Happy New Year!
It's been ages since my last post, so I thought it was high time to pull together a calendar of Europe's most surreal events ranging from Baby Jumping in Spain and Cow Fighting in Switzerland to Matchmaking in Ireland and the Phallus Festival of Portugal.
May 2008 also sees the launch of the mass-paperback version of 'Eurotripping', which has been rechristened 'Tossers and Arseblowers' and given a racy new jacket, as you can see.
Meanwhile, I've started posting clips of all the events featured in 'True Brits' and 'Tossers and Arseblowers' on YouTube.
My introduction to Darkie Day in Cornwall has already garnered my first 'hate email' from a bona fide racist.
Like I say in the video, there's no accounting for idiots:
Future clips will feature Prince Charles at a mob football match, the ins and outs of Turkish oil wrestling, hot penny tossing at Cambridge University and a dirty limericks sing-off in the West Country.
Until then, if you're tired of the same-old holiday hotspots, take a look at my alternative calendar for 2008 here.
TOSSERS & ARSEBLOWERS 2008
All dates are subject to change, so check before booking!
The Haxey Hood: 5 January
Haxey, Lincolnshire, England
Goat Tossing: 22 January
Fiesta de San Vicente Martir
Manganeses de la Polvorosa, Spain
Rooster Run: 27 January
Correr el Gallo
Guarrate, Spain
Wenches' Feast Day (Weiberfastnacht): 31 January
Karneval in Beuel/Bonn, Germany
Arse Blowing: usually the first Sunday in April
La Mascarade des Soufflaculs
Nontron, France
St. George's Day: 23 April
La Diada de Sant Jordi
Barcelona, Spain
Hot Penny Throwing / Beating the Bounds: 1 May (tbc)
Oxford, England
St. George vs. the Dragon: 18 May (Trinity Sunday)
Le Combat dit Lumecon
Mons, Belgium
Fire Dancing: 21 May
Anastenariá
Ayia Eleni and Langadas, Greece
Baby Jumping: 22–25 May (Corpus Christi weekend)
La Fiesta del Colacho
Castrillo de Murcia, Spain
Cheese Rolling: 26 May
Cooper's Hill, Gloucestershire, England
Shin Kicking: 30 May
The Cotswold Olimpicks
Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, England
Phallus Festival: 6–8 June (tbc)
Festa de Sao Goncalo
Amarante, Portugal
Oil Wrestling: usually the last weekend in June
Edirne, Turkey
Rigor Mortis Procession: 29 July
Fiesta de Santa Marta de Ribarteme
San Xose de Ribarteme, Spain
Burry Man Day: 8 August
South Queensferry, Scotland
The Virgin's Snakes: on and around 15 August
Markopoulo, Kefalonia, Greece
Bog Snorkelling: 25 August
Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Wales
Matchmaking Festival: 29 August to 5 October
Lisdoonvarna, Ireland
Abbots Bromley Horn Dance: 8 September
Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire, England
Miracle of the Blood: 19 September
San Gennaro Festival
Naples, Italy
World Gurning Championships: 20 September
Egremont, Cumbria, England
Cowfighting: usually early October
Le Combat des Reines
Martigny, Switzerland
Faggot Cutting / Quit Rents Ceremony: 8 October (tbc)
London, England
Bonfire Night / Pope Burning: 5 November
Lewes, East Sussex, England
Sinterklaas and 'Black Pete': mid-November to 5 December
Amsterdam / rest of the Netherlands
Darkie Day: 26 December and 1 January
Padstow, Cornwall, UK
True Brits Linkwithin
