Holidays and Traditions

Holidays and Traditions — page 1 — Weird True Traditions and Where to Find Them 1 15 3 9 14 5 11 8 4 7 10 13 2 6 12 Italy 1194 revolt Japan KFC Christmas 1 Canada The International Hair Freezing Contest 2 Korea Hangeul Proclamation Day 3 Mexico Día de Muertos Night of the Radishes Twelve Grapes 4 5 Spain La Tomatina Tió de Nadal Running of the Bulls 6 7 Ukraine A Spidery Christmas 8 Germany World Competitive Christmas Tree Throwing Championship 9 Ecuador Suitcase Around the Block 10 Romania New Year’s Eve tradition of wearing bear costumes and furs 11 Denmark New Year’s Eve tradition of smashing plates 12 Thailand Monkey Buffet Festival 13 Turkenistan National Melon Day 14 England International Worm Charming Festival 15 United States of America Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw and Festival Gilroy Garlic Festival Punkin Chunkin Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival

Holidays and Traditions — page 2 — Table of Contents Wacky and Wonderful 4 Christmas Around the World 10 Ringing in the New Year 16 Beasts and Feasts 20 Weird American Traditions and Festivals 22 Index 30 Glossary 31 Show What You Know 31 Websites to Visit 31 About the Author 32

Holidays and Traditions — page 3 — Wacky and Wonderful Wacky and Wonderful Wacky and Wonderful Celebrations are fun And strange Celebrations are fun And strange celebrations can be even more fun How does celebrations can be even more fun How does a giant food ﬁ ght sound Or perhaps a hair freezing contest Every culture has its own traditions customs and festivals but some are a bit more unusual than others From creative twists on traditional holidays to unique regional celebrations you can ﬁ nd something wacky and wonderful on every continent A Hair-Raising Tradition There’s a cool competition each year in Whitehorse Yukon Canada The International Hair Freezing Contest Participants use nothing but water and the frigid air to create wild styles With temperatures well below zero it only takes a few minutes for hair to freeze 4

Holidays and Traditions — page 4 — Honoring the Alphabet Koreans use their own unique alphabet called Hangeul Before it was created only wealthy upper-class Koreans could read and write using complicated Chinese characters Average Koreans didn’t have the time or money to learn this writing system The invention of Hangeul changed everything by giving ordinary citizens an easy way to read and write Each year on October 9 South Koreans celebrate Hangeul Proclamation Day North Korea celebrates on January 15 5

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