Even though the Glastonbury Festival is fantastic, can it compete with cheese chasing, baby jumping, or bun climbing? A list of the strangest festivals from around the world has been compiled by us. Many of the strangest festivals in the world take place in the United Kingdom, where you can see hundreds or even thousands of enthusiastic Britons doing things like chasing cheese down hills, toe wrestling, and running around with sacks of wool. 8 of the oddest British festivals are listed below. We strongly advise adding it to your itinerary if you will be passing one on a future trip.

1. Twelfth Night, Bankside, London

The Holly Man is carried around the Thames in a tiny boat during the Twelfth Night celebrations in London’s Bankside before joining the crowds for the traditional toasts with mulled wine known as “wassails.” The Bankside celebrations also include a customary Mummers Play, which is an interpretation of the loosely religious tale of St. George and the Dragon, and the coronation of King Bean and Queen Pea, two spectators who were fortunate enough to discover a legume in their Twelfth Night cake.

2. Up Helly Aa, Lerwick, Shetland | January

Every year on the final Tuesday in January, the men of Lerwick don horned helmets, ignite burning torches and march through the town to burn a longship. The largest fire festival in Europe, Up Helly Aa, draws visitors from all over the world who are eager to experience what appears to be an actual Viking celebration in this region of the UK that is closest to Scandinavia (Shetland was part of Norway until the fifteenth century).

3. Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling – Cooper’s Hill, UK , May

At Gloucestershire’s quirky but delicious cheese festival, competitors take matters into their own hands. The idea is rather simple: enormous, heavy Gouda cheeses are rolled down Cooper’s Hill, with eager “cheese chasers” hot on their heels. Cheese-rolling entails pursuing a large round of cheese down a hill while attempting to catch it before it hits the bottom. The danger is added by the hill portion of the scene because Cooper’s Hill is so steep in certain places that it is more cliff than the hill.

4. World Bog Snorkelling Championships – Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales | August

The World Bog Snorkelling Championship is a relative newcomer compared to the majority of the centuries-old entries in this collection of weird folks from the UK. Visitors from all over the world arrive equipped with snorkels and fins to test their speed on a 120-yard track across a peat bog. It originated solely from a wish to increase awareness of the little, heretofore unnoticed Welsh town of Llanwrtyd Wells.

5. Yorkshire Pudding Boat Race – Brawby, UK | June

For those of you who are not British, a Yorkshire pudding is a savory side dish prepared with eggs, flour, and milk that is typically served with a Sunday roast. The puddings on display during this festival, however, are produced for racing across Bob Ponds in the Brawby village rather than for consumption. The enormous Yorkshire puddings are first covered with yacht varnish to lessen sogginess.

6. World Toe Wrestling Championships – Ashbourne, UK | August

Have you ever wanted to lock toes with a total stranger? Two opponents engage in toe-to-toe combat while seated across from one another in toe wrestling. The contestant who has their foot forced to contact the “toediumside “loses. Put down!

7. Royal Shrovetide Football, Ashbourne, Derbyshire

Residents of the little village of Ashbourne participate in what may be the world’s largest, longest football game every year on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. Men, women, and children are divided into two teams with about 100 players each, and the entire town is turned into a soccer field. The actual game, which may last up to eight hours, is a sophisticated activity known as “hugball” Players also chant an official “anthem” before the game begins.

8. The Flaming Tar Barrels of Ottery St Mary

This festival is winter torchlight processions and barrels shooting flames through the streets are long-standing customs in each of the counties that make up England’s West Country. Many of them are said to have been created in the 1600s, following Guy Fawkes’ unsuccessful attempt to blow up the British houses of parliament. Rolling the barrels seemed a little tedious to the residents of St Ottery, Devon, so they chose to lift them onto their shoulders and carry them instead.