Weirdest State Traditions

Nederland holds a weird yearly tradition. It sounds strange and fun.Frozen Dead Guy DaysTeams carry a person in a coffin through a snowy course. Live music, a salmon toss, and a parade of hearses happen for Bredo Morstoel, a famous frozen dead guy.

ChicagoChicago takes part in the No Pants Subway Ride. The New York-based group Improv Everywhere starts this annual event. People ride city subways without pants, acting normal and getting many stares.

The tiny Ozark town ofOleanOlean hosts a daylong party for underappreciated food items, like animal testicles. Cattle and turkey parts cook up alongside many other dishes; a carnival joins the celebration.

AustinAustin celebrates Eeyore's birthday every year. The daylong event includes costume contests, live music, drum circles, and maypoles.

AtChadronChadron's yearly Fur Trade Days event brings locals together. One highlight is the Buffalo Chip Throw, where entrants compete to throw bison poo as far as possible.

MarlingtonMarlington's annual Roadkill Cookoff gets worldwide attention. Every fall, town cooks compete to make the best dish from roadkill. Deer, squirrel, rabbit—if your car hits it, it's on the menu.

Every night on the last day of classes at the University of Vermont inBurlingtonVermont students shed clothes and ride bikes through the city nightly. The annual event began in 1996, and Vermonters seem fine with live-and-let-live.

Tallapoosa's New Year's Eve involveslowering a possumin an illuminated wire cage. A long-dead roadkill possum namedSpencerthat a local taxidermist stuffed decades ago.

Who doesn't like mashed potatoes? The city ofClarkClark started its annual Mashed Potato Wrestling Contest in 1997. As part of Clark's Potato Days, contestants fight in a vat of smashed potatoes.

The butter sculptures of theIowa State Fairbutter sculptures have become famous, overshadowing other displays at the annual event. Master carvers from everywhere enter huge sculptures, from cows to Harry Potter.

InSeattleSeattle features experimental art that repels and fascinates. Residents and visitors visit the Gum Wall next to Pike Place Market to add their 'contribution' to its gross appeal.

No, the Florida – Mullet Toss is not a contest to toss someone sporting a mullet. The community of Perdido Key holds a festival every year where contestants try toFlorida throws a mullet fish.This happens from Florida into Alabama.

A fraudster scammed in the early 1950s.Wetumka.He tricked the townspeople into giving him their money for a circus. No circus came, but Wetumka's good people celebrated. They hold an annual Sucker Day Festival now to turn old lemons into lemonade.

Chandler, a city with a history of ostrich farms, holds an annualArizona hosts an Ostrich Festival.Each spring, the festival draws hundreds of thousands. Part of the event involves racing live ostriches around a track.

Dyer's Burgers are in Memphis.Memphis.This city offers great hamburgers. They claim they fry the burgers in the same grease used since 1912. They strain the grease daily; Memphis residents have enjoyed it over a century, so it is supposedly safe.

UFOs do not only land in New Mexico deserts. New Hampshire has many UFO cases, including Barney and Betty Hill, who claimed aliens abducted them in the 1960s.The Exeter UFO Festival takes place.Exeter honors the state's odd connection to UFO culture with a festival every September.

Columbus hosts the Doo Dah Parade.The Doo Dah Parade occurs.This parade honors free speech. Entrants dress how they like to express themselves, sharing opinions openly and entertainingly on any topic they feel passionate about.

The first weekend in September marks this event.Santa Fe hosts the event.Residents burn Zozobra, a 50-foot statue Will Shuster designed. The ritual shows the burning of bad energy and the coming of positivity.

The Delaware Museum of Natural History is in Wilmington.Wilmington.The museum lets visitors see the dung beetle's natural life. They display a giant ball of (fake) dung beetle poo with hand-sized holes, and visitors challenge each other to put their fingers inside.

Liver mush is a spiced mix of cornmeal, pig liver, and other animal parts. The North Carolina town ofMarion honors this with a festival every June.Marion honors it with a festival every June.

In New York, there is the Keg Tree.The Keg Tree is in Rochester., the Genessee Brewery builds a huge tree of beer kegs every holiday season. Each year, the tree gets taller and wider; its 2016 total reached 26 feet high.

In Alaska, several communities participate in something calledAlaska features blanket tossing.The Iñupiaq practice involves someone standing in the middle of a blanket, usually a hide. Others grab an edge and toss the person high into the air. The soaring person sometimes throws gifts to the crowd while trying to stay balanced.

Wisconsin hosts the 'Dropping Of The Cheese'.Plymouth.The New Year's celebration in Plymouth involves dropping a giant wedge of cheese from the sky. This event is family-friendly.

Mainers gather every Columbus Day weekend in Damariscotta.Damariscotta.Mainers celebrate the pumpkin, their most loved gourd. The festival includes a parade and pumpkin sculptures. The main event is the pumpkin regatta, where racers move through water in hollowed-out pumpkins.

Every region has unique wedding rites and rituals, butKentucky.Kentucky may take the cake, or the bottle. In the Bluegrass State, tradition dictates burying a bourbon bottle at the wedding site before the ceremony. Superstition claims this stops rain, and the bottle must be buried during the weather the couple desires.

People often think of Amsterdam, Paris, or New Orleans for red light districts. However, one of the first existed inDodge City.. People visit and see artifacts from the old district's peak at the state'sThe National Archive holds records for the Kansas event..

Las Vegas offers adult entertainment, but the state's strangest tradition is family-friendly, heartwarming, and good. TheNevada holds the Las Vegas Lucky Duck Festival.This happens every September. Competitors buy rubber ducks and place them in the Towne Square pond for a race. Winning ducks earn prizes, and all money goes to charity.

As Thanksgiving approaches each year, a turkey farm inGuilford.paints its flock bright neon colors. People travel from far away to watch. This tradition began in the '70s as child entertainment.

Hawaiians love Spam in a way that beats Minnesotans. The annual Waikiki Spam Jam shows this.Waikiki Spam Jam., a food festival celebrating all things Spam.

Pennsylvania hosts the Hillbilly Fever Days.Beavertown.The annual Hillbilly Fever Days focuses on the peculiarities of hillbillies in Beavertown. Family events include games, a petting zoo, hayrides, and more.

The tasty goo called Marshmallow Fluff was invented in the Boston suburb ofSomerville.. Every fall, the community holds a festival for its best creation. It features cooking contests, games, live music, and every Marshmallow Fluff treat imaginable.

Southerners have enjoyed putting peanuts in their Coca-Cola for generations. Though the start point is unclear,Virginians feature peanuts in Coca-Cola.show special love for this odd treat. People open a Coke, add peanuts, and drink or crunch.

MoonPies are more than just chocolatey marshmallow cookies; they are part of Alabama's culture. On New Year's Eve, they appear.MobileMobile drops a massive, 600-lb electric MoonPie to ring in the New Year. This is the Mobile version of the Times Square ball-drop.

Held over Labor Day Weekend, this event happens inCrisfieldThis celebration honors all things blue crab. People enjoy crab-themed cooking, artwork, parades, and rides. The highlight is the crab derby, where people race their crabs along a special track to win.

ProvidenceProvidence hosts the Big Blue Bug, the mascot for a pest control company. Locals see the huge bug statue near the I-95 interchange. Every year, people watch how the bug gets dressed for seasons and holidays, like sporting reindeer antlers at Christmas or drinking lemonade in the summer.

St. Patrick's Day seems like a big deal for many Hoosiers. Each year inIndianapolisIndianapolis sponsors an event where people gather to see the city's canal dyed green.

Every summer, the North Dakota State FairThe North Dakota State Fair holds the annual Redneck Relay Race. Teams compete in typical redneck events, like a greased watermelon race and a moonshine spit.

People travel from all over South Carolina to visit God's Acre Healing Springs, located deep in the woodsnear BlackvilleLegend says Native Americans told dying British soldiers to drink from the well, and they got cured. The land was officially "deeded to God" in 1944.

New Jersey takes you to the high seas with Pirate Voyages. Pirate Voyages happens inOcean CityPirate Voyages lets visitors have an authentic swashbuckling adventure aboard their replica pirate ship, theSea Dragon.

Battle CreekBattle Creek is the birthplace of cereal and home to several major cereal makers. TheirNational Cereal FestivalThe National Cereal Festival is a daylong event every June. Locals sample cereal, enjoy live music, and sit at the World's Longest Breakfast Table.

Boise honors its most famous export every New Year's Eve. New York City might have the ball, but Boise is the only city thatdrops a giant potatofrom the sky.

Lutefisk can be eaten any time. But those who live inMinnesotamost often make it at Christmas. Most people eat this Norwegian fish dish once a year. The dish involves cod soaked in lye for days and often served with melted butter.

Every New Year's Eve, the people ofFayettevilleusher in the New Year by watching a huge pig drop into the town square. Live music, fireworks, and an after-party happen too.

Legendary LouisianaChef Paul Prudhomme supposedly invented the turducken, an unusual dish usually served at Christmas. For newcomers, the turducken is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. As one Louisiana food writerput it: "It's a bird! It's a bird! It's a bird!"