The Strange, The Funny, and The Sporting Food Festivals of Europe and the USA and yes – Down Under! – Part II

In Part I we looked at the oddest food festivals in the USA.  Let us now consider some of the most unusually inventive food-themed festivals in Europe – and yes, Down Under.  Once again see if you can guess the Name of the festival or its Country of origin or both.  Good luck and good pickings!

(1) Held in the Valencian town of Bunol every August for the past 67 years, it is the world’s largest vegetable fight known for its red pulp. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(2) Held every February in the province of Turin in the foothills of the Alps, this peculiar three-day festival is known for its tradition of throwing a particular citrus fruit between organized groups. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(3) Held every spring at Cooper’s Hill in the Cotswold region for over 200 years, this downhill racing festival follows a wheel of dairy product that can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(4) Held every January, this Down Under festival features men and women flinging a particular fish weighing between 8 to 10 kilos as far as they possibly can. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(5) Held every December in Oaxaca since 1897, this festival features a folk art competition of sculptures made from a carved vegetable that is fantastically transformed into religious, historical and mythical scenes. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(6) Held every March at the western port town of Hokitika close to Greymouth and the southern Alps of this island, this festival features stalls of bizarre wild foods ranging from insects and ferns to sea gull eggs and sheep testicles. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(7) Held every August and filled with gaily colored paper lanterns, bibs, and hats and traditional drinking songs, this traditional but rowdy five hundred year old Nordic party festival is all about a freshwater crustacean similar to a lobster. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(8) Established in 1653 and held every October alongside the Weimar Beer Festival, this singular street fair is filled with medieval stalls of local crafts and local bands playing around the clock, and most of all – wreaths of this pungent smelling vegetable. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(9) Held annually since 1971, this village fair and edible vegetable-shooting contest uses lung-powered pieces of tubes and laser sights to hit a target made of putty from a distance of 12 yards. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(10) Held every autumn since 1743, this Nordic seafood festival begins with a competition for the “Pickled Fish of the Year” whilst selling local artisanal handicrafts like birch and maple wood kitchen utensils, regional food products such as jam-packed pancakes and wild honey from Lapland and this particular Baltic fish in every imaginable form – in a jar, in a can, in a sandwich, in soup, deep-fried, and even on a pizza. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(11) Held biennially in February in the town of Chinchilla, this one-of-a-kind fruit sporting festival features a unique brand of fruit tossing, fruit skiing, fruit Ironman, fruit ball games, fruit bungee, fruit bullseye, fruit splitting, and pip spitting contests for the entire family. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(12) Held every February in the Flemish town of Geraardsbergen, this Celtic festival celebrates the onset of spring with a parade, a blessing of the hill, the hurling of ring-shaped bread rolls, and the symbolic drinking of live tiny grey fish immersed in red wine. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(13) Held every weekend between October and November, the ancient Piedmont town of Alba, an important wine center, celebrates this subterranean mushroom with parades, musical bands, medieval costumes, and donkey races. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

(14) Beginning in 1445 and held ever since on “Shrove Tuesday” (also known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday – the day preceding the first day of Lent), the women of the town of Olney race from the market square to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul with this food item and frying pan in hand. NAME THE FESTIVAL AND THE COUNTRY IT IS HELD IN.

Answers:

(1) La Tomatina – Spain

(2) Ivrea Orange Festival or Battle of the Oranges – Italy

(3) Cheese Rolling Festival-England

(4) Qantaslink Tunarama Festival-Australia

(5) Night of the Radishes-Mexico

(6) Hokitika Wildfoods Festival – New Zealand

(7) Crawfish Party – Sweden

(8) Weimar Onion Market Festival – Germany

(9) World Pea Shooting Championship – England

(10) Baltic Herring Festival – Finland

(11) Chinchilla Melon Festival – Australia

(12) Krakelingen Festival – Belgium

(13) Alba Truffle Festival – Italy

(14) Olney Pancake Race – England