Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania isn’t the only town to celebrate Groundhog Day each year. Visitors in Quogue, New York gather annually at the village green to witness the woodchuck’s weather prediction.
Unidentified Flying Objects are the focus of the Pine Bush UFO Fair in Orange County, which is billed as “the ONLY Street Fair Event where YOU can be part of the show.” Participants dress in alien garb and join in festivities like the Best in Galaxy Alien Costume Contest and Alien Hoedown. The fair is hosted by the Pine Bush UFO Paranormal Museum, and usually takes place in early June.
These unusual occurrences are among a number of state traditions around the country which combine athleticism, a competitive spirit and, often, lots of laughs. Some have a close connection with local history. Others were born from a creative imagination.
Cow bells are in the lore of Mississippi State University. According to legend, during a football game in the distant past, a cow strolled across the field. When the host team won the game, the bovine was seen as a good omen, and ringing cow bells for luck became a tradition that continues to this day.
A chicken stars in an annual event in Fruita, Colorado. Each spring, people gather there to take part in activities that recall, and honor, Mike the Headless Chicken.
The genesis of that famous fowl’s story was preparations by a man in 1945 to prepare a chicken dinner. After he struck a hen in the neck with an ax, the desired dinner staggered around the yard, then continued to live for another 18 months. During that time, the pullet was toured around the country and introduced as “The Headless Wonder Chicken.” Among activities at the annual festival recalling that strange historical tidbit are a chicken dance and wing eating contest.
Other foods are celebrated elsewhere. People gather each year in the lush dairy heartland of Wisconsin to pay homage to a popular staple which is made from coagulated milk. That’s only natural, because Wisconsin produces more types and flavors of cheese than anywhere else in the world.
One way Wisconsinites use cheese is to chase a wheel of it as it rolls down a hill. The contestant who reaches or catches the revolving edible first is declared winner and receives it as a prize. Cheese rolling is believed to have had its start in England in the early 1800s. Historians tell is that it began as either an imaginative way to applaud the arrival of spring or a pagan fertility rite.
Slithering rather than rolling takes place during the annual Texas Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas. The Lone Star State provides favorable conditions for six species of rattlers to flourish, including large western diamondbacks and elusive rock rattlesnakes. Among activities during this rattler rally are recognition of the largest serpent, rattlesnake parade and snake eating contest.
Different than the dry habitats favored by snakes is the environment in which scuba divers carve pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. (See photo above.) Around Halloween time each year, swimmers plunge into the chilly depths of one of New York’s Finger Lakes, carrying knives and pumpkins. When they reach bottom, the get to work transforming winter squashes into jack-o-lanterns.
When they return to dry land, some divers seek the warmth of a heavy blanket – but not the kind made of walrus hides which are used in the Alaska Blanket Toss. That tradition pays homage to native Inuit people who would bounce someone up in the air in order to provide a good view over hunting terrain, or to spot whales which have served as a vital food source for millennia.
Victor Block is an award-winning travel journalist focusing on tourism geared to people over the age of 50. He is also a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.
Victor Block is an award-winning travel journalist focusing on tourism geared to people over the age of 50. He is also a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.
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16 Feb 2026
0 Commentsunusual state traditions
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania isn’t the only town to celebrate Groundhog Day each year. Visitors in Quogue, New York gather annually at the village green to witness the woodchuck’s weather prediction.
Unidentified Flying Objects are the focus of the Pine Bush UFO Fair in Orange County, which is billed as “the ONLY Street Fair Event where YOU can be part of the show.” Participants dress in alien garb and join in festivities like the Best in Galaxy Alien Costume Contest and Alien Hoedown. The fair is hosted by the Pine Bush UFO Paranormal Museum, and usually takes place in early June.
These unusual occurrences are among a number of state traditions around the country which combine athleticism, a competitive spirit and, often, lots of laughs. Some have a close connection with local history. Others were born from a creative imagination.
Cow bells are in the lore of Mississippi State University. According to legend, during a football game in the distant past, a cow strolled across the field. When the host team won the game, the bovine was seen as a good omen, and ringing cow bells for luck became a tradition that continues to this day.
A chicken stars in an annual event in Fruita, Colorado. Each spring, people gather there to take part in activities that recall, and honor, Mike the Headless Chicken.
The genesis of that famous fowl’s story was preparations by a man in 1945 to prepare a chicken dinner. After he struck a hen in the neck with an ax, the desired dinner staggered around the yard, then continued to live for another 18 months. During that time, the pullet was toured around the country and introduced as “The Headless Wonder Chicken.” Among activities at the annual festival recalling that strange historical tidbit are a chicken dance and wing eating contest.
Other foods are celebrated elsewhere. People gather each year in the lush dairy heartland of Wisconsin to pay homage to a popular staple which is made from coagulated milk. That’s only natural, because Wisconsin produces more types and flavors of cheese than anywhere else in the world.
One way Wisconsinites use cheese is to chase a wheel of it as it rolls down a hill. The contestant who reaches or catches the revolving edible first is declared winner and receives it as a prize. Cheese rolling is believed to have had its start in England in the early 1800s. Historians tell is that it began as either an imaginative way to applaud the arrival of spring or a pagan fertility rite.
Different than the dry habitats favored by snakes is the environment in which scuba divers carve pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. (See photo above.) Around Halloween time each year, swimmers plunge into the chilly depths of one of New York’s Finger Lakes, carrying knives and pumpkins. When they reach bottom, the get to work transforming winter squashes into jack-o-lanterns.
When they return to dry land, some divers seek the warmth of a heavy blanket – but not the kind made of walrus hides which are used in the Alaska Blanket Toss. That tradition pays homage to native Inuit people who would bounce someone up in the air in order to provide a good view over hunting terrain, or to spot whales which have served as a vital food source for millennia.