Special days for melons, tomatoes and radishes!
If you think dancing around a May Day pole in the ground while waving sticks with rings of bells around your knees is strange ... then you have not heard the half of it! Would-be travellers are advised of unusual national holidays usually celebrated around the world from days dedicated to public food fights in Spain, to eating a special noodle dish in Korea, but only if you’re single!
Travel experts from MyBaggage.com have revealed some of the strangest community events in annual calendars across the globe.
Black Day – South Korea
An unofficial holiday observed on April 14 each year, mostly by singles who did not receive gifts on Valentine’s Day or White Day, gathering to eat Jajangmyeon noodles with black sauce.
Melon Day – Turkmenistan
Melons are a big deal in Turkmenistan. Hundreds of varieties are grown there with locals very proud of them.
So proud, in fact, the second Sunday in August is a public holiday devoted to them.
Musicians and dancers take to the streets while the nation’s best melon growers are lavished with gifts.
La Tomatina – Spain Essentially a giant food fight, it is held annually in the town of Bunol, just outside Valencia. People take to the streets on the last Wednesday in August to throw overripe tomatoes at each other.
The festival began in 1945 at Giants and Big-Heads figures parade. The energy of jovialities caused one participant’s Big-Head to fall off.
He flew into a fit of rage, and began hitting everything in his path. There was a market stall of vegetables that fell victim to the fury of the crowd.
People started to pelt each other with tomatoes until local forces ended the fruit battle.
Night of the Radishes – Mexico
An annual event on December 23 in Oaxaca, Mexico, it is dedicated to carving of oversized radishes.
The carvings typically create scenes that compete for prizes in various categories. The event has its origins in the colonial period when radishes were introduced by the Spanish.
Oaxaca has a long wood-carving tradition and farmers began carving radishes into figures as a way to attract customers’ attention at Christmas markets in the main square.