284 Items Tagged

Holidays

Atlas Obscura Gift Guide: 9 Gifts for the Passport Stamp Collector

Lex Berko December 10, 2015

Atlas Obscura Gift Guide: 7 Tech Presents for the Gadgeteer

Hana Glasser December 10, 2015

Atlas Obscura Gift Guide: How to Stock a Wunderkammer in a Week Using Amazon

Jess Zimmerman December 10, 2015

chesnut vendor in baltimore

The Ghost Forests of Christmas Past: How A Fungus Stole Roasted Chestnuts

Sarah Laskow December 10, 2015

at iceland's christmas house

Iceland's Yule Lads Are Like 13 Demented Santas and They Are Amazing

Before they were mischievous but friendly characters who came to lick your spoons, they were terrors.

Jaya Saxena December 9, 2015

An online shop storage and transportation center in China.

How China Revamped National Singles' Day into The World's Biggest Consumer Holiday

Tao Tao Holmes November 10, 2015

Fleeting Wonders: A UK Supermarket Is Hiring a Christmas Light Untangler

Tao Tao Holmes November 6, 2015

I Tried to Recreate Medieval Kugel and Ended Up With a Fruitcake

Sarah Laskow September 14, 2015

Parade at the Penis Festival.

Kawasaki, Japan

Kanamara Matsuri Festival

A rare festival blending religion, blacksmiths, vagina dentata, sex workers, and the straight-up facts of life.

Last Midnight of the Steam Whistles

Allison Meier January 7, 2015

Swimmers run to the frigid water at the 2012 New Year's Day Coney Island Polar Bear Club Plunge

rites and rituals

The New Year's Ritual of Plunging Into Frigid Waters Started with a Strongman at Coney Island

Mark Roberts December 31, 2014

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

Chippewa Falls Christmas Village

A town filled with hot chocolate, dazzling lights, and lots of Christmas cheer.

Linköping, Sweden

Winter Lights

For a couple of months each year this Swedish city turns into a festive neon phantasmagoria.

Gävlebocken

If there is one thing you don't want to be in Sweden during Christmas, it's a Yule Goat.

rites and rituals

Winter's Effigies: The Deviant History of the Snowman

Rebecca Burgan December 17, 2014

rites and rituals

Our Favorite Scandinavian Yuletide Burning Goat Is Back! Here's a Timeline of the Unfortunate Fates of the Gävle Goat

Atlas Obscura December 10, 2014

rites and rituals

The 1920s Puppeteer Whose Inflatable Monsters Changed Thanksgiving

Allison Meier November 26, 2014

31 days of halloween

Celebrating Life While There's Still Time: Halloween Meets Mexico's Days of Death

Andrew Chesnut October 20, 2014