To ward off evil spirits, these dancers bare all 

Ghana’s fancy dress masquerade, an unsolved digital mystery, and more. Email not displaying correctly? [View in your browser](. [73ed94ee-f881-4ea1-8e1f-44f98483021c.png]( January 13, 2023 [Festival Traditions]( [How Do You Repel Evil Spirits?]( [Bumthang, a province in Bhutan, normally has a population of about 5,000 people, but during the festival known as Jambay Lhakhang Drup, that number can triple. The festival features a number of traditional dances, some of which are designed to distract and repel evil spirits. One of them in particular involves performers in masks—and nothing else.]( [Read More →]( [New Year Celebrations]( [Ghana’s Fancy Dress Masquerade]( [On January 2, 2023, the people of Winneba, a town in the Effutu Municipal District in the Central Region of Ghana, got together for the region’s most colorful masquerade event, the Winneba Fancy Dress Festival. Locally known as Kakamotobi, the festival is derived from contact with Dutch colonizers, who wore masks and colorful costumes in the coastal towns of Ghana to celebrate the new year, dancing and drinking all night long at white-owned bars. In the 1930s, the people of Winneba made this tradition their own by establishing various masquerade troops—but did not keep it behind closed doors.]( [Read more →]( [Somerset, England]( [Castle Cary Round House]( [A popular legend states that the domed roof of this building inspired the shape of the British police helmet. It is one of the few surviving examples of a circular lock-up. While no records exist to show how many people were locked up in the Round House during its use, it has had other uses over its lifetime, including more recently a licensed wedding venue.]( [Read more →]( [Atlas Obscura Courses]( [Taste Chocolate Like a Connoisseur]( [In this three-part seminar, join chocolate sommelier Sophia Contreras Rea for a journey through the rich history of cacao. We'll cover the art of chocolate making and tasting, and the many ways people have taken pleasure in and made meaning from chocolate.]( [Enroll Today →]( [Internet History]( [A Digital Unsolved Mystery]( [What is the Markovian Parallax Denigrate? It’s an enduring question for the ages, or a simple case of nothing much at all, depending on whom you ask. It’s been called the “Internet’s oldest and weirdest mystery,” and it all started with a series of enigmatic early internet posts from the mid-1990s, the full meaning of which remains unsolved over 20 years later.]( [Read more →]( [Unity, Maine]( [Charcuterie]( [A decade ago, you would have found Matthew Secich in the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant, shouting obscenities at underlings as he hustled to prepare that night’s service. Then, he left the high-stress world behind, converted to the Amish faith, and, along with his family, opened a small charcuterie shop in Unity, Maine. Today, you’ll find Secich at the end of a long road in the middle of a pine woods, beard down to his chest, hand-grinding meat to make sausages.]( [Read more →]( [The Atlas Obscura Podcast]( [Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour]( [In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we join community historians Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee as they share stories about radical South Asian history and freedom fighters on their unique tour of Berkeley.]( [LISTEN ON OUR SITE →]( [LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS →]( [LISTEN ON SPOTIFY →]( [LISTEN ON STITCHER →]( [Costume Origins]( [Decoding The Burglar Outfit]( [What does a burglar wear? You might have imagined someone wearing a black domino mask, striped shirt, flat cap, and holding a sack of purloined goods. It’s a stereotype that has persisted for years, but where did this cartoonish image come from? Turns out that in order to answer that question, we have to go back to the 1800s, though the roots of some costume elements go back even further.]( [Read more →]( [Shelby, Michigan]( [Cherry Point Farm and Market Lavender Labyrinth]( [If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, odds are you’re already wistfully thinking about travel in spring. If so, an expansive lavender labyrinth with a kaleidoscopic herb garden at its epicenter might be worth visiting when the weather warms up. This sweet-smelling addition to Cherry Point Farm and Market is in full bloom between mid-July and early August, and is so large it’s visible on Google Earth!]( [Read more →]( [Add a place to the Atlas]( [Subscribe to our other newsletters]( [The definitive guide to the world's hidden wonders.]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Visit AtlasObscura.com]( · [View in Browser]( · [Unsubscribe]( · [See All Newsletters]( 61 Greenpoint Ave #622, Brooklyn, NY 11222