Americans love a good laugh — a fact not missed by festival organizers across the country who play on our intrinsic, deep-rooted sense of humor to stage some of the kookiest, most nonsensical and pop-culture kitschy events imaginable.
So if you happen to be out road-tripping or simply seeking something a bit more off-the-map-oddball than your local country fair, consider our list of six of the silliest and most farcical festivals ever conceived.
Great Texas Mosquito Festival — Clute, Texas
Staged in the moist, muggy and buggy southeast Texas town of Clute, this event creates quite a buzz each July, attracting more than 15,000 attendees and many times more of those blood-sucking insects of the family Culicidae, who unfailingly gather to feed on festival goers.
This mirthful memorial to the pesky mosquito began back in 1981 and features everything you might expect at a small town festival — food, beer, music, rides and games — plus some one-of-a-kind contests.
Two of the most popular are the Mosquito Legs Contest, with prizes going to contestants with the skinniest legs, and the Mosquito Calling Contest, where participants are judged by their creative interpretations of the mosquito mating call. Overlooking the absurdity is Willie-Man-Chew, the "World’s Largest Mosquito," a 26-foot-tall Texas Culicidae decked out in a cowboy hat and boots.
Contact: 979-265-8392, www.mosquitofestival.com.
Potato Days — Barnesville, Minnesota
The tiny town of Barnesville, population 2,400, is so renowned for its potato production that it celebrates its leading claim to fame each August with a fete honoring the starchy spud that attracts more than 10 times its resident population.
Often cited as one of the best of the country's oddball summer festivals, Potato Days entertains guests with events such as Mashed Potato Wrestling and the Miss Tater Tot Pageant, plus a host of potato picking, peeling, cooking and carving contests — and, of course, potato sack races. It goes without saying that the food here is quite a’peelin — with menus featuring such carb-loading favorites as potato pancakes, soup and dumplings, mashers, and those ubiquitous French fries.
Contact: 800-525-4901, www.potatodays.com.
Pickle Fest — Atkins, Arkansas
The small Arkansas River Valley community of Atkins literally lives and breathes pickles. They say that when the town's leading employer, Dean Pickle Products Company, is brewing those dills and gherkins — you can smell 'em for miles around. If you’re so inclined, you can relish (no pun intended) the smell and taste of all the pickles you wish by dropping in on the 24th annual Pickle Fest next May.
Atkins lays claim to both the deep fried pickle — a delicacy you can buy most anywhere in town for a quarter — and America’s only organized pickle juice drinking contest, a key event during the fest. Those that survive the experience of slamming down a jar of nuclear green vinegar are sure to enjoy the Little Miss & Mr. Picklefest Pageant, a quilt show and gospel music performances.
Contact: 497-747-0122, atkinspicklefest@yahoo.com.
Roswell UFO Festival — Roswell, New Mexico
It was a mysterious and controversial incident back in 1947 that supplied the theme for this festival of the bizarre. A local rancher reported the crash of a "flying disc" to officers at Roswell Army Airfield who, after confirming recovery of said saucer, later changed their story to say the object was a weather balloon, not a flying disc as they'd previously confirmed.
The revised statement sparked immediate controversy and has continued to be the subject of debate for nearly 70 years. Reports leaked out that an Air Force team had removed and spirited away a number of alien bodies from the crash site — something the government has always denied.
To this day UFO enthusiasts and skeptics alike flock to Roswell every July to celebrate the country’s most famed UFO incident.What has evolved is perhaps the country’s largest and most ludicrous costume party as thousands deck themselves out in a wildly imaginative variety of alien attire, joining in a gala and gaudy parade through town.
There’s a contest too for "Best Alien Pet," which produces some seriously silly looking dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits and other out-of-this-world critters. Other events include an Alien Chase, a 5K/10K run/walk; an evening light parade; fireworks; a UFO Art Show and lots of live entertainment.
Contact: 575-625-9495, www.ufofestivalroswell.com.
Moose Dropping Festival — Talkeetna, Alaska
When the summer thaw comes to Talkeetna — a town of 850 hardy souls near Anchorage — minds turn to creating some moose-related mischief that, since 1972, has taken shape as the Moose Dropping Festival.
For those of you not familiar with moose droppings, they are, plainly put, poop — acorn-sized pellets produced in large piles by the oversized herbivores. With that, you can begin to imagine the fun to be had with such a resource by the more creative residents of the Far North. The moose-dropping games that would become the hallmark of the festival were conceived by a pair of lads at a local saloon.
First, they hit the woods to gather a supply of droppings and then baked them in an oven and sprayed them with varnish. The first game they created was a moose "nugget" tossing contest, which involved tossing nuggets onto a board with numbered holes &38212 with a prize going to the contestant with the highest number.
Next came the idea of suspending numbered nuggets from a balloon and dropping them into a parking lot where they were gathered for a raffle at the VFW hall. Other events evolved, including a Moose on the Loose Parade, a Mountain Mama Contest and a softball tournament.
Originally staged as a two-day event each July — until excessive rowdiness spoiled the 2009 event — organizers Talkeetna Historical Society decided to stretch things out, holding a series of Moose Dropping events through July and August. If you plan to be in the vicinity, see the society's website for an event schedule.
Contact: 907-733-2487, www.talkeetnahistoricalsociety.org.
Trailing of the Sheep Festival — Ketchum, Idaho
While definitely out of the ordinary, this festival isn’t quite as wacky as the others on our list. For more than a century, sheep outnumbered humans in Idaho, with the population of the wooly critters peaking at nearly 3 million in the 1920s. Even today, their numbers nearly match those of the state's 1.6 million two-legged citizens.
The trailing event, staged each October, observes the annual migration of sheep from high mountain pastures to the lower elevations of the Snake River plain. Its highlight is a festive Sunday parade following 1,500 sheep down Ketchum’s main street, aimed both at providing lots of entertainment for the thousands in attendance and honoring the history and heritage of generations of Idaho sheep-ranching families.
Other activities during the five-day fete include the Championship Sheepdog Trials, a Folklife Fair, wool-spinning, cooking and soap-making demonstrations, a lamb barbecue, and music and dance performances.
Contact: 208-720-0585, www.trailingofthesheep.org.
