Mosquitoes honoured at an annual festival

I don't know about you but mosquitoes are hardly the most loved insects in the insect world. Blood sucking pests that have little or no remorse when it comes to attacking flesh. Who in their right mind actually likes mosquitoes? Well believe it or not residents in Berezniki, in the Ural mountains, Russia organised a day to honour these nasty pests. Yes, very strange. The residents gathered by a local pond to pay homage for three days to the blood sucking insects. And if you think that's well, quite frankly weird - then brace yourselves, it gets weirder. Part of this festival included the "most delicious girl" segment, in which girls were judged based on how many mosquito bites they received after standing around in shorts and vests for 20 minutes. An expert panel of judges, including a male doctor examined the bodies (I bet he did) and the winner was of course the most bitten female. In 2013 the "winner" was apparently covered in more than 100 bites. Also, in last years festival along with music and dancing the highlight was a Russian bloke dressed as a giant mosquito. Lovely. And if that wasn't enough to make you want to experience this seemingly amazing festival - another competition these people had  that will probably never catch on was the one in which competitors had to see who could catch the most live mosquitoes.

 

You may be scratching your head thinking why? (And if you're reading this from a internet cafe in Lagos, the scratching of the head is probably because you've been bitten). Well, the answer/reason these people do this is because to them it's a 'joke festival.' Ah yes, a joke festival! (Hilarious). One Russian lady, Ms Paramanova said they "were going to have more absurd events for children and adults. This way of behaving seems to be quite the trend in the region with one village having an annual cow - pat throwing competition. I wonder if they wear gloves for this? Anyway, it all sounds utterly riveting.   I really can't help but think these folk have literally had too much vodka to drink. 

Demola,TCC