35 Locals Share The Fun, Bizarre Or Nonsensical Traditions Of Their Nation

In my country, there’s a local tradition where two male contestants sit astride a raised log and try to knock each other off using pillows. It’s hilariously entertaining to watch and can draw large local crowds. Similarly, many countries worldwide have their own quirky customs woven into community life.

#1

Image source: freshavocado5612

Ecuador

During new year celebrations, men dress in drag and roam the streets asking for money. Originally it was in representation of a widow asking for money to bury her old husband (the year that just passed).

Keep in mind that this is not only acceptable but encouraged on that day. Do it any other day and you’ll get very dirty looks.

#2

Image source: Z0FF

Canada

In my province, there’s a Christmas tradition called “mummering”.

People get dressed up in ridiculous, thrown-together outfits that hide their identity. Think; multi-layered and oversized clothing, huge undergarments worn on the outside, big clunky boots and mittens, and scarfs/glasses/masks/ even lampshades to disguise their faces.

Like carollers, the mummers will go door to door around the neighbourhood looking to be invited in for a drink or a dance or just to cause some good old fashioned foolishness. (The mummers are usually known to the people the visit but keeping their identity hidden during the charade is the goal)

There are songs about it, Christmas ornaments, even mummer-themed entertainment nights are put off at local venues.

If you ever get visited by mummers on Christmas you can bet there’ll be no shortage of laughs and gossip after they’ve left trying to figure out who each one was

#3

Image source: LATW2TG

Australia

We have the Henley on Todd Regatta up in Alice Springs. It’s a boat race on a dry river bed.

#4

Image source: No_Spring_1090, Moosealope

Canada

We have bathtub races. It’s a race from Nanaimo to Vancouver in a bathtub (with a motor attached). The race began in 1967 as a unique way to celebrate Canada’s 100th birthday and has grown into a major event.

#5

Image source: leVenerableDeLaSauce

France

Nautical jousting in the South of France. It’s completely stupid but it looks super fun. A bit like béhourd (combat with medieval weapons and armor).

#6

Image source: SnooPoems7525

England

Cooper’s Hill cheese roll which simply involves chasing a cheese wheel down a hill. Has been practiced for centuries and no one knows why. People get injured over chasing a wheel of cheese. Tbh I think most traditional things are a bit dumb/cringe.

#7

Image source: LegaTux

Spain

So hear me out. Shortly before Christmas you go to “the forest” (aka nearby store) and get a Tió, which is a log with a painted face and a traditional catalan hat. You put your Tió in a warm corner in your living room, cover it with a blanket so it doesn’t get cold, and periodically feed it orange or tangerine peels. On Christmas eve, children gather around it with sticks and start beating the [hell[ out of the poor thing while singing the traditional song. Which basically says: “either you [drop] out gifts, nougat and almonds, or we’ll beat you up until you do”. After the song the blanket is removed to reveal all the gifts the Tió has [dropped]. Fun times xD.

#8

Image source: Nice_Worldliness7072

Autralia

The tuna hammerthrow at Tunarama in Pt Lincoln, South Australia. They throw rubber fish now but up until 5ish years ago the tuna were real.

#9

Image source: HalloweenHorror, reddit

Finland

Wife-carrying competitions. It’s an obstacle race, and the winner gets their wife’s weight of beer. Doesn’t have to be a wife though, a girlfriend, a cute neighbor etc. are fine.

#10

Image source: Mean-Year4646

USA

Not well known in the US but it’s a big country so I’ll nominate my state’s dumb tradition. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan there is an annual outhouse race. Stupid? Probably. Awesome? Definitely. Great place to get drunk? You betcha.

#11

Image source: JeshuaMorbus

Spain

La tomatina de Buñol.

They get the rejected tomatoes and start a tomato battle. Simple and stupid as that.

…now, La tomatina is one stage in Tekken XD.

#12

Image source: Sirius44_

France

The race on an inclined mast :

It consist to running up a soap-coated pole tilted over the water (like a bowsprit), to try and grab laurel branches and a flag hanging from the end.

#13

Image source: pina59

Switzerland

Queen fights. Every year there’ll be a series of fights between queens (cows) with the winner being crowded the Queen of queens.

You get two dominant herd leaders and put them in a ring. They lock horns and start shoving to establish dominance. The one that backs down or gets pushed a certain distance loses.

The cows become famous. I.e you can buy calendars of famous cows etc.

#14

Image source: Frikilichus

Mexico

Dressing baby Jesus.

It’s a tradition every February 2nd to dress baby Jesus in different ways.

It’s like having Barbies but with baby Jesus dolls.

The catholic church is not happy and always suggest people a dress code 😄 but people keep doing what ever they want and is not a joke for them, they actually do it with respect even it could look funny.

Of course there are some people who do it as a joke but in general is a tradition with respect from some old school catholic people.

#15

Image source: precariouslysecure

USA

The Giant Pumpkin Regatta. Grow a 1000lb pumpkin, hollow it out, get in and paddle.

#16

Image source: Chaz-Miller, Jo Kassis

Mexico

Fireworks at 5:00 am on every religious holiday. Nothing like being forced awake that early on Christmas Day.

#17

Image source: underwater_iguana, Russ Hamer

New Zealand

Gumboot throwing competition. Most famously held in a place with a giant gumboot.

#18

Image source: No-Willingness-4097

United Kingdom

Usually mentioned alongside the cheese chasing in weird and unique UK town traditions is the tar barrels from my hometown. Like the running of the bulls in Barcelona, but replace the bull with an ogre of a man running at you with a barrel of fire.

#19

Image source: uses_for_mooses

USA

Cardboard boat races. Although I think they may also do these in the UK, and likely Canada.

#20

Germany

I just learned the other day that in some tiny town in East Germany, they weigh a tomcat in a public ceremony on the first sunday of advent.

The amount of weight he has put on since the summer is supposed to predict how severe the winter will be.

Image source: Veilchengerd

#21

Image source: ShitassAintOverYet

Turkey

Family of the deceased is expected serve every guest (usually about 30-50 people) a dinner after the funeral.

It doesn’t sound bad but I remember during my grandmother’s funeral this year how my dad, aunt and uncle basically had no choice but to instantly start arrangements when they were crying just 10 minutes ago because relatives of outer circle expected dinner, they should have been comforted and instead they were kept busy.

#22

Image source: DaiNyite

Canada

Polarbear dip.

People will jump into a hole that’s been cut into the ice. Don’t think many people do it anymore. Was kinda a thing just to say you did it but it was also sometimes done for charity.

#23

Image source: Timeudeus

Germany

Where do i start…

Maybe Stocherkahnrennen (Stake boat race)?

The most known one is a competition for Students. It involves heavy drinking, a self built boat and a team of 8. The goal is to be the fastest down a river. One pushes the boat with a stake, while the other seven have to steer and defend against other boats with their bare hands.

An other one would be the labour day traditions:

* local to me, people take “Bollerwagen” (small, hand drawn carts), fill them with crates of beer, put a speaker on top and hike to the top of the next hill with their friends while drinking. As this is open to every age group, fun things happen, like seeing your teachers or someomes grandparents get wasted.
* in big cities people putting expensive looking cars on fire has become a tradition of its own
And dont get me started on alemannic carnival, scared the [hell] out of me as a kid. Getting chased by people in costumes and scary wooden masks, that can grab you and take you with them or even hold you over a fire. Not fun.

#24

Bog snorkelling is a thing in Wales.

Image source: Beginning-Stranger88

#25

Image source: tzar992

Chile

There is a more recent tradition called “the Strait dip” in which thousands of people go into the waters of the Strait of Magellan during the winter wearing only swimsuits.

This year a little over 7000 people participated and next year is expected to be the same.

#26

Image source: anon

USA

More silly than stupid, the Pumpkin Chuck Festival. Hobbyists and engineers create these extremely powerful machines including trebuchets and pneumatic canons to see which team can chuck (throw) a standardized pumpkin the farthest. The current record is held by Big-10 that chucked a pumpkin 5,545.43 feet (1,690.25 m) or a little over a mile.

#27

Image source: OperationOkCharlie

Denmark

Tying your friends to a street lamp on their 25th birthday and showering them with boatloads of cinnamon powder.

*If they are not married by 25. If you get married before 25, you don’t get “kanel”.
Sometimes your friends pour water on you before the cinnamon, to really make it stick or they just give some cinnamon rolls and sticks.

#28

Netherlands

On new years day we look for a body of water, traditionally the sea, and we take a new years dip. We run into the sea, on januari 1st, even if there is snow and subzero temperatures.

Image source: Nimue_-

#29

Olive oil wrestling in Turkey. Makes no sense but people take it very seriously.

Image source: Final-Nebula-7049

#30

Image source: Volothamp-Geddarm

Canada

Ice canoeing.

#31

Image source: DriveFit5673

Russia

I don’t think traditions are dumb/cringe. They had the meaning at some point. Now we can make them “dumb” or “cringe” when we don’t have the meaning behind it anymore, so it’s just incomprehensible to nowadays society.

In Russia we have a funny experience celebrating Easter – we have chicken eggs boiled and painted with different patterns. In the morning we have something like egg fights, where each person chooses an egg (some look at the painting or colour, some choose with their teeth – like to slightly knock them against the tip of the egg to guess if it’s hard and strong enough).

After choosing the egg you pick who is going to hit and who is going to take a hit (it usually doesn’t matter). Whose egg is not cracked wins.

In some parts of Russia winners have a right to take the opponent’s egg and eat it. In other parts of our country the loser eats the cracked egg and the winner continues his contest with other people.

I think it’s quite fun, also a great thing to boost family bonding. Even if you’re not religious you usually do it just for fan and as a small tradition.

#32

Image source: ParticularStrict147

New Zealand

Crate Day is an absolute riot. Stupid to some but for many of us it’s one of the highlights we look forward to this day usually the first weekend in December.

It’s twelve (750ml) bottles of beer you usually start in the afternoon and keep going until you’re done. For some that never happens they can’t finish it as it is a lot of beer, for others it’s a war and for a select few it’s a walk in the park. My group of friends we always finish our crates but it’s a long battle.

Have done five crate days these last five years in a row and it doesn’t get any easier but our secret weapon is guitars lots of singing and lots of laughing.

#33

Image source: _Specific_Boi_

Poland

We have a tradition of spraying/shooting/dumping water on someone on the first monday of easter. As you can see volontuary firefighters participate in that as well.

#34

Image source: Popular-Local8354

USA

Groundhog Day, where we yank a groundhog out of the ground and if he does not see his shadow we have an early spring, if he does then we have 6 more weeks of winter.

The President pardons a turkey from being eaten every year, which is really funny.

State and county fairs aren’t quite “stupid” but they’re a good time, always.

Tailgating before a football game is objectively a little odd, but they’re also super fun.

The pageantry of college sports I know seems odd to foreigners, but I love it. Mostly because my professional team sucks while my college team is poised to be a consistent contender for the next decade. It also just feels more authentic than any of the professional leagues.

#35

Beating women as a folks fest on the North Sea Isle of Borkum (Germany).

drmanhattanmar:
It’s called „Klaasohm“. Local boys dress up in costumes like these and have a parade around town. It’s not worth going into detail but the point was: Until 2023 it was part of the tradition to chase women around, hold them and beat their bottoms with a cow horn. Which was of course very painful and sometimes traumatic, because most women don’t want to be chased and beaten (there might be some who had fun with this part and were okay with it) but didn’t want to stay at home either. So they were chased and beaten. And of course running did make things worse because you know… it’s part of the “game”.
Journalists brought this to light in 2023, after that the locals officially announced to stop with that. If they really did… I don’t know.

Image source: cmykster