@$:[AT]bylinefrank:By Alex Scrymgeour[AT]bodyfrank:Cup Match is a rich tradition in Bermuda that has the whole island, and tourists aplenty, having fun in the sun with good times being had by all. An annual clash between two titan cricket teams is held as the East End, St. George's, and the West End, Somerset, battle it out to see who is the cricket team supremo. The biggest holiday and celebration of the year, Cup Match began as a celebration of Emancipation Day in Bermuda and has gone on to also encompass Somers Day in honour of Sir George Somers.Like Bermuda there are, around the globe, other countries that have their own celebrations and unique sporting events which are part of their history and culture. From Turkish oil wrestling to the mud festivals, humans have found some pretty interesting ways to have a party.Heading East from Bermuda we arrive in England where every year on the last Monday in May there is the Cooper's Hill Annual Cheese Rolling and Wake in Gloucestershire. The festival attracts cheese lovers from around the world and at noon on the day of the event a large seven pound wheel of Gloucestershire cheese is rolled downhill. Madness ensues as those in attendance sprint down the hill in order to be the first person to make it to the bottom. Tripping, pushing and other questionable sportsmanlike conduct gets the winner to the bottom where they get to take the seven pound cheese wheel home.Heading south we arrive Spain where every year from July 7 to 14 there is the Bull Running festival in Pamplona. Thousands of people from all corners of the globe arrive to run a half mile with fighting bulls chasing them down narrow tightly packed streets. Trying to outrun the bulls becomes a matter of survival as many are trampled under hoof.Continuing southward we move to Siena, Italy. The Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race held twice each year on July 2 and August 16, in which ten horses and riders, dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen Contrade, or city wards.The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, involves circling the Piazza del Campo, (on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid) three times and usually last no more than 90 seconds. It is not uncommon for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza and indeed it is the horse that wins the race, with or without the rider.The first Palio took place in 1656. Initially one race was held each year, on July 2; a second, on August 16, was added later. A magnificent pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.Our ongoing southern journey has us now visiting South Africa, birthplace of humanity and home to some of the oldest cultures on the planet. In South Africa the sport called Jukskei has become popular in recent years and has now acquired its own league. There is also an annual tournament. Originating in 1743, Jukskei has ties that go back to Great Britain. Players stand 16 meters back and use a wooden pin called a skei to try to knock over a peg that is in the middle of a sandpit. Two teams consisting of four players each try to score exactly 23 points without going over. If they go over they start again.Moving on we fly north to Turkey where every year since 1640 the Kirkpinar (40 springs) festival has around a thousand of the best wrestlers in Turkey competing in an oil wrestling championship. Covering themselves from head to toe in oil the countries best wrestlers vie for the championship. The sport was created during the age of the Ottoman empire when two men, who were part of an army capturing an enemy stronghold, were at rest. They decided to wrestle to see who was the better of the two. The wrestlers were evenly matched and neither would yield to the other. After one day and night of wrestling with no rest both wrestlers died. Their bodies were buried and years later when their friends returned to the spot where they were buried to pay their respects they saw 40 springs had grown from the spot which they named Kirkpinar. Out of that fateful wrestling match Turkish Oil Wrestling was born.Departing Turkey we travel to Poryong, South Korea to get muddy. The annual Poryong Mud Festival takes place every July and has hundreds of participants from around the world. Some engage in mud slinging, while others attend mud baths, mud massages, mud sculpture competitions, a mud beauty contest and mud body painting.After getting muddy in South Korea it's time to get wet and wild with the Songkran Water Festival in Thailand. The annual festival is a holiday held in April which sees thousands of locals and tourists use everything from hoses to super soakers to douse one another in the spirit of friendship and camaraderie.