PBS - America: Wild and Wacky (2007)

Across America, folks gather every year for festivals, parades, races, and contests. But not all of these are your garden-variety events. Discover some of the wackiest public gatherings you can imagine. From roadkill cook-offs to hurling pumpkins hundreds of feet in the air, these are parties you won't want to miss.

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Part 1: Drag Queen Race
Americans' imaginations run wild in the nation's oddest celebrations. From cross-dressing drag races in DC to fantasy medieval battles in Virginia, from the coolest biker party in South Dakota to the hottest chilli cook-off in Nebraska, no party is too wild or too wacky.


Part 2: Monster Bikes of Sturgis
Get ready for the ride of your life-a full throttle party with the highest concentration of bikers on the planet. Welcome to Sturgis, where all aspects of motorcycle culture are celebrated, from custom bikes and body art, to classic rides and rock and roll.


Part 3: Frog Beauty Pageant
Take a trip from the extreme north to the Deep South as we search for America's wackiest celebrations. From the world's largest bullfrog festival and street performer exhibit, to the nation's premier arm wrestling competition and Alaskan frontier festival, this is American partying at its wildest.


Part 4: Redneck Olympics
Only in America could you kick off your shoes and perfect your form in the Mud Pit Belly Flop Competition at the Summer Redneck Games in Dublin, Georgia. Or join the aliens of Roswell, New Mexico, for the annual Roswell UFO Festival, which celebrates the unknown with performances and costume contests. To the east, Black Rock, Nevada, hosts an amateur rocketry competition that threatens to blast out of this world. But if you can't build a rocket in your home, a cardboard boat will do just fine for the Cardboard Boat Race in Heber Springs, Arkansas.


Part 5: Frozen Dead Guy Fest
Americans' competitive spirit reveals itself in some wacky ways, like the coffin race in Nederland, Colorado, which is dedicated to a dead guy and brings new meaning to the term "frozen stiff." Or the National Snow Sculpting Competition in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where snowmen go high-end while temperatures hit record lows. Then there's the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Baltimore, Maryland, where crazy contraptions speed across a gritty land and sea racecourse. And don't forget Spamarama, a festival in Austin, Texas, which centers on, what else-SPAM!


Part 6: Punkins and Road Kill
Start the ultimate American road trip with a cruise in a wild, psychedelic art-car in San Francisco, California. Then journey to a wacky culinary competition in Marlinton, West Virginia, where a heated roadkill cook-off is underway. Head north to gear up for an unusual race in Delaware, Ohio, where folks prepare for the annual Lawn Mower Race. Finally, set out for the shores of Delaware to the town of Millsboro, where residents blast pumpkins into the sky at the Punkin Chunkin' Festival.