by James Johnson

Created on: July 11, 2008   Last Updated: July 21, 2009

New Orleans has Mardi Gras in the spring, New York is renowned for their New Year's Eve Celebrations and Washington, D.C. parties in a big way on July Fourth as well as for Presidential Inaugurations. But, as was seen in the 1991 Michael Fox Movie, Doc Hollywood, there are other small town festivals out there just waiting to be discovered! A few are old, but many have been started since that movie as they are fun, exciting and sometimes closer than you realize, they are all wild and wacky!

In "Doc Hollywood" the small town is celebrating squash as the historical basis of their economy, even the mayor dresses up in a squash costume. Sounds weird? Check out the South Carolina Catfish Stomp in Elgin. It occurs at Christmastime with a parade of Catfish Floats, Catfish Costumes and lots of fried catfish dinners! Fishing was at one time the basis for their economy. The "Stomp" part is Southern for dance and sponsored by the Fire Department. Here you can wiggle and squirm like a catfish hooked with a worm! The mayor wears a catfish hat!

Not wild or wacky enough for you? Move just a bit to the north, but still in South Carolina, and check out the Kudzu Festival in Blythewood. They have actually created a festival celebrating a parasitic plant! Kudzu is a parasitic vine brought in for stabilizing the red clay banks along the railroads. Without Kudzu, little towns like Blythewood wouldn't exist, but kudzu now takes over everything; trees, houses and even cows if they stand still to long.Now the town is using it as an excuse for partying and fun while eating strange dishes made from, you guessed it, kudzu. This event is held in September, when kudzu is at its thickest. Remember, if you can't get rid of it, in the Deep South you try eating it!

But there are festivals even wilder and wackier than those found in South Carolina! Let's lift off and head out West to Roswell, New Mexico! A UFO reportedly crashed here in 1947, of course the U.S. Government claims it was an experimental weather balloon! The incident became a "pop culture phenomenon," with people constantly coming to search for the aliens. There were so many visitors looking for those silver skinned aliens that Roswell decided the town should profit from it. They set up a museum, hold various lectures and have an "Alien Dance" each year on the anniversary of the crash, July 7th. The costumes are weird and the people wild; it is an out of this world festival.

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