Food Festivals From All Over The World That We Just Learned Exist

Pancake Day, also called Shrove Tuesday, began in the UK as a way to prepare for the Christian season of Lent. As families prepared for their 40 days of fasting, they made pancakes to help get rid of the extra eggs and fat they had in their kitchens. During the day, a church bell also rings, signifying the faithful to come to confess their sins to be absolved before Lent begins the next day. 

Legend holds that in 1445, a woman was in the middle of making her family pancakes when she heard the church bell calling her to confess. As she ran to the church in her dress and apron, she carried a frying pan filled with a pancake. Now, dressed-up housewives throughout Buckinghamshire participate in the annual Pancake Race. Contestants must wear an apron, carry a pancake-filled pan, and flip the cake at least three times as they race to the finish line on the church grounds. 

Each year, cheese lovers from around the world gather at Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester, England, to participate in a unique sporting event that leaves many bruised and battered. For the annual cheese-rolling event, groups of 25 men or women race down the steep, 656-foot hill to chase after a Gloucester cheese wheel weighing a little more than 7 pounds.

Though most begin the competition racing on their feet, the steep decline rarely allows any contestant to remain that way for long. Instead, they chaotically tumble down Cooper's Hill to capture their cheesy prize. 

Lopburi, Thailand's, annual Monkey Buffet Festival might be as odd as it sounds, but for an entirely different reason than the name implies. Instead of a festival filled with monkey dishes for humans to consume, it's a festival dedicated to spoiling the area's macaque population with a smorgasbord of fruit. 

Legend holds that over 2,000 years ago, the monkey king Hanuman helped save a divine prince's wife from a demon. In return, the community celebrates the local macaques each year for the luck and prosperity they bring to the region. During the last Sunday of November, towers of fruits and vegetables are stacked for the monkeys to scale and feast on. Typical menu items include lettuce, pineapples, watermelons, and durians (a type of fruit). Overall, nearly 2 tons of food is offered for the apes. 

As onlookers enjoy street entertainment, like people dancing dressed as monkeys, they also have the option to visit human-food vendors surrounding the monkey banquet tables. 

Though no one really knows how La Tomatina got started, crowds have gathered in Buñol, Spain, to pummel each other with ripened tomatoes since 1945. Each year, around 20,000 festivalgoers pay roughly the equivalent of $11 (US) to participate in the massive food fight. (Those who wish to ride in the trucks carrying the tomatoes can pay around $826.)

La Tomatina begins with a giant ham hoisted into the air on a pole. At 9 am, participants scramble to be the first to knock the ham from its perch. The crowd rarely succeeds, but the result doesn't dictate a particular outcome. Either way, a cannon blast two hours later signifies to participants that it's time to get saucy.

Truckloads of over 120 tons of tomatoes are then dumped into the streets as the crowd rushes to grab their antioxidant-rich ammunition. Upon hearing a second cannon blast, participants end their tomato hurling to find the closest local willing to share their garden hose.