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—GW
F E S T I V A L S
The artists decorate their
subjects’ near-naked skinwith
artworks of varying degrees of
tastefulness. Using everything
fromwatercolour to greasepaint
and sponge pads to airbrushes,
participants compete for the top
spot with bright, eccentric and
garish images. After they’re
paraded in front of the jury, the
models wash off the artworks by
plunging into the cool waters of
the lake.
Pörtschach am Wörthersee,
Kärnten, Austria, 2–8 July
Nearest GW airport:
Klagenfurt
Waschzuberrennen
The Warnemünde Woche is a
lively sailing week held in one of
Eastern Germany’s most
popular seaside resorts. One of
its highlights is the
Waschzuberrenen, a very
unconventional boat race,
during which bizarrely dressed
competitors fromRostock and
other German towns and
villages meet up to battle on the
open waves in even stranger-
looking home-made vessels. The
race is open to anything that
floats, the more unconventional
the better – think floating
washtubs rather than yachts.
The quirky race was originally
thought up in the early 80s by
students from the Warnemünde
nautical school. Since then,
countless bathtub-like vessels
and their occupants have gone
head to head in the annual sea
battle in the harbour.
Warnemünde, near Rostock,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
Germany, 7 July
Nearest GW airport:
Rostock
Kuhfladenlotto
The Germans like playing bingo.
So much so, that over the past
few years they’ve begun playing
it infields. Kuhfladenlotto or
‘cow-pat bingo’ is a kind of live
lottery, during which players
guess where Daisy, Clover or
Bertha are going to do their
business next. Unsurprisingly, it
can be a very slow-moving affair.
The game is a throwback to the
days when young country lads
used to play the game to pass the
time. Events are held all year
round in various locations across
Germany andSwitzerland,
including the one below:
Erft (between Cologne and
Mönchengladbach), Germany, 14 July
Nearest GW airport:
Cologne
Tomatina
This massive tomato fight is
meant to honour the Valencian
town of Buñol ’s patron saint,
San Luis Bertrán, and is
normally held on the last
Wednesday in August. When the
starter banger sounds, the entire
town turns red. For exactly one
hour, 100,000 ripe tomatoes fly
in all directions, until the whole
town is drenched in a bright red
sauce. The spectacle dates back
to the 1940s, when some young
locals pelted a procession with
tomatoes because they weren’t
allowed to join it. Over the next
60 years, the battle was
bolstered by an ever-increasing
number of tomatoes and
participants. Last year saw over
40,000 visitors descend on the
town to wallow around in 100
tons of tomato slush.
Buñol, Valencia, Spain,
29 August
Nearest GW airport:
Barcelona
Stiletto Run
The stiletto run consists of a
horde of women sprinting 100m
in high-heeled shoes. The
competitors’ heels have to be at
least 7cm high and the aim is
pretty straightforward: whoever
reaches the finish line first
without falling over, wins. The
various organisers, which
include a women’s magazine and
a shoe manufacturer, claim that
the race has yet to be marred by
serious injury. So get those heels
on and get running!
Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-
Palatinate, Germany, 2 June
Nearest GW airport:
Stuttgart
Wettrennen in Stöckelschuhen
– na dann Hals- und Beinbruch!
Death or glory: the Stiletto Run
Die Souvenirtasse
zum Eierweitwurf
Been there, done
that, got the mug
Getty