January 30, 2025 • 35 mins
Ever wondered how a cryogenically preserved grandfather became the life of the party? Join me, as we uncover the story behind this festival and other eccentric festivals, where the bizarre meets the beautiful, and communities come alive in the most unexpected ways.
But that's not all—we're cooking up a storm with some of the quirkiest food festivals across the globe. Each festival provides a glimpse into the vibrant tapestry of human celebration, proving that food and fun are universal languages. Tune in for a whirlwind tour that promises a hearty dose of insights, laughter, and maybe even a craving or two.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bob Bales (00:00):
Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where
we explore the most intriguingaspects of travel, culture and
history.
Do you like festivals?
Well, it seems that there is afestival for just about
everything.
Food festivals, religiousfestivals and festivals honoring
local historic events.
(00:21):
I'm your host, Bob Bales, andtoday we are talking about a few
festivals around the world thatyou should visit.
Some are strange, some are funand some are just plain weird.
So stay tuned and we'll exploresome of the more interesting
festivals around the world.
Okay, welcome back.
(01:08):
And this week we are talkingabout festivals.
I have been to a lot offestivals.
When I was in the militarystationed overseas in Germany,
there was always a beer fest ora wine fest or some kind of
festival going on almost everyweekend and, being a good little
(01:28):
soldier, I tried my best to hitthem all.
But there are festivals goingon all over the world, and I've
been to a lot of festivals herein the United States as well,
and sometimes when you go to afestival, it makes for a great
trip because you can do thingsbeforehand visiting a location,
(01:48):
spend some time enjoying thearea and then hit up the
festival as the last part ofyour trip before you head home.
One thing you don't want to dois head to a festival, spend two
or three days enjoying afestival and then have two or
three days to see the sightsaround town.
Hit those sights first.
Hit those sights first.
Trust me, it's a lot betterwhen you do the festival at the
(02:09):
end.
So let's start talking about afew of these festivals that make
for a good trip and make forsome fun.
But we're going to start outwith a weird one first, and you
can't make this one up.
It has elements of cryogenics,deportation, evictions, legal
(02:29):
wranglings from all sides andthe passage of an exception to
the law in order to store a deadbody.
I'm talking about the frozendead guys days Now.
In 1989, there was a Norwegiancitizen who brought the corpse
of his recently deceasedgrandfather to the United States
(02:51):
.
The body was preserved on dryice for the trip and stored in
liquid nitrogen at a cryonicsfacility in California from 1990
to 1993.
In 1993, the body was returnedto dry ice and transported to
the town of Nederland, colorado,where the fellow and his mother
(03:14):
planned to create a cryonicsfacility of their very own.
They wanted to bringgrandfather back to life, but
the grandson was deported fromthe United States for
overstaying his visa and hismother continued keeping her
father's body cryogenicallyfrozen in a shack behind her
(03:34):
unfinished house.
Well, she was finally evictedfrom her home for living in a
house with no electricity orplumbing, in violation of local
ordinances, and at that time shetold a local reporter about her
father's body.
Imagine the look on those guys'faces.
And the reporter went to alocal city hall in order to let
them know about her fears thather eviction would cause her
(03:57):
father's body to thaw out.
I can imagine what theneighbors must be thinking when
that weird smell came across thefence.
But according to an article inthe February 7, 1995 Denver Post
, she was found guilty by a juryof building use and zoning
violations, and the NederlandTown judge ordered her to remove
(04:19):
the frozen body of her fatherfrom Nederland by March 6, or
face 10 days in jail and a $600fine.
Well, the story caused asensation, I don't know why.
In response, the city added abroad new provision to its
section of the municipal code ofkeeping of bodies.
However, because of all thepublicity that had been arisen
(04:43):
from this incident.
Let's say they made anexception for grandfather a
grandfather clause if you willand the grandson secured the
services of a localenvironmental company to keep a
cryonic facility running.
So the CEO of that company,known locally as the Iceman and
(05:06):
caretaker responsible fortransporting dry ice necessary
for the cryopreservation to theInstitute, something he's done
since 1995.
And in that year a local toughshed supplier and a Denver radio
station built her a new shed inwhich to store the body of
Grandpa.
(05:26):
In honor of the town's uniqueresident, nederland started
holding an annual celebration,which first started in 2002.
Frozen Dead Guy Days istypically celebrated on the
second weekend of March.
They have coffin races, ahearse parade, a frozen dead guy
(05:49):
look-alike contest.
Yes, people vie to look likethe dead guy because apparently
you can go into the shed, lookat the body.
There's a documentary onGrandpa called Grandpa's in the
Tough Shed, but they even made anewer version of that film and
you could tour the tough shedwhere Grandpa is still frozen.
They also had a polar plungefor those brave enough to go
swimming in Colorado in earlyMarch, which generally requires
(06:12):
breaking through the ice.
They have a dance calledGrandpa's Blue Bowl, they have
pancake breakfasts, a poetryslam, markets showcasing local
artists and just all kinds ofdrunken debauchery and fun.
One of the local ice creamcompanies makes frozen dead guy
ice cream for the festival.
It consists of a flute-flavoredblue ice cream mixed with
(06:35):
crushed Oreo cookies and sourgummy worms, because, after all,
I'm sure that Grandpa's got acouple of worms in him by now
anyway.
After all, I'm sure thatGrandpa's got a couple of worms
in him by now anyway.
Tours of the shed where Grandpais still frozen were suspended
in 2005 after the family gotfrustrated with the frozen dead
guy days, but they resumed in2010.
(06:56):
I guess Grandpa was gettinglonely and there's been a
growing increase in interest inthe festival, with rising
attendance numbers each year.
Back in 2019, the event had anestimated 25,000 visitors.
In 2020, just days before thefestival weekend, it was
canceled due to concerns ofcoronavirus and large crowds,
(07:19):
and the son and mother filed acomplaint against the city
involving money and namingrights.
Frozen Dead Guys days continuedto be held annually, but in
2023, the city of Nederlandcanceled it, stating they
refused to work with thefestival's current owners.
So in 2023, the festival movedto Estes Park, about 40 miles
(07:41):
away.
Estes Park said hey, we'll takeyou, come on over and celebrate
dead grandpa.
I guess you can still make the40-mile trek and see grandpa if
you wanted to, because theydidn't move the shed, just a
festival.
So it's now held in Estes Park,colorado, and if you go there
you might want to stay at theStanley Hotel.
You may know the Stanley.
It has all kinds of pop culturehistory.
(08:03):
Stephen King once spent awinter night there, snowed in,
which gave him the inspirationto write the Shining, with Jack
Nicholson, who starred in themovie, and Shelley Duvall, I
believe it was, which reallymessed her up.
You want to have a funny read?
Well, disturbing read, I guess.
Read about the making of theShining.
(08:25):
And from Colorado we're goingto go to Ohio.
Did you know that there is afestival celebrating duct tape?
That's right, duct tape.
Every year, over Father's Dayweekend, the greatness of duct
tape is celebrated with afestival in Avon, ohio, which is
home to the headquarters ofSureTape Technologies, the
(08:48):
company that makes duct tape.
Now, I mentioned earlier I wasin the military and we use duct
tape for everything, and theduct tape event includes many
things familiar to festivals,such as carnival rides and live
music, but of course, ductctTape has a starring role.
There are massive sculpturesmade from Duct Tape, a parade
(09:09):
with Duct Tape floats and afashion show where participants
wear an outfit crafted from theproduct.
So if you ever wanted tocelebrate Duct Tape, head over
to Avon, Ohio, on Father's Dayweekend, and from Avon, Ohio,
why don't we go to Oklahoma?
And we're going to attend anoodling tournament held every
(09:32):
June in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma,and noodling really has nothing
to do with ramen, spaghetti orlinguine.
This town of around 6,000citizens welcomes thousands,
including media outlets, fromaround the world.
And for those of you that don'tknow, noodling is hand fishing.
(09:54):
That's right.
Get in the water, stick yourhead underneath, put your arm in
a hole where the fish hide.
The fish will grab onto yourarm and you yank that sucker out
.
Now the event started as atournament 20 years ago at a
place called Bob's Pig Shop norelation to me, but I do envy
him.
That's a heck of a name for ashop but it has grown into the
(10:16):
world's largest hand fishingtournament.
It includes festival fun like acatfish cook-off, a kid's
catfish eating contest, livemusic, concerts, food vendors
and a whole lot more.
Doodling is something that Iwould never do, but a lot of
people do it.
Just stick your arm in there,let that fish latch on and pull
(10:40):
it out, and a lot of these arebig catfish and some of these
things are like four or fivefeet long man, but I guess you
got to have a tournament for it.
If you're going to have atournament, you might as well
make it into a festival.
And from noodling and catfish,what is more iconic in the
United States than Bigfoot?
And I imagine there's probablymore than one of these, but West
(11:02):
Virginia has the BigfootFestival.
It first began in June of 2021when they did the grand opening
of the West Virginia BigfootMuseum in Sutton, West Virginia.
1,500 people attended thatfirst festival and over 20,000
(11:22):
people attended in 2024.
Now, why Sutton, West Virginia?
Well, there have been multiplesightings of a Bigfoot-type
creature over the years in thatcounty and all over West
Virginia, and after hearingfirsthand tales of sightings
from people, the the owners ofMountain Laurel Country Store
(11:45):
decided to open a museum.
And what better way to drawattention to it than hold a
festival for the grand opening?
Well, today there's over 300vendors and food trucks, live
music and a whole lot ofwell-known speakers in the
Bigfoot industry.
So if you've got kids that arewondering what to do when they
grow up, tell them that there isan aspiring business for
(12:07):
Bigfoot speakers around theUnited States.
They have a whole community ofthese people and they hold this
in late June every year and thefestival just keeps getting
bigger.
People bring RVs.
There's RV hookups out there,you can stay on festival grounds
and while you're there, you cancheck out Lake Sutton and the
surrounding area for someoutdoor fun and activities.
(12:28):
It's a beautiful area out thereand if you run into Bigfoot,
well I don't know, maybe you canbe a speaker at the next year's
conference.
But now, if you think theUnited States has some weird
festivals, we do, but there'ssome other weird ones around the
world too.
How about a baby jumpingfestival?
Now, I know where your mind'sgoing.
It's not a bunch of babiesjumping up and down, but once a
(12:49):
year since the 17th centurythey've been doing this.
In the May-June time frame aunique event takes place called
El Salto del Colacho I know I'mscrewing that up and it is held
in Castillo de Mercia, which isa little village near Burgos in
(13:11):
Spain, and it's a mix ofSpanish tradition and religious
ceremony.
The festival is part of theCatholic Holiday Corpus Christi,
which is a Christian feast inhonor of the Holy Eucharist, and
the ceremony, the newbornbabies up to 12 months if you're
over 12 months, you can'tattend the newborn babies of the
(13:32):
village are put on the groundwhile a person disguised as
Satan, holding a club, jumpsabove them as a remedy to the
evil's removal from their souls.
This event leaves thespectators, who are unfamiliar
with the tradition, overwhelmedand a little speechless, I would
imagine.
But this tradition says that ifthis person dressed up as Satan
(13:55):
jumps over the babies, itremoves the original sins from
the babies.
So if you happen to be in Spainand you happen to be there at
that time of year, head over tothis little village, grab a beer
and watch some guy dressed upas the devil jump over babies.
What better way to spend theday?
But it is about 27 miles fromBurgos, spain, and Burgos is
(14:16):
beautiful.
It has a cathedral which is aWorld Heritage Site and several
museums.
The medieval city is a populardestination.
In fact, the 11th century orthe 11th yeah, 11th century
knight El Cid was raised in thattown and it's a popular stop on
the Camino de Santiago.
But not to be outdone, thisnext town says well, we see your
(14:41):
devil and we raise you someflaming balls.
Yeah, you're right, thisfestival is perfect for the
adventurer who truly wants tolive on the edge.
It takes place in a town calledNejapa, el Salvador.
Las Bolas de Fuego is theFestival of the Fireballs.
See, when they had this volcano, El Playon, erupt in 1658, it
(15:04):
forced the town to move to itscurrent location.
While that was happening, thevolcano threw balls of fire into
the air, which led to this hotand dangerous tradition.
Now, today, the balls of fireare made with rags covered in
wire and sunk into kerosene forabout a month, and they have
teams of men with their facescovered in paint literally
(15:25):
throwing flaming fireballs ateach other while the festival
attendees watch.
I guess if you really wanted to, you could participate, but I'm
not sure I really would Dodgeball with flaming balls of fire.
That sounds like something theMarines would make up on a
drunken Saturday afternoon.
But this festival takes placeevery year on the 31st of August
(15:48):
and it's a little bitty village, so there's not a lot to do
there, but it is only about 10miles outside of San Salvador,
which has beautiful cathedralsand is a nice town to visit.
It is a little dangerous in SanSalvador, but my understanding
is, if you stay in the mainareas and don't wander into
where the gangs operate, you'reprobably all right.
(16:09):
After all, you didn't getburned up with flaming balls of
fire.
What did you worry about?
Now, if that one's a little toodangerous for you, you might
enjoy something a little calmer.
So head over to Dubai for theDubai Shopping Festival.
Yes, there is a festivaldedicated to shopping.
(16:30):
It happens in December andJanuary of every year.
It takes place over 46 days andit's been going on for about 25
years.
They have over 700 brands and3,000 stores participating in
this festival and visitorshoping to snag a designer
bargain as well as shopping.
(16:51):
To commemorate the festival,the city holds fireworks
displays and street performancesand all kinds of shows to
entertain visitors when they'renot indulging in retail therapy.
And Dubai is known as the cityof gold.
Now, I remember being at theairport in Dubai and seeing
vending machines that dispensedgold.
That's right.
(17:11):
You can put your credit card inthere and out would pop
whatever you wanted to buy Oneounce to 10 ounce bar of gold.
40% of the world's physicalgold is traded through Dubai and
they have some of the lowestprices because of no taxes.
And Dubai is a man-made oasiscarved out of the desert, with
all their money flowing throughthere and you can do just about
(17:34):
anything.
They have water parks, theyhave an indoor snow skiing park,
all kinds of water sports anddesert ATV and four-wheeler
rides and camel rides and finedining and luxury products from
around the world.
I've been there a few times andit's real hard to be bored in
Dubai and I guess, if you wantto go December to January, hit
(17:54):
the shopping festival and pickup some designer clothes or
designer handbag for the wifeand get it at a great price.
But I'm from Texas and yeah, Imean I like a good bargain
shopping, but I like thisfestival a whole lot better.
La Mesa, Texas, has the ChickenFried Steak Festival.
(18:15):
If you don't know what it is.
Everybody in Texas loves a goodchicken fried steak, but in La
Mesa there's a whole festivalfor it.
The event, which is held everyApril, includes a cook-off
chicken fried steak dinner andeven a parade and a car show.
Now this has been a Texasfavorite dish for generations.
As a result, many historiansagree that German and Austrian
(18:38):
immigrants who settled in Texasin the 1800s were the first ones
to introduce chicken friedsteak, replacing veal from the
popular German dish ofWienerschnitzel with a cut of
beef that was readily availableand cheap in Oklahoma and Texas.
And by the 1930s, readilyavailable and cheap in Oklahoma
(18:58):
and Texas, and by the 1930s, thechicken fried steak seems to
have been accepted by everybody.
Now, an often repeated storyfrom Texas, known for tall tales
and small amounts of truth,credits a fellow by the name of
Jimmy Don Perkins, an unemployeddrawbridge oiler working as a
short-order cook in the SouthPlains, texas town of La Mesa,
who, in 1911, accidentallycreated chicken fried steak by
(19:20):
mixing up a chicken order and asteak order, misinterpreting the
waitress' hastily scribbledorder reading chicken, fried
steak, and so he chicken fried asteak.
And because of this, la Mesawas officially cemented as the
birthplace of the chicken friedsteak via a 2011 state
(19:43):
resolution, and the towncontinues to hold a festival in
honor of the dish every April.
Now La Mesa is in the Texaspanhandle, about 150 miles west
of Abilene and 70 miles east ofHobbs, New Mexico, and it's a
fairly small town with about10,000 residents, and other than
enjoying some chicken friedsteak, there's really not a
(20:05):
whole lot to do there.
But how far are you willing todrive for a world-class chicken
fried steak and attend thefestival?
Now this next one.
Why, I do not know, but thereare several of them in the
United States.
I went to one, the testiclefestival.
I have no idea why there's morethan one.
(20:29):
I don't even know why there'sone.
A few years ago, myself, alongwith two or three other fellows,
were invited to this town to bejudges of the Virginia City
Nevada Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry, otherwise known as the
original sack lunch, theswinging tenderloins, cowboy
(20:49):
caviar, the dusted nut.
Well, Virginia City Nevada hasthe Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry
and it's celebrated the eventfor 43 years now and it's held
annually on the Saturday closestto St Patrick's Day and it's a
great town to visit.
I love Virginia City Nevada.
The oysters that they calloysters not so much we had.
(21:14):
Now I'm going to tell you, whenI was there, it was snowing,
because this is up in themountains, it's still cold.
It was about, I don't know,maybe 30 degrees.
They had us in a tent.
They gave us a cooler full ofbeer, which I do appreciate, so
we could drink lots of beer.
While we were judging thesethings, they had a table behind
(21:36):
us with about there was about 30people entered this contest and
they made all kinds of stuffusing these delicacies.
Now the problem is, like I said, it's 30 degrees and this thing
has been sitting on table for15, 20, 30 minutes.
Naturally they were really cold, some were a little chewy, but
I managed to do my duty anddrink lots of beer in the
(22:00):
meantime.
But there were tacos, there waschili.
There was one guy who I do notappreciate and if I could have
found him I would have beat himwith a stick.
His entry was cut him into alittle bitty round slab about a
quarter inch thick, put it onthe grill just enough to heat
that sucker up and then slap itin between two little bitty
(22:21):
hamburger buns and call it aslider, nothing else.
Now imagine eating that thingafter it's been sitting out for
30 minutes in the cold.
But there were some that I ateand I was like you know well,
this isn't bad.
If I didn't know what it was, Iwould have said this is not bad
, but I knew what it was, andthere were some that it took
everything I could do and acouple of beers to choke that
(22:45):
thing down.
But we had a blast and we didfinally name a winner.
But there is a lot to do inVirginia City.
Virginia City is just an oldwest mining town.
Mark Twain was the editor ofthe newspaper there at one time
and there's saloons that arestill there from Mark Twain's
days and there's all kinds ofghost haunts there and just all
(23:08):
kinds of interesting things todo.
They have a festival everysingle weekend.
They've got something going onCar shows, camel races.
They've got something going onall the time.
If you ever get a chance to goto Virginia City, do it, and
while you're there, you're notgoing to find chain hotels or
(23:28):
anything else there.
Very limited space to spend thenight.
One place that you need to bookis the Gold Hill Hotel.
It's about two, three milesoutside of town in what used to
be the town of Gold Hill, whichwas a gold mining camp, the
oldest hotel in the state ofNevada.
(23:48):
Great little hotel.
It's got a bar and a restaurantdown in the basement and it is
said to be haunted.
I spent the night there.
Nothing bothered me, probablybecause I had had a lot of beer
and I was just sleepy by thattime.
But if you ever get a chance,go to Virginia City, go during
St Patrick's Day and try someRocky Mountain Oysters.
(24:09):
You will have a blast, trust meon that one.
But from Rocky Mountain Oystersthe people in Hawaii have a
festival that they prefersomething a little different,
the Waikiki Spam Jam.
Now, spam was introduced in1937 by Hormel Foods and in
World War II they shipped thatstuff to servicemen all over the
(24:33):
world because it could be keptfor a long time and it was in a
metal tin and all they had to dowas open it up and it was an
easy access meat product, Iguess.
And Spam was introduced toHawaii as a staple for American
soldiers.
Now, after the war, spam becamea part of the local cuisine and
(24:54):
the residents developed foodtraditions and they developed a
love for spam.
And you may have heard thatmore spam is consumed per person
in Hawaii than in any otherstate in the United States.
Almost 7 million cans of spamare eaten every year in Hawaii.
(25:15):
So in 2003, the Outrigger Hoteldecided to come up with a
festival and they've hosted theannual Spam Jam every year since
then, where the main street inWaikiki is closed to car traffic
during the event and variousentertainment stages are set up
on the street.
Restaurants and resorts get inon the act, and there were over
(25:37):
40,000 people show up tocelebrate SPAM.
They have three large stages onthe avenue and festivals
showcasing some of Hawaii's topmusicians Multiple acts on each
stage.
As you walk up and down thestreet and beyond the music
you'll find local artisans andshops selling all kinds of stuff
.
The closed roadblock partytakes place this year April 26th
(26:02):
, from like 4 pm to 10 pm, butparticipating restaurants will
be serving the unique spamdishes starting April 19th to
May the 4th at various Waikikirestaurants.
So it's like a one-day blockparty celebrating spam, and tons
of people show up for thisthing.
You can buy all your littlespam swag Now.
(26:24):
This next one runs for 24consecutive days every fall,
making it the longest-runningfair in the nation.
The longest-running fair in thenation.
Established in 1886, the TexasState Fair has been serving up
innovative and strange food tocustomers ever since.
In fact, invented in 1932,fritos were introduced to the
(26:46):
public in 1936 at the TexasState Fair In the 1930s,
vaudeville performers NeilFletcher and his wife Minnie and
his brother Carl were offered afood booth by the Texas State
Fair officials after they did areally nice performance.
So they began experimentingwith a little concoction that
(27:07):
they had and instead of bakingit they decided to fry it and
said you know what this tastes alot better being fried, and
since then the Fletcher corn doghas been a Texas State Fair
staple.
Now there are some people thatsay they invented that corn dog
before the Fletchers, and theymay have, but Fletcher sure made
(27:28):
it famous.
If you can deep fat fry it, youwill find it.
At the Texas State Fair thereare deep-fried short ribs,
battered and deep-fried dill,pickle spears covered in cheese
and caramelized bacon chunks.
And everybody has either had orheard of a funnel cake golden
(27:48):
fried dough dusted with powderedsugar, on top with a big scoop
of Blue Bell vanilla ice creamand drizzle that with some Dr
Pepper syrup.
Now you have a Texas State Fairworthy funnel cake.
They have everything Cottoncandy, bacon, deep fried brisket
, burnt ends, battered and deepfried bacon, fried Oreos and
(28:11):
Snickers bars, even fried icecream.
Don't ask me how they do it, Idon't know, but I've had it and
it is deep fried ice cream and awhole lot more.
If they can fry it, they will.
They have competitions everyyear on who can come up with new
and innovative foods for thestate fair.
And there's other stuff to dothere more than just eating 50
(28:35):
million calories of deep friedfood.
There's exhibits and everythingelse, and it's held in Dallas
right next to the Cotton Bowlevery year, and there's rides
and there's other stuff to do.
But if you are ever anywherearound it, you need to attend at
least once the Texas State Fair.
And this next one and it's thelast one I'm going to tell you
(28:58):
about I've been to this one also.
In fact, I've been to severalof them, but I've been to the
granddaddy of them allOktoberfest.
Lots of places celebrateOktoberfest, but there's only
one original and that's inMunich.
Germany Oktoberfest is anannual festival held in Munich
over a two-week period ending onthe first Sunday in October, so
(29:23):
it actually starts in September.
It originated in 1810 incelebration of the marriage of
the crown prince of Bavaria tosome princess.
So Germans, doing one of thethings they're known best for,
and that's drink beer, decidedto have a party that lasted two
(29:43):
weeks.
Now, the beer that you willfind at the Oktoberfest is
brewed only within the citylimits of Munich and it's
specially brewed for thefestival and it must have at
least 6% alcohol.
And this is a huge event, somuch so that somewhere between
600 to 800 people every yearsuffer alcohol poisoning at the
(30:03):
event.
But don't worry, there's a RedCross tent there on the grounds
if you get sick.
Now there are 14 beer tents atOktoberfest.
All the breweries have theirown beer tent.
The largest is the Hofbrau FestHall.
Now the breweries have theirown beer tent.
The largest is the Hofbrau FestHall.
Now, you're not going tobelieve this.
It holds 11,000 people in thatone tent and these tents are
(30:24):
full.
I mean, if you don't get thereat a certain time in the
afternoon or the early evening,you're not going to get in.
So they have overflow outside,where there's like picnic tables
and benches set up outside withheaters blowing on people,
because it is kind of chillythat time of year for the people
that can't get inside the tent.
And they got the oompa bandsplaying and I mean it's just,
(30:48):
it's a hoot.
But more than 6 million peopleattend Oktoberfest annually and
it employs up to 13,000 peopleand it's free to enter.
Doesn't cost you anything to gointo Oktoberfest.
It does cost you to drink thebeer and eat the food, but it
doesn't cost you to get in and,believe it or not, it's very
family-friendly.
(31:08):
There are hundreds of childrenthat attend the festival every
year.
The year I went I was actuallyin the military Me, my wife and
my oldest daughter, who wasprobably two years old at the
time.
We went and my daughter had ablast, because there's all kinds
of Ferris wheels and rollercoasters and games and parades
and just all kinds of stuff thatgo on on the fairgrounds, and
(31:31):
she had a hoot in the beer tenttoo.
I mean, she was laughing andsinging along with everybody
else.
She wasn't drinking any beer,but she was having a blast and
there is kids in the beer tent.
You got to remember this isGermany.
This is not like taking yourkid to a bar down on 6th Street
in Austin.
This is a totally differentatmosphere.
But it seems like losing youroffspring is a rather common
(31:52):
side effect of beer drinking.
But they do have a lost andfound children's office on the
premise.
So if you do lose them, they'llbe there and Germans are pretty
friendly.
They will see your daughterrunning around going Daddy,
where's Daddy, and they'll takeover the lost and say some fool
left his kid out here.
And there's German policewalking around everywhere.
(32:13):
It's safe.
It's safe, it's fun, everybodyhas a blast, and if you're going
to go to one, you might as wellgo to the one in Munich, and
there's a ton of stuff to do inMunich.
Munich's a beautiful city, lotsof things to see and do, and
it's in Bavaria, so you're notvery far from a lot of other
really cool things to see and do.
Garmisch is only about 55 milesaway and it has beautiful
(32:37):
scenery there, as well as a towncalled Oberammergau, and it's
known for its wood carvers andwood carvings, as well as its
320-year history of putting onthe passion play.
I've been to both of thoseplaces and I've also been to
Neuschwanstein, which is about65, 70 miles away from Munich,
(32:58):
and Neuschwanstein is the castlebuilt between 1868 and 1882 by
King Ludwig II, and it isvisited by over one and a half
million people every year.
As many as 6,000 people a daygo to see this castle.
If you're going to go see NewSchwanstein, you need to get
tickets in advance, and that'sthe castle that's said to be the
(33:20):
inspiration for Disney'sCinderella Castle.
It's a beautiful, beautifulcastle.
If you ever get a chance,you've got to go see it.
So that's the thing.
Find you a festival.
There's one for everything.
There's festivals celebratingBigfoot and animals, and food
and events and all kinds ofstuff.
(33:42):
Do a search for festivals inyour state and make a weekend
trip out of it.
See some of the sites in thearea before you hit the festival
.
Make the festival the lastthing you do your last day there
.
If it's a beer fest, arrange tospend the night there and then
drive home the next day.
But whether it's a beer fest, awine fest, a chicken fried
(34:03):
steak festival, the onionfestival in California, the
garlic festival, the Bigfootfestival or the alien festival
they have out in Roswell,there's something out there for
everybody where you can justhave a blast, take the family
and enjoy a nice trip.
But you ought to try andexperience a couple of these
festivals.
(34:24):
As always, if you like theepisode, if you like the podcast
, hit like, hit subscribe, I'dappreciate it.
And if you haven't, go to thewebsite, sign up for the
newsletter.
You get one a month.
It has things in there aboutthe latest travel news and
travel contests which you canapply for and maybe win a trip
to one of these places.
If you have any questions, anysuggestions or anything that you
(34:47):
might like to hear on a futurepodcast, shoot me an email at
editor at thetravelingfoolcom,and I'll get back to you on it.
We'll see what we can do.
Until next time, safe travels.
Hi and welcome to the Traveling Fool, the show where
we explore the most intriguingaspects of travel, culture and
history.
Do you like festivals?
Well, it seems that there is afestival for just about
everything.
Food festivals, religiousfestivals and festivals honoring
local historic events.
(00:21):
I'm your host, Bob Bales, andtoday we are talking about a few
festivals around the world thatyou should visit.
Some are strange, some are funand some are just plain weird.
So stay tuned and we'll exploresome of the more interesting
festivals around the world.
Okay, welcome back.
(01:08):
And this week we are talkingabout festivals.
I have been to a lot offestivals.
When I was in the militarystationed overseas in Germany,
there was always a beer fest ora wine fest or some kind of
festival going on almost everyweekend and, being a good little
(01:28):
soldier, I tried my best to hitthem all.
But there are festivals goingon all over the world, and I've
been to a lot of festivals herein the United States as well,
and sometimes when you go to afestival, it makes for a great
trip because you can do thingsbeforehand visiting a location,
(01:48):
spend some time enjoying thearea and then hit up the
festival as the last part ofyour trip before you head home.
One thing you don't want to dois head to a festival, spend two
or three days enjoying afestival and then have two or
three days to see the sightsaround town.
Hit those sights first.
Hit those sights first.
Trust me, it's a lot betterwhen you do the festival at the
(02:09):
end.
So let's start talking about afew of these festivals that make
for a good trip and make forsome fun.
But we're going to start outwith a weird one first, and you
can't make this one up.
It has elements of cryogenics,deportation, evictions, legal
(02:29):
wranglings from all sides andthe passage of an exception to
the law in order to store a deadbody.
I'm talking about the frozendead guys days Now.
In 1989, there was a Norwegiancitizen who brought the corpse
of his recently deceasedgrandfather to the United States
(02:51):
.
The body was preserved on dryice for the trip and stored in
liquid nitrogen at a cryonicsfacility in California from 1990
to 1993.
In 1993, the body was returnedto dry ice and transported to
the town of Nederland, colorado,where the fellow and his mother
(03:14):
planned to create a cryonicsfacility of their very own.
They wanted to bringgrandfather back to life, but
the grandson was deported fromthe United States for
overstaying his visa and hismother continued keeping her
father's body cryogenicallyfrozen in a shack behind her
(03:34):
unfinished house.
Well, she was finally evictedfrom her home for living in a
house with no electricity orplumbing, in violation of local
ordinances, and at that time shetold a local reporter about her
father's body.
Imagine the look on those guys'faces.
And the reporter went to alocal city hall in order to let
them know about her fears thather eviction would cause her
(03:57):
father's body to thaw out.
I can imagine what theneighbors must be thinking when
that weird smell came across thefence.
But according to an article inthe February 7, 1995 Denver Post
, she was found guilty by a juryof building use and zoning
violations, and the NederlandTown judge ordered her to remove
(04:19):
the frozen body of her fatherfrom Nederland by March 6, or
face 10 days in jail and a $600fine.
Well, the story caused asensation, I don't know why.
In response, the city added abroad new provision to its
section of the municipal code ofkeeping of bodies.
However, because of all thepublicity that had been arisen
(04:43):
from this incident.
Let's say they made anexception for grandfather a
grandfather clause if you willand the grandson secured the
services of a localenvironmental company to keep a
cryonic facility running.
So the CEO of that company,known locally as the Iceman and
(05:06):
caretaker responsible fortransporting dry ice necessary
for the cryopreservation to theInstitute, something he's done
since 1995.
And in that year a local toughshed supplier and a Denver radio
station built her a new shed inwhich to store the body of
Grandpa.
(05:26):
In honor of the town's uniqueresident, nederland started
holding an annual celebration,which first started in 2002.
Frozen Dead Guy Days istypically celebrated on the
second weekend of March.
They have coffin races, ahearse parade, a frozen dead guy
(05:49):
look-alike contest.
Yes, people vie to look likethe dead guy because apparently
you can go into the shed, lookat the body.
There's a documentary onGrandpa called Grandpa's in the
Tough Shed, but they even made anewer version of that film and
you could tour the tough shedwhere Grandpa is still frozen.
They also had a polar plungefor those brave enough to go
swimming in Colorado in earlyMarch, which generally requires
(06:12):
breaking through the ice.
They have a dance calledGrandpa's Blue Bowl, they have
pancake breakfasts, a poetryslam, markets showcasing local
artists and just all kinds ofdrunken debauchery and fun.
One of the local ice creamcompanies makes frozen dead guy
ice cream for the festival.
It consists of a flute-flavoredblue ice cream mixed with
(06:35):
crushed Oreo cookies and sourgummy worms, because, after all,
I'm sure that Grandpa's got acouple of worms in him by now
anyway.
After all, I'm sure thatGrandpa's got a couple of worms
in him by now anyway.
Tours of the shed where Grandpais still frozen were suspended
in 2005 after the family gotfrustrated with the frozen dead
guy days, but they resumed in2010.
(06:56):
I guess Grandpa was gettinglonely and there's been a
growing increase in interest inthe festival, with rising
attendance numbers each year.
Back in 2019, the event had anestimated 25,000 visitors.
In 2020, just days before thefestival weekend, it was
canceled due to concerns ofcoronavirus and large crowds,
(07:19):
and the son and mother filed acomplaint against the city
involving money and namingrights.
Frozen Dead Guys days continuedto be held annually, but in
2023, the city of Nederlandcanceled it, stating they
refused to work with thefestival's current owners.
So in 2023, the festival movedto Estes Park, about 40 miles
(07:41):
away.
Estes Park said hey, we'll takeyou, come on over and celebrate
dead grandpa.
I guess you can still make the40-mile trek and see grandpa if
you wanted to, because theydidn't move the shed, just a
festival.
So it's now held in Estes Park,colorado, and if you go there
you might want to stay at theStanley Hotel.
You may know the Stanley.
It has all kinds of pop culturehistory.
(08:03):
Stephen King once spent awinter night there, snowed in,
which gave him the inspirationto write the Shining, with Jack
Nicholson, who starred in themovie, and Shelley Duvall, I
believe it was, which reallymessed her up.
You want to have a funny read?
Well, disturbing read, I guess.
Read about the making of theShining.
(08:25):
And from Colorado we're goingto go to Ohio.
Did you know that there is afestival celebrating duct tape?
That's right, duct tape.
Every year, over Father's Dayweekend, the greatness of duct
tape is celebrated with afestival in Avon, ohio, which is
home to the headquarters ofSureTape Technologies, the
(08:48):
company that makes duct tape.
Now, I mentioned earlier I wasin the military and we use duct
tape for everything, and theduct tape event includes many
things familiar to festivals,such as carnival rides and live
music, but of course, ductctTape has a starring role.
There are massive sculpturesmade from Duct Tape, a parade
(09:09):
with Duct Tape floats and afashion show where participants
wear an outfit crafted from theproduct.
So if you ever wanted tocelebrate Duct Tape, head over
to Avon, Ohio, on Father's Dayweekend, and from Avon, Ohio,
why don't we go to Oklahoma?
And we're going to attend anoodling tournament held every
(09:32):
June in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma,and noodling really has nothing
to do with ramen, spaghetti orlinguine.
This town of around 6,000citizens welcomes thousands,
including media outlets, fromaround the world.
And for those of you that don'tknow, noodling is hand fishing.
(09:54):
That's right.
Get in the water, stick yourhead underneath, put your arm in
a hole where the fish hide.
The fish will grab onto yourarm and you yank that sucker out
.
Now the event started as atournament 20 years ago at a
place called Bob's Pig Shop norelation to me, but I do envy
him.
That's a heck of a name for ashop but it has grown into the
(10:16):
world's largest hand fishingtournament.
It includes festival fun like acatfish cook-off, a kid's
catfish eating contest, livemusic, concerts, food vendors
and a whole lot more.
Doodling is something that Iwould never do, but a lot of
people do it.
Just stick your arm in there,let that fish latch on and pull
(10:40):
it out, and a lot of these arebig catfish and some of these
things are like four or fivefeet long man, but I guess you
got to have a tournament for it.
If you're going to have atournament, you might as well
make it into a festival.
And from noodling and catfish,what is more iconic in the
United States than Bigfoot?
And I imagine there's probablymore than one of these, but West
(11:02):
Virginia has the BigfootFestival.
It first began in June of 2021when they did the grand opening
of the West Virginia BigfootMuseum in Sutton, West Virginia.
1,500 people attended thatfirst festival and over 20,000
(11:22):
people attended in 2024.
Now, why Sutton, West Virginia?
Well, there have been multiplesightings of a Bigfoot-type
creature over the years in thatcounty and all over West
Virginia, and after hearingfirsthand tales of sightings
from people, the the owners ofMountain Laurel Country Store
(11:45):
decided to open a museum.
And what better way to drawattention to it than hold a
festival for the grand opening?
Well, today there's over 300vendors and food trucks, live
music and a whole lot ofwell-known speakers in the
Bigfoot industry.
So if you've got kids that arewondering what to do when they
grow up, tell them that there isan aspiring business for
(12:07):
Bigfoot speakers around theUnited States.
They have a whole community ofthese people and they hold this
in late June every year and thefestival just keeps getting
bigger.
People bring RVs.
There's RV hookups out there,you can stay on festival grounds
and while you're there, you cancheck out Lake Sutton and the
surrounding area for someoutdoor fun and activities.
(12:28):
It's a beautiful area out thereand if you run into Bigfoot,
well I don't know, maybe you canbe a speaker at the next year's
conference.
But now, if you think theUnited States has some weird
festivals, we do, but there'ssome other weird ones around the
world too.
How about a baby jumpingfestival?
Now, I know where your mind'sgoing.
It's not a bunch of babiesjumping up and down, but once a
(12:49):
year since the 17th centurythey've been doing this.
In the May-June time frame aunique event takes place called
El Salto del Colacho I know I'mscrewing that up and it is held
in Castillo de Mercia, which isa little village near Burgos in
(13:11):
Spain, and it's a mix ofSpanish tradition and religious
ceremony.
The festival is part of theCatholic Holiday Corpus Christi,
which is a Christian feast inhonor of the Holy Eucharist, and
the ceremony, the newbornbabies up to 12 months if you're
over 12 months, you can'tattend the newborn babies of the
(13:32):
village are put on the groundwhile a person disguised as
Satan, holding a club, jumpsabove them as a remedy to the
evil's removal from their souls.
This event leaves thespectators, who are unfamiliar
with the tradition, overwhelmedand a little speechless, I would
imagine.
But this tradition says that ifthis person dressed up as Satan
(13:55):
jumps over the babies, itremoves the original sins from
the babies.
So if you happen to be in Spainand you happen to be there at
that time of year, head over tothis little village, grab a beer
and watch some guy dressed upas the devil jump over babies.
What better way to spend theday?
But it is about 27 miles fromBurgos, spain, and Burgos is
(14:16):
beautiful.
It has a cathedral which is aWorld Heritage Site and several
museums.
The medieval city is a populardestination.
In fact, the 11th century orthe 11th yeah, 11th century
knight El Cid was raised in thattown and it's a popular stop on
the Camino de Santiago.
But not to be outdone, thisnext town says well, we see your
(14:41):
devil and we raise you someflaming balls.
Yeah, you're right, thisfestival is perfect for the
adventurer who truly wants tolive on the edge.
It takes place in a town calledNejapa, el Salvador.
Las Bolas de Fuego is theFestival of the Fireballs.
See, when they had this volcano, El Playon, erupt in 1658, it
(15:04):
forced the town to move to itscurrent location.
While that was happening, thevolcano threw balls of fire into
the air, which led to this hotand dangerous tradition.
Now, today, the balls of fireare made with rags covered in
wire and sunk into kerosene forabout a month, and they have
teams of men with their facescovered in paint literally
(15:25):
throwing flaming fireballs ateach other while the festival
attendees watch.
I guess if you really wanted to, you could participate, but I'm
not sure I really would Dodgeball with flaming balls of fire.
That sounds like something theMarines would make up on a
drunken Saturday afternoon.
But this festival takes placeevery year on the 31st of August
(15:48):
and it's a little bitty village, so there's not a lot to do
there, but it is only about 10miles outside of San Salvador,
which has beautiful cathedralsand is a nice town to visit.
It is a little dangerous in SanSalvador, but my understanding
is, if you stay in the mainareas and don't wander into
where the gangs operate, you'reprobably all right.
(16:09):
After all, you didn't getburned up with flaming balls of
fire.
What did you worry about?
Now, if that one's a little toodangerous for you, you might
enjoy something a little calmer.
So head over to Dubai for theDubai Shopping Festival.
Yes, there is a festivaldedicated to shopping.
(16:30):
It happens in December andJanuary of every year.
It takes place over 46 days andit's been going on for about 25
years.
They have over 700 brands and3,000 stores participating in
this festival and visitorshoping to snag a designer
bargain as well as shopping.
(16:51):
To commemorate the festival,the city holds fireworks
displays and street performancesand all kinds of shows to
entertain visitors when they'renot indulging in retail therapy.
And Dubai is known as the cityof gold.
Now, I remember being at theairport in Dubai and seeing
vending machines that dispensedgold.
That's right.
(17:11):
You can put your credit card inthere and out would pop
whatever you wanted to buy Oneounce to 10 ounce bar of gold.
40% of the world's physicalgold is traded through Dubai and
they have some of the lowestprices because of no taxes.
And Dubai is a man-made oasiscarved out of the desert, with
all their money flowing throughthere and you can do just about
(17:34):
anything.
They have water parks, theyhave an indoor snow skiing park,
all kinds of water sports anddesert ATV and four-wheeler
rides and camel rides and finedining and luxury products from
around the world.
I've been there a few times andit's real hard to be bored in
Dubai and I guess, if you wantto go December to January, hit
(17:54):
the shopping festival and pickup some designer clothes or
designer handbag for the wifeand get it at a great price.
But I'm from Texas and yeah, Imean I like a good bargain
shopping, but I like thisfestival a whole lot better.
La Mesa, Texas, has the ChickenFried Steak Festival.
(18:15):
If you don't know what it is.
Everybody in Texas loves a goodchicken fried steak, but in La
Mesa there's a whole festivalfor it.
The event, which is held everyApril, includes a cook-off
chicken fried steak dinner andeven a parade and a car show.
Now this has been a Texasfavorite dish for generations.
As a result, many historiansagree that German and Austrian
(18:38):
immigrants who settled in Texasin the 1800s were the first ones
to introduce chicken friedsteak, replacing veal from the
popular German dish ofWienerschnitzel with a cut of
beef that was readily availableand cheap in Oklahoma and Texas.
And by the 1930s, readilyavailable and cheap in Oklahoma
(18:58):
and Texas, and by the 1930s, thechicken fried steak seems to
have been accepted by everybody.
Now, an often repeated storyfrom Texas, known for tall tales
and small amounts of truth,credits a fellow by the name of
Jimmy Don Perkins, an unemployeddrawbridge oiler working as a
short-order cook in the SouthPlains, texas town of La Mesa,
who, in 1911, accidentallycreated chicken fried steak by
(19:20):
mixing up a chicken order and asteak order, misinterpreting the
waitress' hastily scribbledorder reading chicken, fried
steak, and so he chicken fried asteak.
And because of this, la Mesawas officially cemented as the
birthplace of the chicken friedsteak via a 2011 state
(19:43):
resolution, and the towncontinues to hold a festival in
honor of the dish every April.
Now La Mesa is in the Texaspanhandle, about 150 miles west
of Abilene and 70 miles east ofHobbs, New Mexico, and it's a
fairly small town with about10,000 residents, and other than
enjoying some chicken friedsteak, there's really not a
(20:05):
whole lot to do there.
But how far are you willing todrive for a world-class chicken
fried steak and attend thefestival?
Now this next one.
Why, I do not know, but thereare several of them in the
United States.
I went to one, the testiclefestival.
I have no idea why there's morethan one.
(20:29):
I don't even know why there'sone.
A few years ago, myself, alongwith two or three other fellows,
were invited to this town to bejudges of the Virginia City
Nevada Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry, otherwise known as the
original sack lunch, theswinging tenderloins, cowboy
(20:49):
caviar, the dusted nut.
Well, Virginia City Nevada hasthe Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry
and it's celebrated the eventfor 43 years now and it's held
annually on the Saturday closestto St Patrick's Day and it's a
great town to visit.
I love Virginia City Nevada.
The oysters that they calloysters not so much we had.
(21:14):
Now I'm going to tell you, whenI was there, it was snowing,
because this is up in themountains, it's still cold.
It was about, I don't know,maybe 30 degrees.
They had us in a tent.
They gave us a cooler full ofbeer, which I do appreciate, so
we could drink lots of beer.
While we were judging thesethings, they had a table behind
(21:36):
us with about there was about 30people entered this contest and
they made all kinds of stuffusing these delicacies.
Now the problem is, like I said, it's 30 degrees and this thing
has been sitting on table for15, 20, 30 minutes.
Naturally they were really cold, some were a little chewy, but
I managed to do my duty anddrink lots of beer in the
(22:00):
meantime.
But there were tacos, there waschili.
There was one guy who I do notappreciate and if I could have
found him I would have beat himwith a stick.
His entry was cut him into alittle bitty round slab about a
quarter inch thick, put it onthe grill just enough to heat
that sucker up and then slap itin between two little bitty
(22:21):
hamburger buns and call it aslider, nothing else.
Now imagine eating that thingafter it's been sitting out for
30 minutes in the cold.
But there were some that I ateand I was like you know well,
this isn't bad.
If I didn't know what it was, Iwould have said this is not bad
, but I knew what it was, andthere were some that it took
everything I could do and acouple of beers to choke that
(22:45):
thing down.
But we had a blast and we didfinally name a winner.
But there is a lot to do inVirginia City.
Virginia City is just an oldwest mining town.
Mark Twain was the editor ofthe newspaper there at one time
and there's saloons that arestill there from Mark Twain's
days and there's all kinds ofghost haunts there and just all
(23:08):
kinds of interesting things todo.
They have a festival everysingle weekend.
They've got something going onCar shows, camel races.
They've got something going onall the time.
If you ever get a chance to goto Virginia City, do it, and
while you're there, you're notgoing to find chain hotels or
(23:28):
anything else there.
Very limited space to spend thenight.
One place that you need to bookis the Gold Hill Hotel.
It's about two, three milesoutside of town in what used to
be the town of Gold Hill, whichwas a gold mining camp, the
oldest hotel in the state ofNevada.
(23:48):
Great little hotel.
It's got a bar and a restaurantdown in the basement and it is
said to be haunted.
I spent the night there.
Nothing bothered me, probablybecause I had had a lot of beer
and I was just sleepy by thattime.
But if you ever get a chance,go to Virginia City, go during
St Patrick's Day and try someRocky Mountain Oysters.
(24:09):
You will have a blast, trust meon that one.
But from Rocky Mountain Oystersthe people in Hawaii have a
festival that they prefersomething a little different,
the Waikiki Spam Jam.
Now, spam was introduced in1937 by Hormel Foods and in
World War II they shipped thatstuff to servicemen all over the
(24:33):
world because it could be keptfor a long time and it was in a
metal tin and all they had to dowas open it up and it was an
easy access meat product, Iguess.
And Spam was introduced toHawaii as a staple for American
soldiers.
Now, after the war, spam becamea part of the local cuisine and
(24:54):
the residents developed foodtraditions and they developed a
love for spam.
And you may have heard thatmore spam is consumed per person
in Hawaii than in any otherstate in the United States.
Almost 7 million cans of spamare eaten every year in Hawaii.
(25:15):
So in 2003, the Outrigger Hoteldecided to come up with a
festival and they've hosted theannual Spam Jam every year since
then, where the main street inWaikiki is closed to car traffic
during the event and variousentertainment stages are set up
on the street.
Restaurants and resorts get inon the act, and there were over
(25:37):
40,000 people show up tocelebrate SPAM.
They have three large stages onthe avenue and festivals
showcasing some of Hawaii's topmusicians Multiple acts on each
stage.
As you walk up and down thestreet and beyond the music
you'll find local artisans andshops selling all kinds of stuff
.
The closed roadblock partytakes place this year April 26th
(26:02):
, from like 4 pm to 10 pm, butparticipating restaurants will
be serving the unique spamdishes starting April 19th to
May the 4th at various Waikikirestaurants.
So it's like a one-day blockparty celebrating spam, and tons
of people show up for thisthing.
You can buy all your littlespam swag Now.
(26:24):
This next one runs for 24consecutive days every fall,
making it the longest-runningfair in the nation.
The longest-running fair in thenation.
Established in 1886, the TexasState Fair has been serving up
innovative and strange food tocustomers ever since.
In fact, invented in 1932,fritos were introduced to the
(26:46):
public in 1936 at the TexasState Fair In the 1930s,
vaudeville performers NeilFletcher and his wife Minnie and
his brother Carl were offered afood booth by the Texas State
Fair officials after they did areally nice performance.
So they began experimentingwith a little concoction that
(27:07):
they had and instead of bakingit they decided to fry it and
said you know what this tastes alot better being fried, and
since then the Fletcher corn doghas been a Texas State Fair
staple.
Now there are some people thatsay they invented that corn dog
before the Fletchers, and theymay have, but Fletcher sure made
(27:28):
it famous.
If you can deep fat fry it, youwill find it.
At the Texas State Fair thereare deep-fried short ribs,
battered and deep-fried dill,pickle spears covered in cheese
and caramelized bacon chunks.
And everybody has either had orheard of a funnel cake golden
(27:48):
fried dough dusted with powderedsugar, on top with a big scoop
of Blue Bell vanilla ice creamand drizzle that with some Dr
Pepper syrup.
Now you have a Texas State Fairworthy funnel cake.
They have everything Cottoncandy, bacon, deep fried brisket
, burnt ends, battered and deepfried bacon, fried Oreos and
(28:11):
Snickers bars, even fried icecream.
Don't ask me how they do it, Idon't know, but I've had it and
it is deep fried ice cream and awhole lot more.
If they can fry it, they will.
They have competitions everyyear on who can come up with new
and innovative foods for thestate fair.
And there's other stuff to dothere more than just eating 50
(28:35):
million calories of deep friedfood.
There's exhibits and everythingelse, and it's held in Dallas
right next to the Cotton Bowlevery year, and there's rides
and there's other stuff to do.
But if you are ever anywherearound it, you need to attend at
least once the Texas State Fair.
And this next one and it's thelast one I'm going to tell you
(28:58):
about I've been to this one also.
In fact, I've been to severalof them, but I've been to the
granddaddy of them allOktoberfest.
Lots of places celebrateOktoberfest, but there's only
one original and that's inMunich.
Germany Oktoberfest is anannual festival held in Munich
over a two-week period ending onthe first Sunday in October, so
(29:23):
it actually starts in September.
It originated in 1810 incelebration of the marriage of
the crown prince of Bavaria tosome princess.
So Germans, doing one of thethings they're known best for,
and that's drink beer, decidedto have a party that lasted two
(29:43):
weeks.
Now, the beer that you willfind at the Oktoberfest is
brewed only within the citylimits of Munich and it's
specially brewed for thefestival and it must have at
least 6% alcohol.
And this is a huge event, somuch so that somewhere between
600 to 800 people every yearsuffer alcohol poisoning at the
(30:03):
event.
But don't worry, there's a RedCross tent there on the grounds
if you get sick.
Now there are 14 beer tents atOktoberfest.
All the breweries have theirown beer tent.
The largest is the Hofbrau FestHall.
Now the breweries have theirown beer tent.
The largest is the Hofbrau FestHall.
Now, you're not going tobelieve this.
It holds 11,000 people in thatone tent and these tents are
(30:24):
full.
I mean, if you don't get thereat a certain time in the
afternoon or the early evening,you're not going to get in.
So they have overflow outside,where there's like picnic tables
and benches set up outside withheaters blowing on people,
because it is kind of chillythat time of year for the people
that can't get inside the tent.
And they got the oompa bandsplaying and I mean it's just,
(30:48):
it's a hoot.
But more than 6 million peopleattend Oktoberfest annually and
it employs up to 13,000 peopleand it's free to enter.
Doesn't cost you anything to gointo Oktoberfest.
It does cost you to drink thebeer and eat the food, but it
doesn't cost you to get in and,believe it or not, it's very
family-friendly.
(31:08):
There are hundreds of childrenthat attend the festival every
year.
The year I went I was actuallyin the military Me, my wife and
my oldest daughter, who wasprobably two years old at the
time.
We went and my daughter had ablast, because there's all kinds
of Ferris wheels and rollercoasters and games and parades
and just all kinds of stuff thatgo on on the fairgrounds, and
(31:31):
she had a hoot in the beer tenttoo.
I mean, she was laughing andsinging along with everybody
else.
She wasn't drinking any beer,but she was having a blast and
there is kids in the beer tent.
You got to remember this isGermany.
This is not like taking yourkid to a bar down on 6th Street
in Austin.
This is a totally differentatmosphere.
But it seems like losing youroffspring is a rather common
(31:52):
side effect of beer drinking.
But they do have a lost andfound children's office on the
premise.
So if you do lose them, they'llbe there and Germans are pretty
friendly.
They will see your daughterrunning around going Daddy,
where's Daddy, and they'll takeover the lost and say some fool
left his kid out here.
And there's German policewalking around everywhere.
(32:13):
It's safe.
It's safe, it's fun, everybodyhas a blast, and if you're going
to go to one, you might as wellgo to the one in Munich, and
there's a ton of stuff to do inMunich.
Munich's a beautiful city, lotsof things to see and do, and
it's in Bavaria, so you're notvery far from a lot of other
really cool things to see and do.
Garmisch is only about 55 milesaway and it has beautiful
(32:37):
scenery there, as well as a towncalled Oberammergau, and it's
known for its wood carvers andwood carvings, as well as its
320-year history of putting onthe passion play.
I've been to both of thoseplaces and I've also been to
Neuschwanstein, which is about65, 70 miles away from Munich,
(32:58):
and Neuschwanstein is the castlebuilt between 1868 and 1882 by
King Ludwig II, and it isvisited by over one and a half
million people every year.
As many as 6,000 people a daygo to see this castle.
If you're going to go see NewSchwanstein, you need to get
tickets in advance, and that'sthe castle that's said to be the
(33:20):
inspiration for Disney'sCinderella Castle.
It's a beautiful, beautifulcastle.
If you ever get a chance,you've got to go see it.
So that's the thing.
Find you a festival.
There's one for everything.
There's festivals celebratingBigfoot and animals, and food
and events and all kinds ofstuff.
(33:42):
Do a search for festivals inyour state and make a weekend
trip out of it.
See some of the sites in thearea before you hit the festival
.
Make the festival the lastthing you do your last day there
.
If it's a beer fest, arrange tospend the night there and then
drive home the next day.
But whether it's a beer fest, awine fest, a chicken fried
(34:03):
steak festival, the onionfestival in California, the
garlic festival, the Bigfootfestival or the alien festival
they have out in Roswell,there's something out there for
everybody where you can justhave a blast, take the family
and enjoy a nice trip.
But you ought to try andexperience a couple of these
festivals.
(34:24):
As always, if you like theepisode, if you like the podcast
, hit like, hit subscribe, I'dappreciate it.
And if you haven't, go to thewebsite, sign up for the
newsletter.
You get one a month.
It has things in there aboutthe latest travel news and
travel contests which you canapply for and maybe win a trip
to one of these places.
If you have any questions, anysuggestions or anything that you
(34:47):
might like to hear on a futurepodcast, shoot me an email at
editor at thetravelingfoolcom,and I'll get back to you on it.
We'll see what we can do.
Until next time, safe travels.
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