Page 157 - (DK) Danger! Open with Extreme Caution!

BATTLE OF THE
ORANGES

FESTIV
CHEESE-ROLLING
AL The town of Ivrea in Italy is the setting for
this juicy annual festival when the locals
dress up in medieval costumes and hurl
oranges at one another. They are celebrating
a battle that took place in 1194 in which
the entire town rose up against a wicked
duke and threw beans into the street.
This bizarre annual event has been held for 200 years
in Gloucestershire, England. A round cheese is set
Since then, juicy oranges have
beaten beans in the throwing stakes!
rolling down a steep hill, and racers rush down after it.
Most of them finish in a pile at the bottom, often with
broken bones or a sore head, but the lucky
winner gets to keep the cheese. Mice one!

EL COLACHO

SONGKRAN laid in rows in the street in an annual rite to safeguard
In the Spanish village of Castrillo de Murcia, men
dressed as the devil (El Colacho) jump over babies

the babies from evil spirits. This unusual event takes
WATER dates back to the 17th century.
place on the religious festival of Corpus Christi and
FIGHT

The largest water fight
in the world takes place in
Thailand. To celebrate Songkran
(their new-year festival in April),
people spray cars and passers by
with hoses, water balloons, and
water guns. Everyone ends up
completely drenched, but as
the temperature is about 104ºF
(40ºC)—the hottest time of
the year at the end of the dry
season—no one really cares!

FESTIVALS 157
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