10 Strange Holidays from Around the World

Straw Bear Day

Many of our modern holidays are based on ancient pagan traditions. Thankfully, we’ve edited out a lot of the violence and human sacrifice parts. One that manages to persist to this day is the Straw Bear. Originally a German tradition, one of the most interesting places to see a Straw Bear is the British town of Whittlesea on Straw Bear Day. Held on the first Monday after Twelfth Night, the festival sees a local young man dressed up in a hot, uncomfortable costume made of straw and sent from house to house to dance for food and beer. At the end of his rounds, the bear is burned alive. Nowadays, they take the local young man out of the costume first.