STRANGE ☠️ FESTIVALS ☠️
STRANGE ☠️ FESTIVALS ☠️
2023-24 (Strange & Unusual) Festival Dates
01 // January
Swamp Buggy Races
Naples, FL
Date: Sunday, January 21, 2024
Description: A unique motorsport event featuring custom swamp buggies racing through muddy tracks.
Festival Website: Swamp Buggy Races.
02 // February
Krewe of Barkus Parade
New Orleans, LA
Date: Varies (usually in February, depending on when Mardi Gras falls)
Description: A Mardi Gras parade featuring dogs in costumes, often with elaborate and humorous themes.
Festival Website: Krewe of Barkus.
03 // March
Fire Ant Festival
Ashburn, GA
Date: March 22-23, 2024
Description: A festival that humorously celebrates the notorious fire ant.
Festival Website: Fire Ant Festival
Rattlesnake Rodeo
Opp, AL
Date: March 22nd – 24th, 2024
Description: A festival featuring rattlesnake shows, races, and other activities.
Festival Website: Rattlesnake Rodeo
04 // APRIL
North Carolina Pickle Fest
Mount Olive, NC
Date: April 27, 2024
Description: Celebrates all things pickle with various activities and contests.
Festival Website: NC Pickle Fest
World Grits Festival
St. George, SC
Date: End of April
Description: A festival celebrating grits with cooking competitions and other activities.
Festival Website: World Grits Festival
Mullet Toss
Flora-Bama, AL/FL Border
Date: END OF April
Description: Participants throw a mullet fish from a 10-foot circle in Florida across the state line into Alabama.
Festival Website: Mullet Toss
05 // MAY
Toad Suck Daze
Conway, AR
Date: Beginning of May
Description: A family-friendly festival featuring toad races, toad jumps, and other toad-related activities.
Festival Website: Toad Suck Daze
Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival
Breaux Bridge, LA
Date: May 3-5, 2024
Description: Celebrates crawfish and Cajun culture with music, food, and dance.
Festival Website: Crawfish Festival
Poke Salad Festival
Blanchard, LA
Date: Late May
Description: Celebrates the poke salad, a dish made from the pokeweed plant, with music, food, and crafts.
Festival Website: Poke Salad Festival
06 // JUNE
PurpleHull Pea Festival & World Championship Rotary Tiller Race
Emerson, AR
Date: Late June
Description: Celebrates the purple hull pea and features a unique tiller race.
Festival Website: PurpleHull Pea Festival
Lizard Man Stomp
Bishopville, SC
Date: June
Description: Celebrates the local legend of the Lizard Man with various activities and events.
Festival Website: Lizard Man Stomp
Synchronized Fireflies Event
Great Smoky Mountains, TN
Date: June TBA
Description: Observing the natural phenomenon of fireflies flashing in unison. Register for lottery late april.
Festival Website: Synchronized Fireflies
Coon Dog Day
Saluda, NC
Date: June
Description: A festival that honors coon dogs with various activities including a parade and contests.
Festival Website: Coon Dog Day
07 // JULY
Mississippi Slugburger Festival
Corinth, MS
Date: July
Description: Celebrates the slugburger, a local delicacy, with food, music, and competitions.
Festival Website: Slugburger Festival
10 // October
Woolly Worm Festival
Banner Elk, NC
Date: October
Description: Features woolly worm races and predicts the severity of the coming winter based on the winning worm's color.
Festival Website: Woolly Worm Festival
Florida Fantasy Fest
Key West, FL
Date: October
Description: A wild and extravagant street party featuring costumes, parades, and various events.
Festival Website: Fantasy Fest
08 // AUGUST
Fyffe UFO Days
Fyffe, AL
Date: August
Description: Celebrates the town's history of UFO sightings with various activities and events.
Festival Website: Fyffe UFO Days
11 // November
Louisiana Giant Omelet
Abbeville, LA
Date: November
Description: Celebrates the cooking of a giant omelet in a massive skillet.
Festival Website: Giant Omelet
Chitlin Strut
Salley, SC
Date: November
Description: Celebrates chitlins (chitterlings), a Southern delicacy made from pig intestines.
Festival Website: Chitlin Strut
09 // SEPTEMBER
West Virginia Roadkill Cookoff and Autumn Harvest Festival
Marlinton, WV
Date: September
Description: A festival featuring a cook-off where roadkill is the main ingredient.
Festival Website: Roadkill Cookoff
Doodle Soup Days
Bradford, TN
Date: September
Description: Celebrates the local dish "doodle soup" with various activities and events.
Festival Website: Doodle Soup Days
Okra Strut
Irmo, SC
Date: September
Description: A festival celebrating okra with a parade, okra-eating contests, and more.
Festival Website: Okra Strut
Kudzu Festival
Holly Springs, MS
Date: September
Description: Celebrates and educates about the invasive kudzu plant.
Festival Website: Kudzu Festival
12 // DECEMBER
Possum Drop
Tallapoosa, GA
Date: December 31
Description: A New Year's Eve celebration where a stuffed possum is lowered at midnight.
Festival Website: Possum Drop
MoonPie Over Mobile
Mobile, AL
Date: December 31
Description: New Year's Eve celebration featuring a giant MoonPie drop.
Festival Website: MoonPie Over Mobile