Despite their reputation as a down-to-earth nation, the Australians also know how to throw a crazy festival. I’ve spent quite a bit of time ‘down under’ in the last few years and been fortunate enough to experience some of the madness on display across many of the country’s festivals. Today we are going to take a look at some of the craziest on offer and if you happen to be in town when one of them is happening then I recommend that you get involved.
Chinchilla Melon Festival
The town of Chinchilla in rural Queensland is one of the country’s top producing melon regions. Chinchilla suffered a drought in the early 90s which brought production to its knees, when the drought was over, local businessmen got together to organize a party dedicated to all things melon in order to celebrate. The party became an bi-annual festival where the resellers take part in a variety of melon based competitions from pip-spitting, melon skiing and melon eating contests. Visitors are more than welcome to get involved in this bizarre festival.
Beer Can Regatta
The beer can regatta is an environmentally conscious and fun-filled way for the inhabitants on Darwin’s beaches to clean up their act and turn the rubbish into an event. The plan is that each team will build a raft made from solely beer cans that have been left or washed up on the shore. These creative sea-crafts are not only judged on their ability to be able to float, but also on their beauty and some of the designs in recent years have been remarkable.
Camel Racing
Just outside Alice Springs is the annual Uluru Camel Cup, a camel race that has grown in popularity and prestige in recent years. This area of Australia is home to the largest camel population in the World and the tiny town of Yulara is where the ambitious, and slightly mad camel jockeys take their beasts each year in the hope of lifting the coveted trophy.
Wife Carrying
As a sport, the zany wife-carrriyng competitions started in Finland but that didn’t stoop it from being adopted by the Aussies as part of the Singleton Agriculture Show where each year it plays a key role in proceedings. As if carrying your ‘Sheila’ around wasn’t tough enough, the competition sees entrants having to get around a highly challenging obstacle course without dropping their partner.
Tunarama
The Port Lincoln Tunarama Festival is a celebration of all things seafood and aside from the delightful oysters on offer and the swanky evening meal, this festival has a crazy side too. The strangest and by far most fun event on the weekend’s calendar is the tuna throwing event which sees competitors tossing a frozen tuna to see who can throw furthest.
Have you been to any crazy festivals in Australia? Let us know which ones you manage to see and what was your favorite part in the comments section below.