Winners of the contest have been featured on "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show with David Letterman." But the Hollerin' Contest is open to locals and visitors alike. So far, all winners have been from Sampson County with the exception of one from neighboring Wayne County. Contestants are judged according to how well they can belt out the Spivey's Corner type of holler. The communicative holler, a form of greeting, such as a hollered version of "howdy, neighbor!"ĭue to the differences in men's and women's voices, a separate callin' contest for women was introduced in 1976.The expressive holler, which might turn a popular tune like "Amazing Grace" into a hollerin' duet.The functional holler, which primarily was used on farms - its unique sound won't disturb the animals.The distress holler, which uses a falsetto tone to indicate a sense of urgency.There have been no reports of bad landings. It's following this parade that the babies take their positions on the ceremonial mattresses that stretch down the main street.Īs El Colacho jumps each infant-laden mattress and runs away, any evil follows him, leaving the babies cleansed and ready for a good, pure life. The central component of the celebration is actually a parade that winds through the city, in which any child who has taken first communion in the preceding year marches alongside the clergy. In the days leading up to the baby-jumping event, men in devil costumes wander the city, harassing its inhabitants, symbolizing trouble. It's a celebration focused on a general purging of evil from the town. The baby-jumping event, called El Colacho (that's the name of the festival's baby-threatening devil), is part of the Christian town's Corpus Christi celebration at the end of May or the start of June. A monkey buffet is, for most, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Religiously derived or merely a brilliant tourist draw, the spectacle is deservingly one of the most popular in Thailand. The monkeys eat, dance and occasionally fornicate on the tables as they celebrate their annual windfall. Nearly 9,000 pounds (4,000 kilograms) of food lines the streets of the old city, set out in a careful buffet that is immediately annihilated by packs of screeching monkeys who rush to consume the fruits, vegetables, soda, candy and baked goods that serve as a religious offering to ancient ancestors. It's no wonder thousands of people come to watch. The first buffet was hosted by a local entrepreneur in the tourism business. Well, that, and to draw lots of foreigners with money to burn. The macaque, they say, are descendants of that co-founder, and the villagers lay out a feast each year to honor them. One Hindu legend has it that Lopburi was founded not only by the revered King Rama but also by his primate friend, the warrior monkey king. The Chicago Tribune ranked Frozen Dead Guy Days among the best 100 festivals in the United States. There's live music, lots of beer and, of course, tours of Grandpa Bredo's shed, where the old man rests in suspended animation, waiting to rise again and greet his fans. People come from near and far to take part in the death-and-winter-themed festivities, including coffin races, frozen-T-shirt contests, ice-turkey bowling, brain-freeze contests and the frozen-salmon toss. The party known as "Frozen Dead Guy Days" takes place over a weekend in March, and it's quite the wacky destination. It's a good thing he stayed, since he's the center of a funny little tradition that has grown into a huge, annual celebration that marks the final days of harsh winter. They ended up heading back to Norway but left Grandpa in the shed, under the care of the Ice Man, a hired hand who refreshes the dry-ice supply once a month to keep him safely frozen. A couple of decades later, Grandpa Bredo is still there - but his family isn't.
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