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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween
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Fascination, fear, sorrow, dread, relief. When it comes to death and the afterlife, we humans have a lot of complex and conflicting feelings. And sometimes we work through them by coming together. As Halloween approaches – a holiday rooted in the Celtic festival of Samhain, when spirits of the dead were believe to roam the earth – we take a look at other festivities around the world dedicated to honouring the dead, chasing away evil, appeasing the spirits or simply celebrating life’s unexplained mysteries.

By Jessica Keller

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Día de Muertos. Mexico and Latin America. 31 October – 1 November – Día de Muertos (often called Día de los Muertos in English-speaking countries) literally translates to ‘Day of the Dead’ and is celebrated in many Latin American countries, but is especially associated with central and southern Mexico. Blending ancient Aztec and Christian traditions, the festival is a time to honour and remember the dearly departed, with observances ranging from processions and candlelit cemetery vigils, to dressing up as the skeletal figure Catrina and indulging in skull-shaped sweets. It’s also common to create altars called ofrendas for deceased loved ones, decorated with flowers, photos and candles. Though the holiday is ostensibly centred on death, a festive atmosphere reigns, with family and friends gathering to celebrate the lives of the departed.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Krampusnacht. Austria, Southern Germany, Northern Italy and Eastern Europe. 5 December – ‘Terrifying’ isn’t a word that’s often used to describe Christmas celebrations …unless you happen to be in certain parts of Europe. Believed to be rooted in pagan legends of a devil-like deity, Krampus is a horned demon that accompanies Saint Nicholas, punishing naughty children while the latter rewards good behaviour. See Krampus close up during a Krampuslauf, when local men dress up in scary Krampus costumes and run through the streets carrying torches and whips, terrorising children and bystanders. These petrifying parades take place all over central Europe, but Salzburg’s festivities are among the most epic.

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12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Oga Namahage Festival. Oga, Japan. 31 December – No fireworks here: New Year’s Eve in this area of northwestern Japan looks a bit different than you might imagine. Here, young men dress up as demon-like deities known as namahage, wearing scary masks and straw capes, and carrying wooden knives and pails. Despite their ghoulish appearance, the namahage are helpful: they parade through the streets, stopping at homes to receive mochi cakes and sake, and giving blessings and prayers for good health in return – as well as warning bad or lazy children to clean up their act, or else they’ll be snatched up by the real demons… For a tourist-friendly version of the event, come in February for the Sedo Matsuri that sees the Namahage descend from the mountains to dance, beat their drums and chase away evil spirits.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Kukeri Festival. Bulgaria. January/February – Once a year in winter, Bulgarian men don elaborate costumes and become kukeri, animal-like divinities meant to invoke fertility and scare away evil spirits – though they look rather frightening themselves. The kukeri perform traditional rituals, dances, parades and folk theatre performances, chasing away evil while ensuring a bountiful harvest to come. Each region has its own traditions and customs, with the largest and most well-known taking place in Pernik at the Surva Festival.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Frozen Dead Guy Days. Nederland, Colorado, USA. March – It’s a classic tale: old guy dies and gets cryogenically frozen, his body is stored in a backyard-shed-cum-deep-freeze-storage-container, and he gets is own annual festival. The body of Bredo Morstøl has been resting in cryogenic peace since 1990, kept in a converted shed on his daughter’s former property (she was evicted in 1995 – it’s a long story), and the town of Nederland has been celebrating their most famous resident since the first Frozen Dead Guy Days in 2002. How do you celebrate a frozen body, you ask? Nederland offers coffin razes, brain freeze competitions, a frozen salmon toss, a hearse parade and a polar plunge swim in a frozen lake, just to name a few events.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Walpurgis Night. Northern and Central Europe. 30 April – 1 May – Has someone put a spell on you? Perhaps it’s best to light a bonfire on Walpurgis Night to ward off any witches, just to be on the safe side. Observed across Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, Walpurgis Night originates in pagan springtime celebrations, however it eventually became associated with the witchcraft-battling 8th-century German saint Walpurga, who was canonised on 1 May 870. The night of 30 April was fabled to be a time when witches and other evil entities wandered about, and whereas early Christians lit bonfires and prayed for Walpurga to keep evil at bay, today’s festivities – which vary by country – centre on picnicking, dressing up in costume, playing pranks, enjoying food and drink, and, yes, gathering around bonfires.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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La Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme. As Neves, Spain. 29 July – The tiny town of As Neves in northwestern Spain would barely be on the map if it weren’t for its quirky and somewhat morbid annual event. Known as the festival of near-death experiences, La Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme sees people travel from all over to participate in a peculiar parade of particularly lucky individuals: anyone who narrowly escaped death in the past year. The fortunate survivors climb into coffins and feign death, while their families carry them to the cemetery at the Church of Santa Marta de Ribarteme, trailed by a procession of ‘mourners’. Prayers are uttered, thanks are given to the saint, and then the gloom turns to gaiety as everyone enjoys food, drink, music, dancing and fireworks.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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O-Bon Festival. Japan. August – According to Buddhist beliefs, the 15th day of the 7th month is a time when spirits walk among us. And while other cultures attempt to drive them away with masks and bonfires, Japanese tradition says there’s only one way to greet them: dance. O-Bon is a time for living relatives to reunite and visit the resting places of those who have departed, cleaning their graves and making food offerings in preparation for their return. Lanterns are lit in front of houses to guide ancestral spirits home, and special bon odori dances are performed to welcome them. The music and dance steps differ from region to region, with the island of Shikoku holding the title for the longest running tradition; there, they observe the Awa Odori dance, originally choreographed in 1578 and handed down through generations since. Enthusiastic visitors can take lessons to learn the steps, and then join an open-to-all “drop-in team” and dance through the streets.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Gai Jatra. Nepal. August/September – Literally translating as ‘Cow Festival’, the Hindu festival Gai Jatra is about honouring and remembering loved ones who have passed on in the last year. The central event is a procession of cows, which are believed to guide the relatives’ spirits to heaven. No cow? No problem – families who don’t own one can send a young son instead, dressed to the nines and with his face painted to resemble a cow. Despite the sombre reason for the occasion, Gai Jatra is characterised by a jolly atmosphere full of jokes and satire, song and laughter – all serving to ease the pain of loss and to remind us that death is a part of life.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Yu Lan/Zhongyuan Jie (Hungry Ghost Festival). China. August/September – The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated by Buddhists and Taoists across China on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, when the gates between the worlds of the living and the dead are said to be most open. Efforts are made to appease the ghosts that walk among the living, with families setting up altars of food for hungry spirits, and burning paper offerings, like fake money, so that their ancestors are provided for in the afterlife. It’s not all spectres and spirits, though: you’ll also see cultural performances, parades and the lighting of floating lanterns that are meant to guide lost spirits.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Pchum Ben. Cambodia. September/October – Cambodians also consider the time around September and October to be of spiritual importance: according to Cambodian beliefs, the veil between the realms of the living and the dead is at its thinnest during the 15 days of Pchum Ben. Cambodians gather at pagodas to pray for their ancestors and offer them food, which is believed to relieve the suffering of those who ended up in hell. Travellers are welcome to share in the traditions and visit the pagodas, but be sure to dress modestly and wear white, the colour of mourning.

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Events
12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.
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Famadihana: The Turning of the Bones. Madagascar – For the Malagasy people of Madagascar, family reunions are for everyone – whether they’re dead or alive. Held every five to seven years, the Famadihana ritual sees families exhume the bodies of their dearly departed, wrapping them in fresh silk shrouds and inviting them to join in the festivities as they eat, drink, chat and even dance with their late ancestors, then return them to their tombs before sundown. Not only does the ceremony bring together family members who may not have seen one another for years, but it’s also an important part of the local culture: the belief being that a spirit cannot pass into the world of the ancestors until the body has decomposed and the ritual has been held.

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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Events

12 Freaky Festivals To Rival Halloween.

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