La Tomatina

First up is La Tomatina, the largest tomato fight in the world. It’s not quite known how it came about but there are many theories surrounding it. One of the most popular is that during a parade of gigantes y cabezudos in 1945, those who weren’t included in the event started a brawl in the main square using tomatoes from a local vegetable stand as weapons.

Regardless, this annual festival is held in Buñol, Spain on the last Wednesday of August as part of a week of festivities in Buñol and quite literally consists of people throwing tomatoes at each other for fun.

Danza de la muerte in Verges (Catalonia)

This macabre ritual, in which people dressed as skeletons dance around town, has taken place in this village in Gerona for centuries. The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages, when plague epidemics swept through Europe. The message? Life is short, death awaits us all.

Traditions connected with the holiday include honoring the deceased using calaveras and marigold flowers known as cempazúchitl, building home altars called ofrendas with the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these items as gifts for the deceased.[9] The celebration is not solely focused on the dead, as it is also common to give gifts to friends such as candy sugar skulls, to share traditional pan de muerto with family and friends, and to write light-hearted and often irreverent verses in the form of mock epitaphs dedicated to living friends and acquaintances, a literary form known as calaveras literarias.

Castañada

In Catalonia, celebrations involve eating castanyes (roasted chestnuts), panellets (special almond balls covered in pine nuts), moniatos (roast or baked sweet potato), Ossos de Sant cake and preserved fruit (candied or glazed fruit). Moscatell (Muscat) is drunk from porrons.^[9] Around the time of this celebration, it is common for street vendors to sell hot toasted chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. In many places, confectioners often organise raffles of chestnuts and preserved fruit.

Los Enharinados in Ibi (Valencia)

Every December 28, a group of 14 married men stage a takeover of the town and make new, ridiculous laws to enforce. Those who fall foul to the new rules have to pay a fine or be covered in flour and eggs and locked up. The opposition soon gets together and declares war on the first group. Battles ensue with flour, eggs, and firecrackers as the main weapons. When the day is done, the coup comes to an end. The people celebrate with traditional dances, and the money collected in fines is donated to charity. As with many other celebrations, the origin of this one is uncertain, but it is thought to date back hundreds of years.

Human Tower Building Competition - Tarragona

Every other year, the city of Tarragona celebrates the world's biggest human tower building competition. The tradition of building these mesmerising 10 metre-high towers has a long history in Catalonia and dates back to the 18th century. The towers are made of people standing on each other's shoulders and usually, a small child climbs last to reach the tip of the trembling tower. 

The human towers have been declared an intangible cultural heritage site by UNESCO. If you are unable to visit the Tarragona competition, you can find similar events all over Catalonia especially during local events such as La Mercé, Sant Jordi or La Diada where these human towers are built to entertain the crowds. If you want to have more space, privacy and money in your wallet, choose a holiday rental in Catalonia rather than a hotel.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhongqiu Jie (中秋节) in Chinese, is also called the Moon Festival or the Mooncake Festival. It is the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year. It is also celebrated by many other Asian countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In China, Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration of the rice harvest and many fruits. Ceremonies are held both to give thanks for the harvest and to encourage the harvest-giving light to return again in the coming year.

It is also a reunion time for families, a little like Thanksgiving. Chinese people celebrate it by gathering for dinners, worshiping the moon, lighting paper lanterns, eating mooncakes, etc. 

A mooncake (simplified Chinese: 月饼; traditional Chinese: 月餅) is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節). The festival is about lunar appreciation and Moon watching, and mooncakes are regarded as a delicacy. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is widely regarded as one of the four most important Chinese festivals.

There are numerous varieties of mooncakes consumed within China and outside of China in overseas Chinese communities. The Cantonese mooncake is the most famous variety. A traditional Cantonese mooncake^[1] is a round pastry, measuring about 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and 3–4 cm (1+1⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) thick, with a rich thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste (other typical fillings include red bean paste or mixed nuts) surrounded by a thin, 2–3 mm (approximately 1/8 of an inch) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.^[2]

Mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges, accompanied by tea. Today, it is customary for business people and families to present them to their clients or relatives as presents,^[3] helping to fuel a demand for high-end mooncakes.