“I’ve been almost everywhere … now what?” asked my beautiful jetsetter friend. Well, if a normal vacation fails to entice, you might be ready for the not-so-ordinary. Whether you’re looking for a roll down a hill after a wheel of cheese or to get pelted by tomatoes, there is a festival out there in this magnificently bizarre world to save you from the mundane; one for every month of the year.

January
Venice Carnival 2008, Italy
Start the year off right… in Venice! Every year thousands of travelers flock to Italy’s “farewell to meat ‘til after Easter.” The famous (or better yet, infamous) Carnevale di Venezia, transforms the city into a timeless masquerade ball filled with pageants, concerts, and commedia dell'arte for twelve magic filled days and nights. Locals suggest booking your hotel in advance to secure a spot, and if you forget your mask, you’ll be the envy of all your friends when you flaunt the fabulous one you bought there!
http://www.carnivalofvenice.com

February
Rio Carnival, Brazil
Forty days and forty nights before Easter, Brazilians awaken to the sounds of samba. People dance in clubs, streets, beaches, tables, chairs or anything they can stand on as long as the music plays. To join in the fun, tourists can pay to dance as part of a samba school and become part of Brazilian history. If you want another story to tell your grandkids, Brazil is as good as any to begin with.
www.brazilcarnival.com

March
Annual Witch Gathering - Mexico
1st Friday of every March
Lake Catemaco in Mexico has been associated with alternative medicine for over 2000 years. Every 1st Friday of every March, this Mexican lakeside sees it fair share of healers, witch doctors, shamans and wizards. More for entertainment purposes than any other reason, this “congreso de brujos” will awe and amuse travelers looking for a little magic. Expect the setting to be very similar to the 1992 Sean Connery movie Medicine Man.
http://guides.hotelbook.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=ev ent&event_id=49073

April
Tobago Goat and Crab Racing – Trinidad and Tobago
Easter Tuesday
At Buccoo Village on Easter Tuesday goat riding and crab racing is an annual occurrence. A 75 year old tradition, this event starts with a goat parade, commentator indicating the favorites and odds before the thunder of hooves takes over the village. Although crab racing is done at a much slower pace, these creatures are equally pressured to win. Attached to a string and pole the crabs make their way to the finish line while their owners hit and poke at them with sticks. Betting is highly encouraged.
http://www.tobagowi.com/culture/goatrace.htm

May
Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling – England
Last Monday of every May
For generations, the English have given us many things to laugh about. They gave us Benny Hill, Monty Python, and England’s very own Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling Festival. Four races are scheduled (including one for the ladies) with 4000+ spectators and about 200 contestants rolling, falling, and tumbling down a 300 foot hill after a wheel of Double Gloucester. But alas, it’s all for dairy!
http://gouk.about.com/od/englandtravel/ss/wacky_ race.htm

June
The Baby-Jumping Colacho Festival – Spain
Ever walk down the street dressed as the devil, see a baby on the road and feel the urge to jump over it? If so, then this festival is sure to tickle your fancy. Every June since 1620 crowds cheer as grown men dressed in full devil costume jump over babies in celebration of The Catholic festival of Corpus Christi in Castrillo de Murcia, pain. This act, better known as El Colacho, is accompanied by mystery plays and processions that take place all over the country.
http://www.thinkspain.com/news/noticia.asp?CodNo ticia=5179

July
Running with the Bulls – Spain
For adventurous cease-the-day types, there’s the ever popular “Running with The Bulls in amplona.” This nine day festival celebration honor San Fermin, the patron saint of the city, is known to Spaniards as “El Encierro” or “the enclosing.” Courageous men gather at the foot of the saint in the center of town to ask for blessings before headed out to run in front of an avalanche of horns. The bulls are let out with the sound of a rocket and end up in a bullring leaving behind a sea of laughs, cries, sweat and sometimes fatalities. This fiesta includes fireworks, parades, dances, bullfights, and a bonanza of religious ceremonies.
http://www.spanish-fiestas.com

August
La Tomatina - Spain
Last Wednesday in August
Ever wonder what the world’s largest food fight looks like? What if you were right in the middle of it with… thousands more? The city of Buñol (Valencia) will be your gracious hostess for such an event. A battle that began as a joke has grown into an international annual event bringing thousands of visitors each year. This all-out veggie war is the main event in a rose wine universe of paellas, fireworks, parades and street parties. What a better way to let out your aggression than with a pelted tomato?
http://www.latomatina.com/

September
Burning Man – Black Rock Desert, US
Held the week prior to and including Labor Day weekend
As far as bizarre festivals go, this one burns up there with the best of them. More like a project, this event is centered around building a themed community in an ancient lakebed called the “playa,” and it culminates in the burning of a 50 foot tall effigy of a man depicting that year’s theme. Sites offer survival guides and instruction in order to be a pat of this event that does not allow one-day visitors or press in order to ensure its temporary community feel. Leave all issues with the real world behind for a week and at the end… make a wish!
http://www.burningman.com

October
Bang Fai Phaya Nark Festival – Thailand
Every October 13th
If natural phenomena is more your style, head over to the northern region of Thailand, the Nong Kai rovince. Every year on the first full moon of October, spectators are awed by hundreds of lights and balls of fire that surge abruptly into the night above the Mekong River. This occurrence directly follows the end of the Buddhist Rains Retreat, and is the main event of a two day Thai festival along the river including light and sound shows, an illuminated boat contest, the King's Cup long-tailed boat race and food offerings. These Naga fireballs, named after the mythical fire-spitting serpent Naga, say to bring over 400,000 visitors to the region year after year.
www.nyenoona.wordpress.com

November
Tar Burning Barrels Race– England
November dates change every year( this year depending on insurance laws)

The streets of Ottery St Mary are set ablaze every year with men, women and children running rampant carrying tar-soaked barrels. This tradition has been carried on from as far back as the 17th century and is said to rid the streets of evil “as if burned off.” The hoisting of a barrel onto your back is considered “a great honor” and given only to men who pass the barrel onto another male relative, and so on, until midnight.

http://www.tarbarrels.co.uk/

December
Pirates in Paradise Festival - Key West, US
First Weekend in December
Ahoy! Key West is the place to be for a pirate celebration in December. This celebration of the pirate’s history of the town, when pirates picked it for its inaccessibility, is celebrated all over town. Families are invited to walk the plank, join in the festivities and experience pirates ship battles, both land and sea. Visitors can also partake in diving excursions to shipwrecks, lectures, and writers' seminars, as well as dinners, parades and dances. All, of course, in full pirate attire! Arrrrrrgh!
http://www.piratesinparadise.com/