According to termalfurdo.hu, on the most flabbergasting festivals and celebrations of Europe people throw tomatoes and oranges on each other, raft in boats full of beers and make funny and creative scarecrows. But would you be able to guess which festival is the Hungarian one in Travelaway’s list?
Running of the bulls, Pamplona, Spain
The main attraction of Pamplona’s (Northern-Spain) world-famous San Fermin Festival is the running of the bulls. The event is regularly happening at the beginning of July and lasts for 9 days. The festival has been organised since 1951 in honour of the town’s patron saint, Saint Fermin. The crowd dressed in Basque folk costume runs together 825 metres in the narrow downtown alleys with 6 powerful bulls each weighing 600 kilograms.
Battle of Oranges, Ivrea, Italy
In the small Italian town of UNESCO-protected Ivrea, thousands of people start to throw oranges on each other in February each year. The festival lasts for three days, and they use 50 thousand crates (400 tonnes) of oranges. They commemorate that hundreds of years ago the monarch wanted to enforce Ius primae noctis in case of a young girl, but
she cut the tyrant’s head off.
Scarecrow Festival, Kettlewell, Great-Britain
The first Scarecrow Festival was organised in 1994 in the charming little British village of Kettlewell during which tourists can see creative and bizarre hay figures for two weeks in the whole settlement. We can spot celebrities like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, but scarecrows are riding a bike or celebrating their wedding, too. The purpose of the festival is to
collect money for the local school and church.
Tomato Fight, Bunol, Spain
Tomatina Festival is the most significant food battle in the world which is held on the last Wednesday of August in Bunol, 30 kilometres away from the seashore. People coming from all four corners of the compass throw 140 tonnes of tomatoes on each other. Besides, fireworks, paella contest and other colourful events enrich the program. Of course, at the end of the day, the whole city is almost floating on tomato juice.
World Bodypainting Festival, Klagenfurt, Austria
It is Austria’s most special festival on which more than 300 teams of artists are working on creative bodypaintings admired by approx. 30 thousand viewers. Furthermore, there are internationally recognised DJs and amazing shows entertaining the tourists.
Busójárás, Mohács, Hungary
This is the wildest festival in Hungary which aims to chase away winter. It is held at the end of the carnival season and includes folk music, demonic masks, parades and dancing. Busós entertain people with their rattlers and clapper bells wearing costumes made by famous folk artists. The program has been a Hungaricum since 2012 and is on the list of UNESCO’s Intangible cultural heritage.
Flower Carpet, Brussels, Belgium
On the world-famous Grand Place in Brussels, there is a gigantic carpet built of 600 thousand flowers in every two years in August. Traditionally, the many hundreds of gardeners and volunteers use begonia which is the pride of the Belgian horticulture.
Beer floating, Vantaa, Finland
The happy and dorky Kaljakellunta has been organised in Finland for 20 years. Lovers of beer can sit in boats in which bottles of ale have been placed before, and so they float down on the river Vantaa. There are no rules or entrance ticket, and people only have to enjoy themselves while they drift down on the river and drink their beer. Thus, it is not surprising that many Swedish towns are taking over the funny custom and organise their own Kaljakellunta.
Photos: facebook.com/pg/kettlewellscarecrowfestival, facebook.com/FlowerCarpet, facebook.com/wb.festival
Source: travelaway.me, termalfurdo.hu
