Every country in the word has its own festivals, traditions and rituals that distinguish it from others. You will find in each country different festivals from the rest of other countries and in many of them people are practicing rituals that will surprise you from their weirdness. United Kingdom(UK) is one of these countries which isn`t only famous for all kinds of tea, crumps and royal wedding, but also famous for its wonderful festivals. So, if you have the opportunity to travel to UK and known its culture, don`t forget to see and enjoy the wonderful and even the strange festivals. These festivals are conceder one of the most popular traditions that has maintained for many years longer. Here are 7 of the strangest and the most enjoyable festivals take place annually in UK.
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1. Summer Solstice at Stonehenge.
Every year, thousands of British gather at the Stonehenge mountain to watch the summer solar solstice and to follow the rise of the sun over the stone mountain. As the sun rises, it aligns perfectly with an ancient stone to draw a beautiful natural palette. This stone- mountain dates back to the post- history and composed of huge stones that casts the sun`s light on the revelers. These revelers perform their own rituals and others sing songs, knock drums at the rise of the sun.
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2. The Tar Barrels of Ottery St. Marry.
On the 5th of November from every year the festival of “Tar Barrels” takes place in Ottery village St. Marry Devon west of England. Where the people in this village race in the streets carrying on them shoulders flaming tar barrels.
The participants in this ceremony are passing with their burning barrel from one to the other amid the crowd of thousands until the barrel is completely burned. While on the side stand others carrying pips with black gunpowder set on fire to made a loud noise and produce flames and light to suit with the nature of this event. It`s not known exactly how this dangerous tradition originated for the first time, but it`s likely that it dates back to antiquity. There was an old habit of burning barrels filled with tar and passing to pubs or public shops to avoid diseases and drive out evil spirits through smoke and stifling smells caused by burning tar barrels.
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3. Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival.
“Straw Bear” is an ancient and common tradition in some areas of England which takes place on 7th January every year, especially in the city of Whittlesea west of the country. A man or boy covers himself from head to toe in straw and he looks like a straw bear. Then he wonders around the city moving from one house to another and perform activities such as dancing or some shows. As a reward to him, the residents of the city who meet him in the streets or go out from their homes give him money and food. At the end of this celebration the straw bears are burned and another one will made later to celebrate in the next year.
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4. Egg Throwing World Championship.
The legend of the eggs throw festival dated back to the 14th century in the English village of Swaton and then developed to became a championship for throwing eggs. The story of this festival began in 1233 when Swaton`s abbot doled out egged to his parishioners encouraging them to attend church. After a while the river flooded the place around the church and the head of the church prevented the inhabitants from attending to the church. So, the monks threw an egg over the river for everyone came to the church and in that moment the tradition was began. In 2005, the world Egg throwing championship took place for the first time in Swaton. Moreover, the term of the contest is to teams are compete by throwing and catching an Egg over a great and great distance without breaking it. Additional event accrues called “Russians Egg Roulette” that involves two competitors choosing 6eggs. Then smashing them against their forehead one by one, five from the six eggs are hard-boiled and the one is raw. The first competitor to find the raw egg loses and ends up an egg on his forehead.
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5. Burning the Clocks.
Burning the clocks festival is a unique event that brings the whole city of Brighton to celebrate the shortest day of the year. In which the local residents make their own paper lanterns and move them to the Brighton beach for burin. This performs symbol as the end of the year. People find that burning the clock is a lively celebration of a year turning and begins new starting.
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6. Abbost Bromley Horn Dance.
It is one of the oldest and the weirdest traditions that still practiced in UK. This dance dates back to 1226when 6 men wore reindeer antlers. They were tow musicians, a man dressed up as a woman, an archer and the last one was a fool who hits anyone closes to him. The reason for this tradition is still mysterious, but it`s likely this dance was related to the opining of the fishing season or associated to ancient rites of fertility.
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7. Matdon Mud Race.
The matdon mud race is an annual race held since 1973 on banks of the Blackwater river in the British city of Matdon. This event began when the Landlord of the local pub was challenged to serve a meal on the riverbank dressed in dinner jackets. The race can only hold at low tide when the water is low enough to form mud and allow the participants to run safely through the mud to the opposites bank of the river and back again while they are drinking beer.
