The best parties often happen in places tourists never think to look. While millions flock to Oktoberfest and Carnival, locals around the world throw incredible celebrations that remain largely off the international radar.
These festivals offer something package tours can’t deliver: authentic experiences where you’re celebrating alongside people who’ve been doing this for generations, not performing for camera-wielding visitors. These hidden gems prove that the most memorable cultural experiences happen when communities come together to celebrate what makes them unique.
Here are 15 local festivals where you’ll be the only tourist in sight.
Up Helly Aa, Scotland
Every last Tuesday in January, the residents of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands torch a full-sized Viking longship in a spectacular fire festival that predates tourism by centuries. Local men spend months crafting elaborate costumes and practicing torch-lit processions through the town’s narrow streets.
The celebration culminates when nearly 1,000 participants throw their torches into the replica Viking galley, creating a bonfire that can be seen for miles across the North Sea.
Festival of the Pig, France
The small town of Trie-sur-Baïse in southwestern France throws an annual celebration that turns the entire community into one giant pork-themed party. Local farmers showcase their prize pigs, while restaurants compete to create the most inventive dishes using every part of the animal.
The festival began as a livestock market but evolved into a celebration of rural French culture that brings together farming families from across the region.
Cheese Rolling Festival, England
Cooper’s Hill near Gloucester becomes the scene of controlled chaos each May when locals chase a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down a steep hillside. Participants tumble, roll, and bounce their way down the 200-yard slope in pursuit of the 8-pound cheese wheel that can reach speeds of 70 mph.
The tradition dates back at least 200 years, and winners get to keep the cheese plus bragging rights until the following year.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Night of the Radishes, Mexico
Oaxaca City transforms into an outdoor art gallery every December 23rd when local artisans carve elaborate sculptures from oversized radishes. The tradition began in the 1890s when vendors started decorating their produce to attract Christmas shoppers, but it’s evolved into a competition featuring intricate nativity scenes and local legends carved entirely from vegetables.
The radishes must be harvested, carved, and displayed within 24 hours before they start to wilt.
Wife Carrying Championship, Finland
Sonkajärvi hosts the world’s most unusual obstacle course each July, where male participants carry female teammates through water hazards, sand pits, and wooden barriers. The winner receives the woman’s weight in local craft brew, making it one of the few competitions where being paired with a heavier teammate actually improves your prize.
The tradition supposedly stems from an 1800s practice of men stealing wives from neighboring villages, though today’s participants are usually married couples having fun.
Baby Jumping Festival, Spain
The village of Castrillo de Murcia celebrates Corpus Christi with a tradition that makes helicopter parents everywhere nervous: men dressed as devils leap over babies born in the previous year. Local families place their infants on mattresses in the street while costumed participants vault over them to cleanse the children of original sin.
The Catholic Church officially disapproves, but locals have maintained this 400-year-old tradition despite outside pressure to stop.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Blackening of the Bride, Scotland
In parts of rural Scotland, friends and family ‘blacken’ engaged couples by covering them in a mixture of flour, eggs, fish sauce, and other unmentionable substances before parading them through town. The logic goes that if you can handle this humiliation together, marriage will be easy by comparison.
This pre-wedding ritual strengthens community bonds while testing the couple’s sense of humor and commitment to each other.
Monkey Buffet Festival, Thailand
The town of Lopburi throws an annual feast for its population of long-tailed macaques, setting up elaborate banquet tables loaded with fruits, vegetables, and local delicacies. Local residents believe feeding the monkeys brings good luck and prosperity to their community.
The festival began in the 1980s as a way to boost tourism, but it has evolved into a genuine celebration of the unique relationship between the townspeople and their simian neighbors.
Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling, Turkey
Near Edirne, men cover themselves in olive oil and wrestle in leather pants during a festival that’s been running continuously for over 650 years. Competitors range from young boys to seasoned veterans, all trying to gain enough grip on their slippery opponents to claim victory.
The winner earns the title of ‘Chief Wrestler’ and gets to keep a golden belt that’s worth more than most people’s cars.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Frozen Dead Guy Days, United States
Nederland, Colorado, celebrates its most famous resident: Bredo Morstoel, a Norwegian man whose cryogenically frozen body is stored in a local shed. The festival features coffin races, frozen turkey bowling, and tours of the storage facility where Bredo awaits future resurrection technology.
What started as a bizarre news story became an annual celebration that perfectly captures this mountain town’s quirky sense of humor.
Ivrea Orange Battle, Italy
This Piedmont town throws the world’s largest food fight each February, with teams hurling oranges at each other in a reenactment of a medieval rebellion against tyrannical rulers. Locals spend weeks organizing into opposing factions, and the three-day battle uses over 500 tons of citrus ammunition imported specially from Sicily.
Participants wear protective gear, but spectators need to stay alert or risk getting pelted by flying fruit.
Tomatina Festival, Spain
The first Tomatina Festival in Shenyang, north Chinas Liaoning province, has attracted more than 300 people to participate in. Participants throw tomatoes at each other and enjoy fun, after which the whole place is colored red and rivers of tomato juice flow freely. The aim of the Tomatina Festival is relaxation from pressure.
While Buñol’s tomato fight has gained some international attention, it remains primarily a local affair where residents celebrate their agricultural heritage by pelting each other with overripe tomatoes. The festival began in the 1940s during a local parade that got out of hand, and townspeople have been throwing produce at each other ever since.
Fire trucks spray down the streets afterward, leaving the town cleaner than it was before the battle began.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Burning of the Devil, Guatemala
Every December 7th, Guatemalans build bonfires in front of their homes and burn effigies representing evil spirits and bad luck from the previous year. Families gather old furniture, worn-out clothes, and anything else they want to leave behind as they prepare for Christmas celebrations.
The tradition combines indigenous Mayan beliefs with Catholic customs, creating a uniquely Guatemalan way of spiritual cleansing.
Hadaka Matsuri, Japan
Several Japanese cities host ‘unclothed festivals’ where thousands of men wearing only loincloths compete to touch sacred objects or catch wooden talismans thrown by priests. The most famous takes place in Okayama, where 10,000 participants wearing only loincloths crowd into Saidaiji Temple, hoping to grab lucky charms that will bring them prosperity.
The festival requires months of spiritual preparation and physical conditioning to handle the intense competition and winter cold.
World Bog Snorkeling Championship, Wales
Llanwrtyd Wells hosts the world’s murkiest swimming competition each August, where participants don flippers and snorkels to navigate two lengths of a water-filled peat bog trench. Competitors must complete the 120-yard course using only flipper power, without using conventional swimming strokes.
The murky water, freezing temperatures, and decomposing vegetation make this one of the world’s most challenging aquatic events.
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.
Where Authenticity Lives On
These festivals remind us that the world’s most meaningful celebrations happen when communities gather to honor their own traditions rather than entertain outsiders. While social media has made some of these events more visible, they maintain their authentic character because locals organize them for locals, preserving cultural practices that might otherwise disappear.
The laughter, chaos, and genuine community spirit at these gatherings offer something no resort or tour package can replicate: the chance to witness human culture in its most unfiltered form.
More from Travel Pug
- 20 Best Beach Towns in the Carolinas
- 13 Destinations Where Tourists Regularly Regret Their Trip
- 20 Destinations That Are More Magical Without an Itinerary
- 20 Underrated Adventures That Belong on Your Travel List
- 20 Cities Where You Should Just Wing It, No Planning Required
Like Travel Pug’s content? Follow us on MSN.