Who doesn’t want to celebrate a holiday? After all, holidays are the times when we get a break from our daily drudgery and get to be with our loved ones. Or even if all you want to do is chill at home and catch up with some reading, holidays are your movie tickets!
And in some places, people find the most bizarre reasons to celebrate so that they can enjoy a good holiday. Like these 14 weird holidays that people celebrate around the world.
1. Dia del Mar – March 23
Also known as the Day of the Sea, this Bolivian holiday commemorates the day Bolivia lost to Chile in 1883 and lost access to the sea. Bolivians remember their history and the ocean by listening to sounds of waves crashing on the beach or seagulls squawking.
2. Hadaka Matsuri – Third Saturday of February
This is the annual day to ‘prove your manhood’ for Japanese men. They go around in loin clothes and are required to perform an array of tasks, which vary from place to place.
3. Squirrel Appreciation Day – January 21
This celebration is exactly what it sounds like, where people gather in massive crowds to watch squirrels, and offer them food.
4. Nyepi – Some day in March
This annual holiday of Bali is also known as ‘the day of silence.’ On this government-mandated holiday, people do not talk, eat, light fires, listen to the radio, or watch TV, rather reflect on their thoughts.
5. Noche de Rabanos – December 23
Or the ‘Night of the Radishes’, this annual holiday in Mexico celebrates vegetable sculpting, but mostly radishes.
6. Kanamara Matsuri – First Sunday of April
This extremely important Japanese holiday celebrates the mighty ‘penis’. Penis is considered the valiant hero that brings forth the bliss of fertility over mankind! 😛
7. Gai Jatra – Any day in August
Procession of Cows, as the English translation reads, celebrates just that – a procession of cows led by people in Nepal to help the deceased to navigate the roads towards heaven.
8. Monkey Buffet Festival – Last weekend of November
In Thailand, monkeys are quite important. So much so that they have their own buffet consisting a huge spread of vegetables and fruits.
9. Bolas de Fuego – August 31
Celebrated annually in Nejapa in El Salvador, this is known as the fireball festival. This centuries-old festival is celebrated by throwing actual blazing fireballs in the air, or hurling them here and there.
10. Bermuda Day – May 24
Celebrated in the islands of Bermuda, this annual holiday celebrates the recognition of Bermuda as perfectly okay office wear for the inhabitants.
11. Blessed Rain Day – September 20-25
This Bhutanese public holiday celebrates the end of monsoon when rains are finally over and the skies become clear again.
12. World Zombie Day – Someday in October
Yup, you read that right. It is celebrated around the world in many cities of different countries, though not necessarily on the same day. People cosplay as zombies and take out zombie walk – but all for a good cause, to bring awareness about hunger.
13. Setsubun – February 2/3
This is the national bean throwing day in Japan. Japanese folks throw beans around their homes, shrines and temples to ward off evil spirits.
14. National Weatherman’s Day – February 5
The U.S. loves boosting the morals of underappreciated people. The U.S. citizens celebrate them every year on 5th of February.
Lovely reasons to celebrate, I must say!