10 wacky festivals that celebrate local produce

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.wildfoods.co.nz/index.cfm/1,51,0,0,html">Wildfoods Festival</a>, New Zealand Held in March each year on the South Island’s west coast, the Wildfoods Festival draws in some 15,000 visitors to the small town of Hokitika. The world-famous Wildfoods Festival is a celebration of New Zealand culture and pays homage to some of the historic and bizarre cuisine consumed by the island’s inhabitants. (Wildfoods Festival)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.lafetedupain.com/">Fête du Pain</a>, Paris France's Fête du pain (Bread Festival) is held annually throughout the week following the day of Saint-Honoré, the patron saint of bakers (May 14th through 20th). The festival is a chance for local bakers to show off their skills and celebrate the country’s rich bread making history. (iStock)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.big-green-gathering.com/">Big Green Gathering</a>, UK This year’s event runs from the 2-5 August in Chepstow near the Welsh/English border. The Big Green Gathering brings together a vast gathering of 5,000 hippies and eco-warriors to celebrate all things “green.” The focus is on education and participants can take part in any number of instructive workshops from bread baking to solar panel repair. (Big Green Gathering/Mark Pickthall)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.phuketvegetarian.com/">Phuket Vegetarian Festival</a>, Thailand The celebration, held in the 9th Chinese lunar month (October), derives from a Chinese religious festival where participants would refrain from meat consumption for nine days and nights in order to purify their bodies and minds. Festivities aside, this is a perfect time to delve into the vegetarian menu and sample some of Thailand’s most delicious delicacies – from sweet and sour tofu or sweet corn soup to international favorite Pad Thai. (Phuket Vegetarian Festival)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/">Oktoberfest</a>, Germany Held in Munich in late September each year, Oktoberfest is a 16-day event that draws crowds of more than 5 million people. All the beers served at the festival brewed within the city limits of Munich. (Reuters)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/events/25396906102/">Nava Cider Festival</a>, Spain Held in the small town of Nava, the Cider Festival celebrates a local staple. The region grows an impressive volume of apples, making cider drinking a valued pastime in Nava. At the Spanish fiesta style party, sawdust-floored bars serve up the apple beverage (both alcoholic and booze free) until early hours of the morning. (iStock)

<a target="_blank" href="http://mudfestival.or.kr/english/festival/festival1.php">Boryeong Mud Festival</a>, South Korea Created as part of a grand marketing scheme to promote the mineral-rich mud in the region, the two-week long festival has since turned into an event drawing in up to 2 million people per year. The festival gives visitors the opportunity to get down and dirty with activities such as a Mega Mud Tub, mud sliding, a mud prison, and mud skiing. (Wikimedia Commons)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.oysterfestival.net/">Arcata Bay Oyster Festival</a>, USA The Oyster Festival in California's Arcata Bay draws about 18,000 guests per day. Held in June, the Arcata Bay Oyster Festival celebrates the oyster harvest with live music and entertainment, and amusement park rides. (Arcata Bay Oyster Festival)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.sheepshow.com/">Sheep and Wool Show</a>, Australia The annual Sheep and Wool Show is held in Bendigo, Victoria from July 17th to 20th. The festival is a celebration of one of outback Australia’s greatest exports...wool. (Australian Sheep & Wool Show)

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.papantlaver.gob.mx/">Vanilla Festival</a>, Mexico This festival is a celebration of the native plant vanilla. It is held every June in Papantla, Veracruz. The climax of the festivities features indigenous dancers from all over the region, including the famous “flying voladores” dance, who dance high in the air on a 50-foot pole. (iStock)