25 Weird and Crazy Traditions from Around the World

This tradition happens twice a year, in July and September, and it’s observed in honor of loved ones who’ve passed on.

Participants unbury their dead, rewrap their bodies in clean cloth, and ask for blessings.

There’s apparently also quite a bit of rum and dancing involved…some even dance with the deceased.

There are several beauty competitions around the world to evaluate and judge a woman’s beauty and talent. However, in the Wodaabe tribe, it’s the men who need to wear fancy clothes and prove their value. It’s more than a pageant, though, as it’s more of a courtship practice.

We use the term holler often enough in the English language, but this competition takes it next level. Traditionally, Hollering was a way to communicate over long distances before phones were standard in every household.

It’s more than simply yelling; more like a cross between a yodel and a shout…and participants practice with vocal exercises and train. And if you are really good at it, you can join in the National Hollering Contest in Spivey’s Corner, North Carolina every summer. This competition has been happening since 1969.

Luckily for the wives, this wild event is separate from the boot tossing competition.

Husbands participate by carrying their wife (or other female partner) through an obstacle course in order to test their strength. While the origin of the sport is unclear, it’s worth noting that the victor wins his wife’s weight in beer. There’s lots of fun to be had surrounding the event, including karaoke and costume contests for the couples participating.

This Mexican birthday tradition involves something quite different than blowing out candles.

Those celebrating their special day have their hands tied behind their back, and they take a bite of the cake with their mouth…only to have their face shoved into the cake while guests shout, “Mordida! Mordida!” which means, “Take a bite! Take a bite!”

Usually churches celebrate Easter with an extra service or a special communion or other such religious observation.

However, on the Greek island of Chios, they are a bit more explosive in their celebrations.

There are two churches that try to ring each other’s bell by shooting a rocket at it. The winner is determined the next day by counting how many hits there were to the belfry.

This Welsh tradition happens around Christmas time, and it dates back to the 19th century.

Participants decorate a horse’s skull, mount it on a broomstick, and drape the stick and themselves with a sheet.

They then knock on people’s doors to sing and ask if they can come in the house. If they homeowners can’t respond quickly, in rhyme, to the the Mari Lwyd, it comes into the house to raid your house for food and beer.

In Zenica, Bosnia, they usher in the spring season in a very unique way.

People go to the city rec center along the river at the break of dawn to have a big breakfast of scrambled eggs.

They then spend the rest of the day relaxing, barbecuing, and hanging out at the park.

Boot throwing (aka Welly wanging – because of the specific boots used) is said to have originated in the 1970s, but the first official competition started in Finland in 1992. There’s even an organization for the sport – The International Boot Throwing Competition.

Feeling some pre-wedding jitters? You might find the German tradition of Polterabend helpful to relieve some stress.

Friends and family of the couple gather the day before the big celebration and smash things like plates, tiles, flower pots, and mugs to the ground.

As with many things on this list, it’s said to bring good luck.

So who cleans up the mess when it’s all over? The happy couple, of course! It’s good preparation for working together as a couple in the future.

Okay, here is a much less traumatic baby-related tradition, although it’s still pretty strange.

In Castrillo De Murcia, Spain, there’s a festival that blesses the future of the babies born that previous year. This blessing doesn’t come in the form of nice words or gifts – it comes by having the “devil” jump over them. They lay the babies down on mattresses on the ground and participants literally jump over them. This is said to absorb the sins of the babies and protects them from sickness and ill-fortune.

It’s a tradition that started in the 1600s, and there have been no reported injuries.

Before I get too far on this one, it’s worth mentioning that child rights activists managed to get this one banned in 2011.

In some cities in India, there is a religious custom where they throw babies or young toddlers off the roof of 15-30-foot high temples. They are caught in blankets held out to catch them below, but it’s still a traumatic experience for the kids. The practice is said to bring good luck to the child.

On Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire, England, spring is celebrated in an epic way – by rolling big rounds of cheese down the super steep slope of the hill.

Why? Theories on why this tradition started include pagan origins of bringing in a new year after the winter and a ritual to maintain grazing rights in the area.

While everyone grieves a bit differently, certain cultures have very specific mourning rituals. Such is the case with the Dani Tribe in Indonesia.

When a woman loses someone they love, they amputate the top joint of a finger. First they tie a string around the finger to cut off circulation; once it’s numb, a family member will cut off the tip of the finger. It’s then cauterized to stop the bleeding.

If you like to live life on the wild side and don’t mind the cold, the International Hair Freezing Contest in Canada might have to make its way on your list of life-experiences.

While temperatures outside can reach -30 degrees, the hot springs make it a bearable swim. The cool part? Dunk your head in the hot springs and then once you lift your head out of the water, your hair freezes and you now have a head full of icicles.

Being single has its advantages.

Being single and turning 25? Still has advantages…but in Denmark, it comes at a price. If you’re still single when that special birthday comes, it’s customary to have cinnamon thrown on you – after you’ve been splashed with water, of course.

Enjoy the cinnamon, though. If you’re still single at 30, apparently the spice of choice is black pepper.

We’ve mentioned a post-marriage ceremony; here is a pre-marital one.

In Bali, smooth teeth symbolize control over sinful emotions such as lust, jealousy, greed, and anger. Because of this belief, both men and women have their teeth filed – both as a preparation for marriage, and as a rite of passage into adulthood.

In the Amazon Rainforest, near Venezuela and Brazil, the Yanomami tribe has a strong belief that no physical parts of the body should remain, or else the spirit might not rest.

You might immediately think of cremation – and you’d be correct. However, the Yanomami take it one step further by adding the ashes to a plantain soup that the family of the deceased drinks.

Not only is the soul now a peace, it’s living within their loved ones.

Nothing like a good superstition, am I right?

In the southern part of India, Hindu practitioners will go into a temple to have a priest smash a coconut on their heads and then walk away as if nothing happened.

Why? Because that’s how to ask the gods for success and health.

Despite warnings of the danger of this practice, it’s something that’s been going on since the colonial period.

Cultures around the world certainly have some interesting ways to define what it means to “be a man.

For the young men in the Amazonian tribe of Satere-Mawe, they prove their manhood by sticking their hands in mitts containing bullet ants. They have to keep the gloves on for 10 minutes, and this tradition is held multiple times throughout a man’s life.

Bullet ants have one of the most painful bites; they are called bullet ants because their bites are said to feel like you’re being hit with a bullet.

In Thailand at the Phra Prang Sam Yot temple in the city of Lopburi, residents roll out a feast fit for a king. Only this party is for the macaques monkeys.

The people of Lopburi cherish the thousands of these primates that live in the area as they are said to bring good luck.

Piles of fruits and veggies are put out for the monkeys to enjoy, and there are dances by performers in monkey costumes.

Speaking of food fights, in the city of Ivrea, Italy, people dress up in battle gear, split into 9 teams, and throw oranges at each other, trying to knock each other out. It’s not quite to the scale of La Tomatina, but it’s still pretty epic. This battle of the oranges happens every year on the three days before Marti Gras.

You’ve possibly heard of audience members of old throwing rotten fruit at performers who do a bad job.

However, have you heard of the festival in Buñol, Spain where they throw tomatoes at each other? For fun?

La Tomatina happens each year on the last Wednesday in August, and it lasts for a whole week.

There are many theories on how this festival became such a time-honored tradition (since about 1945), but the current reason it’s still celebrated is to honor the town’s patron saints – Luis Bertran and the Mare de Deu dels Desemparats (Mother of God of the Defenseless – AKA, the Virgin Mary).

This Hindu festival celebrates the victory of Lord Murugan over an evil spirit. How they celebrate? Well, there’s no bathroom ban. But they do pierce themselves with sharp objects all over their bodies. Usually going into a deep trance is involved.

There are many ways to celebrate getting married – gifts, parties, blessings, not going to the bathroom for three days…

Wait, what?

In Indonesia, the Tidong community bans newlyweds from using the bathroom for three days after their wedding. Family members watch over them to make sure they don’t break the tradition.

Breaking the tradition is said to bring bad luck in their marriage – like death or financial hardship.