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- There’s An International Hair Freezing Contest In Yukon, Canada. While others despise the winter season and drive it away, people from Yukon, Canada, celebrate this season in a freezing way: dunking their heads into hot springs and waiting for their hair to freeze over, and icicles to form.
- In Gloucestershire, England, People Gather To Roll Cheese Down A Hill. With Spring being the season of rebirth, when nature begins to show itself once more, it’s normal for people to celebrate.
- Castrillo De Murcia In Spain Has A Baby Jumping Festival. Some cultures view a child's birth as a gift not only to the nation but also to the culture overall, a new member to celebrate.
- In Lopburi, Thailand, The Residents Prepare An Annual Feast For The Local Monkeys. Humans are part of nature so it is important to include a bit of the natural aspect into your tradition.
- Famadihana
- Coming of Age in Brazil
- Coal Walking in China
- Finger Amputation
- Eating The Ashes of The deceased
- Camel Wrestling
- Mourning of Muharram
- The Monkey Buffet Festival
- The Thaipusam Festival
- Baby Throwing in India
Famadihana is a funeral tradition followed by a tribe in Madagascar, called the Malagasy. This custom involves dancing with the bodies of the deceased, in a way to celebrate their life. The bodies are brought out from the grave, re-wrapped in fresh cloth, and then carried around while people dance with them. This ritual is performed once every seve...
The Sateré-Mawé are an indigenous tribe in Brazil. When boys in this tribe reach a certain age, they are subjected to a horrible coming of age ritual. This horrendous tradition involves filling up gloves with bullet ants and wearing those gloves. The young boys are forced to wear the gloves for 10 minutes, but do so 20 times, all the while they are...
The birth of a baby is a big deal all around the world but is considered especially important in China. Many rules and traditions surround the arrival of a newborn. People are expected not to gossip around the mother because it would negatively influence the baby, and they keep knives under the bed as a way of protecting the toddler from monsters. ...
Another “fun” tradition, this time it is from Indonesia. Performed by the Dani tribe, this one makes eating ashes does not seem so bad. The amputation is performed when a family member passes away, and it is a way of dealing with grief. The people in this tribe believe it is necessary to suffer physical pain, not just emotional when someone dies. S...
Yes, you read that right. It was a matter of time before this list turned extremely dark. The Yanomami tribe from Venezuela and Brazil does precisely what the title suggests. They are forbidden by tradition to keep any body parts of the deceased, so they burn them, divide the remains amongst family members who then proceed to consume them. This pra...
This tradition is most common in the Aegean region of Turkey but is practiced in other Asian countries as well. It features two camels who fight with each other while people watch. Pretty simple, right? This is almost considered a sport in Turkey; the camels are dressed in ceremonial garb, and whoever does not run is the winner. This event is held ...
This celebration is a set of rituals observed by Shia Muslims. It is supposed to commemorate the death of Hussain, the grandson of Muhammad, who died in the Battle of Karbala. He and his family members and companions were killed and subjected to humiliation. Hence, people gather yearly to mourn his death in a series of customs that feature one espe...
This festival supposedly brings good luck and is organized yearly in Thailand, the city of Lopburi, to be exact. On the last Sunday of November, enormous amounts of food are displayed all over the city and left for monkeys to feast upon. And it is not just any old food; buffets are prepared by chefs to keep the monkeys happy. Many other activities,...
This is a Hindu festival organized at the beginning of every year by the members of the Tamil community. It is dedicated to the god of war Lord Murugan and is celebrated on the nights of the full moon. The way the Tamil show their devotion to Murugan is a little bit drastic if you ask us. They pierce body parts with long silver pins and perform oth...
While this tradition has mostly died out, possibly because it was officially banned, there are still some parts of India that practice it. For example, the Karnataka region, where children are tossed off the Sri Santeswar temple, standing 500 feet tall. It is believed that this is supposed to bring them good luck, and the children should not be old...
- Baby Tossing from the (Now Extinct) This culture would ordinary make anyone scared for the safety of the child, especially the child's mother, however, Indians perform this culture with great enthusiasm, as they believe it brings prosperity to the family.
- Thaipoosam, Tamil Nadu or Flesh Piercing. Yet another tradition not for the faint hearted is the Thaipoosam, Tamil Nadu or flesh piercing. This culture is practiced in Southern India and usually begins with a 48-day-fast, at the end of which the piecing begins.
- Napping on the Job is Permitted, Encouraged Even. While a lot of employers around the world would be upset if they caught an employee napping on the job, the reverse is the case in Japan.
- Unparalleled Suicide Rates. Scroll to Continue. Herd-Catching Pitfalls and an Arrowhead Extractor: 5 Odd Contraptions from the Past. The Blame Game is the Most Popular Game in the World.
- Living with the Dead. Ever thought about living with the departed? Well, in Indonesia, some communities have a unique tradition. They dress up their deceased loved ones in special clothes and keep them at home until the burial.
- Cinnamon Celebration for Singles in Denmark. In Denmark, when someone turns 25 and is still single, they face a unique tradition. On top of spending Valentine’s Day solo, they also endure a playful celebration where friends and family shower them with water and cover them in cinnamon.
- The Resurrecting Ritual of the Toraja People. The Toraja people in Indonesia follow a unique tradition where they place a body in a temporary coffin before bringing it back to life.
- Suspended Coffins Along the Yangtze River. Experience an eerie sight along the steep cliffs of the Yangtze River in China, where numerous suspended coffins and mysterious occurrences can be witnessed.
People also ask
Are there weird cultures in the world?
Why are cultural traditions so weird?
What are some weird cultures & traditions?
Why do people have a weird culture?
- Long-Lost Cultures. The ancient Egyptians had their pyramids, the Greeks, their sculptures and temples. And everybody knows about the Maya and their famous calendar.
- The Silla. The Silla Kingdom was one of the longest-standing royal dynasties ever. It ruled most of the Korean Peninsula between 57 B.C. and A.D. 935, but left few burials behind for archaeologists to study.
- The Indus. The Indus is the largest-known ancient urban culture, with the people's land stretching from the Indus River in modern-day Pakistan to the Arabian Sea and the Ganges in India.
- The Sanxingdui. The Sanxingdui were a Bronze Age culture that thrived in what is now China's Sichuan Province. A farmer first discovered artifacts from the Sanxingdui in 1929; excavations in the area in 1986 revealed complex jade carvings and bronze sculptures 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall.
In a world with several religions, states, and rituals, it is clear to notice weird customs, strange traditions, gaze at magnificent sights, and try to understand what the hell and why the hell people are doing. When it comes to celebration, there are some traditions which have been doing the rounds across the world.
These non-WEIRD cultural complexes do incorporate ideas and institutions forged in medieval and early modern Europe; but as I show, this is a two-way street going back millennia: Europeans inhaled organizational forms, ideas, concepts and technologies from populations around the world.
