Our country has a diverse cultural landscape that is showcased during the festival months. From the charmingly wacky to downright bizarre, almost every state has at least one festival that could only be celebrated in that one location. Ready to see what’s out there? Want to plan a trip to a one-of-a-kind festival? Take a look.
Get Ready for Halloween at the Skeleton Festival
The annual Skeleton Festival in Harrisonburg, VA, is the way this town gets ready for Halloween. The activities usually kick off with trick or treating at the businesses downtown, and then there’s a big block party for the kids and adults. Make sure to put on your most creative costume because there are prizes for kids, adults, and, of course, the best dog costume.
Mike the Headless Chicken Festival
There used to be a chicken so special in Fruita, Colorado that there is now an annual festival to celebrate him. In 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen chose Mike, a plump rooster, for his family dinner, and chopped off his head, but Mike didn’t seem to mind not having a head and went back to being a normal chicken. He tried to peck for food and preen his feathers. Mike continued to live out his life as a headless chicken.
So now, the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival brings Fruita, CO residents together each year with a car show, games, a chicken dance contest, and lots of delicious chicken dishes.
It’s All Fair Game at the Roadkill Cookoff
The annual Autumn Harvest Festival and West Virginia Roadkill Cook-off is one of the biggest days of the year in Marlinton, WV. The cookoff was added to the Autumn Harvest Festival over 30 years ago as a joke, but it turned into one of the biggest events in the area.
Cooks can sign up to have their roadkill dishes judged. The requirements include cooking a dish made with meat that can be commonly found dead on one of West Virginia’s roads. Some of the things you might find include deer, opossum, rabbit, frog, bear, and groundhog.
Celebrate All Things Bug at BugFest
If you head to Raleigh, North Carolina in the September you can get your fill of bugs. The annual BugFest is a festival dedicated to educating the public about science, bugs, and the natural world. This festival draws about 25,000 people to Raleigh every year with roach races, arthropod Olympics, beekeeping workshops,
And of course, you won’t go hungry when you visit Cafe Insecta with dishes to try featuring creepy crawlers as the main ingredient. How does three bug salad or quivering wax worm quiche sound? Ready to give them a try? You can take a taste at this fun festival. But don’t worry, if you don’t want to eat bugs, there are plenty of other options available.
If you love a good festival, you might want to take a trip to Harrisonburg, VA, or Fruita, CO, or Raleigh this year.
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