10 of the Strangest Traditions from Around the World 2024
From scrambled egg festivals to monkey buffets, it’s safe to say that there are some rather weird and wonderful traditions that take place around the world.
Here’s a list of just 10 of the most bizarre cultural practices from around the globe that are still carried out today. Don’t forget to invest in international health insurance for when you jet off overseas. We also offer a number of other expat insurance products to give you protection wherever you’re living in the world, including a cashless health insurance option.
La Tomatina, Spain
First up is La Tomatina, the largest food fight in the world. The annual festival is held in Buñol, Spain on the last Wednesday of August as part of a week of festivities in Buñol and quite literally consists of people throwing tomatoes at each other for fun.
It’s not quite known how it came about but there are many theories surrounding it. One of the most popular is that during a parade of Gigantes y Cabezudos (Giants and Big-Heads) in 1945, one of the participant’s Big Heads fell off during the festivities. The participant then got angry and started hitting things, including a market stall of vegetables. More people then joined in, pelting each other with tomatoes until the local police broke up the fight.
The following year, there was a pre-planned food fight where a few participants bought their own tomatoes. Again, the local forces broke up the fight but the next year, thousands of people turned up to have a tomato fight.
Smashing coconuts on people’s skulls in India
Breaking coconuts on people’s heads is a ritual that has been around for a long time in some parts of southern India. It’s part of the Aadi Perukku festival celebrated every Monsoon in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Devotees to the Hindu religion will gather inside the temple and the Priest will smash a coconut on the head of each of them one after the other as a sign to the gods they are asking for good health and success. The subjects will then usually walk away as if unphased by the event. The ritual isn’t compulsory, and only those who wish to take part do.
There are various origin stories for this tradition. One story says that devotees to Lord Shiva were trying to communicate with him to get his help. After trying everything to get him to appear, they resorted to breaking coconuts on their heads, as coconuts resemble the three-eyed face of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva then appeared and gave the devotees his help, and the tradition has continued.
Another possible origin story stems from colonial times. During British rule, the British were set on demolishing the temple in order to build a railway line. The British said that if the local people could break coconut-sized stones with their heads, they would not demolish the temple. The people succeeded and the temple remains in place to this day.
Festival of scrambled eggs in Bosnia
Whereas in the UK we might celebrate the start of Spring by picking some daffodils or doing a spring clean, in Zenica, Bosnia they mark the start of the season with an unusual tribute to scrambled eggs known as the Čimburijada festival.
They start the day as they mean to go on with a large breakfast of eggs cooked in a city park near the Bosna River. Hundreds of eggs are cooked at the same time in giant pans and then distributed to the festival attendees. They then spend the rest of the day partying, barbecuing and jumping into the river.
Throwing cinnamon at single 25-year old’s in Denmark
In Denmark, if you turn 25 and are unmarried not only do you have to face Valentine’s Day alone, but you also must endure your friends and family submerging you in a cloud of cinnamon. It’s thought that the tradition stems from when spice salesmen used to travel around the country and remain bachelors.
This long-standing tradition in Denmark is customary if a man or woman turns 25 and is still single. Firstly, they get splashed with water and then they get covered from head to toe in cinnamon. It’s not a form of punishment but more just an excuse to be silly with friends and family. When people turn 30 and are still single, the cinnamon gets replaced with pepper, and sometimes has egg in the mix to help the mixture stick to the person.
The monkey buffet festival in Thailand
On the last Sunday of November something rather spectacular, if a little bit strange, happens in Phra Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi, Thailand.
A lavish banquet is laid out and a big celebration is held, but not for humans. The feast is held in honour of Lopburi’s thousands of macaques that supposedly bring good luck to the area and its occupants and therefore they are the special guests at this party.
The festival includes performances by dancers in monkey costumes during the opening ceremony and towers of fruits and vegetables in which the monkeys climb, jump and indulge on. There are also food stalls for human attendees to enjoy.
Polterabend in Germany
Polterabend, coming from the German verb poltern, making a lot of noise, and abend, evening, is a unique tradition in Germany that is generally held the day before a bride and groom are due to wed.
It’s a big party where friends and family gather at the front of the house and smash things on the floor such as, plates, flowerpots, tiles, anything that makes a lot of noise. This is thought to bring good luck, so glass and mirrors are avoided, as glass symbolises happiness, and shouldn’t be broken, and breaking mirrors is seen as bad luck.
Once the dish breaking is done the bride and groom then work together to clean it up as preparation for the future.
Shoving faces in cake in Mexico
Perhaps one of the best traditions on this list is ‘La Mordida’, a Mexican birthday tradition. The birthday girl or boy will have their hands tied behind their back and when they go to take the first bite of cake, they will have their face pushed right into it whilst the rest of the party guests shout “Mordida! Mordida! Mordida!”, the Spanish word for ‘take a bite’. It’s particularly important to note here that Mexican cakes are pretty creamy, which can make quite a mess.
The tradition stems from ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures which are known for incorporating elements of fun and mischief into their rituals and celebrations.
Battle of the oranges in Italy
Every year on the three days leading up to Mardis Gras something rather strange takes place in Ivrea, Italy. The residents divide up into nine different squads and dress in battle attire then over the next few days they sling oranges at each other to try and kill the other teams. It has become the largest food fight in Italy, however, not quite as big as La Tomatina yet.
The origins of this game are unclear, but some believe it is linked to the city’s defiance against a tyrant ruler in the 12th or 13th century. He assaulted a young girl on the evening of her wedding. The girl decapitated him, and the local people stormed the palace and burned it down.
Finger cutting of the Dani tribe
Everyone grieves differently after the loss of a loved one but the women of the Dani tribe in Indonesia have quite a unique and severe way of dealing with grief.
When they lose a loved one the top joint of a woman’s finger will be amputated, a practice known as ikipalin. String will be tightly tied around the finger until it goes numb and then a family member, often a sibling or parent will cut off the top of the finger. The wound is then burnt to stop the bleeding and prevent infection.
The process is carried out to symbolise the pain suffered after the loss of a loved one and to keep the deceased person’s spirit away. In the Dani tribe, fingers symbolise unity and strength with the fingers working together – missing fingers represent the loss felt by missing family members.
Baby tossing in India
In parts of India, they have a ritual that involves throwing babies off the side of temples. Infants under the age of two will be shaken by a priest and then dropped between 30 and 50 feet. It is a ritual followed by both Hindus and Muslims in rural areas of the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, with around two hundred families taking part.
The exact origins of the ritual are unknown. It’s been around for over seven hundred years thought to be connected to high infant mortality rates and lack of medical advances at time. In the early years, unwell children were dropped down without protection, and it was believed the almighty would miraculously save them by creating a hammock out of air.
Today, children are thrown onto a sheet below that’s held by a group of men below. It’s thought to bring good luck and a long life for the child.
