Forgotten Festivals of America

Picture this: You’re driving down a two-lane highway, windows down, static-filled radio playing an old Johnny Cash tune. You pull into a small town you’ve never heard of, expecting gas, maybe a cup of coffee; and instead, you find yourself in the middle of a parade where people are dressed as giant bugs, someone’s deep-frying something suspicious, and the mayor is wearing a sash that says “Slug Queen 2019.”... Welcome, friend. You’ve just stumbled into the true heart of America.

Forget the glossy tourist brochures. Forget the big, corporate-sponsored events. These are the festivals that feel like stepping into a parallel universe where the only rule is: if it’s weird and fun, it belongs.

From outhouse races in Alaska to mosquito royalty in Texas, here’s your guide to the Top 10 Forgotten Festivals of America and why you need to see them at least once before you die.

1. The Roadkill Cook-off – Marlinton, West Virginia 🐿️🍲

If you’ve ever thought, “I wonder what squirrel tastes like?”... first, maybe talk to someone. Second, head to Marlinton, West Virginia, in September.

The Roadkill Cook-off isn’t about scooping fresh highway casualties into a stewpot. The “roadkill” here is strictly symbolic... most dishes are made with legal, store-bought game meats. Think deer chili, rabbit stew, bear sausage, or squirrel gumbo. The name is all about the spirit of Appalachian humor and resourcefulness.

There’s live music, clog dancing, and a cooking competition where locals whip up dishes with names like “Possum Surprise” or “Tire-Tread Venison.” The judges? Anyone brave enough to try a sample.

Pro tip: Bring an open mind and a strong stomach.

2. The Testicle Festival – Clinton, Montana 🐂🥘

Yes, you read that right. Every summer, Clinton, Montana, hosts a festival dedicated to “Rocky Mountain Oysters” ... Brace yourself... deep-fried bull testicles! (cue dry heaving)

Billed as “The World’s Largest,” the Testicle Festival is equal parts culinary adventure and rowdy summer party. There’s live music, a beer garden, wet T-shirt contests, and a tongue-in-cheek motto: “Have a Ball.”

The food is surprisingly good... tender, savory, and, if you don’t think about it too hard, not unlike chicken nuggets. Locals swear by them, and the festival draws visitors from across the country looking for bragging rights.

Pro tip: Don’t ask for ketchup. It’s frowned upon.

3. Bug-Fest – Raleigh, North Carolina 🪳🍽️

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences puts on Bug-Fest every September, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: an insect extravaganza.

You can hold tarantulas, watch giant millipedes crawl across your arm, and if you’re feeling adventurous, sample dishes at the Café Insecta; where chefs prepare gourmet creations featuring crickets, mealworms, and scorpions. We at the Iron Lighthouse just canceled our reservations lol.

Kids love the bug races, adults love the novelty, and everyone leaves with a new appreciation for six-legged critters.

Pro tip: The chocolate-covered crickets are actually delicious. Just don’t look them in the eyes.

4. Mike the Headless Chicken Festival – Fruita, Colorado 🐔🎉

In 1945, a farmer tried to butcher a chicken named Mike and missed just enough that Mike lived. Headless. For 18 months.

Mike became a national sensation, touring the country and proving that sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Fruita honors his legacy every May with the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival: two days of live music, a 5K run, “chicken cluck-off” contests, and a “Chicken Dance” marathon.

Pro tip: The fried chicken at the festival is still served with heads intact… just kidding. Probably.

5. The Great Texas Mosquito Festival – Clute, Texas 🦟🍻

If you’ve ever wanted to meet a mosquito the size of a minivan, head to Clute in late July!

The Great Texas Mosquito Festival is three days of summer fun (and bug spray) hosted by Willie-Man-Chew, a 26-foot-tall mosquito mascot wearing a cowboy hat and boots. Events include a 5K “Mosquito Chase,” cornhole tournaments, BBQ cook-offs, and live Texas country music.

Pro tip: Mosquito spray is sold everywhere at the festival—and yes, you’ll need it.

6. Gilroy Garlic Festival – Gilroy, California 🧄🍝

Gilroy calls itself the “Garlic Capital of the World,” and for decades, this festival has celebrated that title with all things garlicky. Garlic fries, garlic ice cream, garlic beer. If it can be cooked with garlic, you’ll find it here.

There are cooking competitions, celebrity chefs, and a “Garlic Showdown” where locals compete to create the ultimate savory masterpiece.

Pro tip: Bring mints. Lots of mints.

7. Rattlesnake Roundup – Sweetwater, Texas 🐍🍳

Every March, Sweetwater becomes the epicenter of reptile wrangling with the Rattlesnake Roundup.

Part festival, part wildlife management event, it features snake-handling demonstrations, fried rattlesnake meat, and a parade. Visitors can watch skilled handlers safely milk venom from rattlesnakes for medical research.

Pro tip: If you have a fear of snakes, maybe skip this one and head to the garlic festival instead.

8. Slug Queen Coronation – Eugene, Oregon 🐌👑

Only in Eugene would you find a festival where a royal court of slug-themed monarchs presides over downtown.

The Slug Queen Coronation is a whimsical, tongue-in-cheek pageant that crowns a new “Queen” each summer. Contestants wear outlandish slug costumes, perform bizarre talents, and compete for audience approval. The reigning queen then attends local events for the rest of the year in full slimy regalia.

Pro tip: Wear something green and glittery... you’ll fit right in.

9. National Hollerin’ Contest – Spivey’s Corner, North Carolina 📣🎤

Before cell phones, rural communities had to find ways to communicate over long distances and “Hollerin’” was born.

The National Hollerin’ Contest celebrates this old tradition with competitive yelling. Contestants demonstrate different hollers, distress calls, dinner calls, even romantic serenades. All the while, judges score on volume, clarity, and style.

Pro tip: Bring earplugs if you’re sitting in the front row.

10. Outhouse Races – Dawson City, Alaska 🚽🏁

In Dawson City, outhouses aren’t just for, well, outhouse things they’re for racing.

Teams build mobile outhouses on wheels, decorate them, and then push them down the street in a mad dash for glory. There’s also a “Best Decorated” award for outhouses that embrace themes from disco balls to pirate ships.

Pro tip: Standing inside the outhouse while it’s racing is not recommended. Unless you like danger.

Closing Reflections

America’s greatest treasures aren’t always in national parks or big cities. Sometimes they’re in a small-town fairground where the air smells like frying oil, where you can meet a mosquito mascot or cheer for a slug queen, where people gather not because it’s practical, but because it’s fun.

These festivals are weird, wonderful, and absolutely worth the trip. So pack your curiosity, your camera, and maybe a bottle of hand sanitizer. You never know what you’ll be touching.

Because out there, on a back road in the middle of nowhere, you might just find yourself eating garlic ice cream while a marching band in bug costumes parades by… and wondering how you ever lived without it.