cans, built with varying degrees of success. Reckon you could pull it off?
Air Guitar World Championships, Oulu, Finland – August 15
We can all play the air guitar, right? But if you’re really, really good, you could succeed 2015’s winner Kereel ”Your Daddy” Blumenkrants, the first ever Russian to take the crown.
La Tomatina, Valencia, Spain – August 31
Thousands and thousands of people throwing, rolling around in and dancing about in tomatoes – around 125,000kg of the things. Forget your five a day, here you’ll get your five hundred tomatoes a day.
Santa Con, various cities – throughout December
What could be more fun than dressing up as Santa, and being with loads of other Santas at the same time? There are events all over the USA – the first was in San Francisco in 1994, one of the largest today is in California – but also around the world. But there are rules – you must address your fellow Santas as ‘Santa’, not get drunk and not make children cry. Like that needs saying…?
Like the sound of these? There are plenty more great events as part of our 101 Must-Do Global Events in 2016.
