Fear isn't a good look – sure it's a basic, primal instinct that used to keep us safe from getting shredded to pieces by sabertooth tigers, and now helps us avoid things like exiting a building from a 19th story window or dancing on the freeway during rush hour. The truth is that most of us aren't in immediate danger of dying, but our modern brains convince us to be careful and cautious about trying new things or going on adrenaline-inducing adventures for no good reason. 

It's pretty much a fact that facing your fears and exposing yourself to your personal demons is the best way to overcome them, whether you dread heights, dirt, clowns, crying babies, large crowds, being abducted by aliens, flying, or death itself. Luckily, somewhere across this globe, there are festivals to get you started on the road to recovery.

Fear of Heights: Naghol Land Diving

The tradition of men jumping off a hand-built 98-foot tower, with only vines tied around their ankles, happens to bear many meanings for the Sa tribe of the tiny island of Vanuatu (which just experienced a horrific cyclone): a male rite of passage, a ritual to please the gods to ensure a bountiful yam harvest and the inspiration for modern-day bungee jumping.

Though spectators can't get in on the tradition (which is rooted in the tale of a woman fleeing up a tree from her abusive husband, who climbs up after her. As he reaches her, she leaps and plummets towards the ground, secretly fastened with liana vines around her ankles for safety while her husband follows after her, falling to his death) first-hand, watching intrepid souls fearlessly plummet almost 100 feet without perishing will imbue the kind of "if he can do it, I can do it" mantra into your own mind – the kind you can repeat to yourself over and over again the next time you're high above the ground.

Fear of Dirt: Boryeong Mud Festival

Mysophobia – the fear of dirt, filth and germs – is a very real aspect of obsessive-compulsive disorder that millions of Americans suffer from. So what better festival than the international phenomenon known as the Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea to force a mysophobic individual out of his or her comfort zone? Held in the warm beach town of Boryeong, attendees can test their limits with competitive activities like the Mr. Mud contest, mud wrestling, mud races and even a mud boot camp. Those looking for a more laid-back experience can opt for mud facials, mud massages or body painting. If you're there, you're going to get dirty – so embrace it and remember, this mud is mineral-rich and good for you.

Fear of Clowns: Gathering of the Juggalos

Whoop whoop! Modern day clowns are no longer the kind you see at kid's birthday parties. They're known as Juggalos – fierce devotees of Insane Clown Posse and that rap group's musical brethren, who also have their own idioms, slang and traditions – who come together each year at the Gathering of the Juggalos, which has been going down for 16 years. As the kingpins of this music and cultural movement, Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope of ICP are never seen without their stylized clown facepaint, and thus the group's fans often do the same in homage. So not only will you be amongst plenty of Faygo-guzzling, face-painted Juggalos crowd surfing to equally face-painted groups like Twiztid and Dark Lotus – you might just transform into a clown yourself for the occasion.

Fear of Crying Babies: Nakizumo

Crying babies can fill adults with anxiety (have you ever been near an inconsolable baby on an airplane?) and can even affect the behavior of dogs. After all, what's more grating on your frayed nerves than the agonized shrieks of a helpless infant that's not your own? Perhaps a festival like Japan's Nakizumo can help us all view crying babies in a more positive light. Japanese belief asserts that the tears of children ensure their good health. Nakizumo has been going strong for 400 years, and finds sumo wrestlers holding babies high in the air (so their cries are closer to heaven), which are induced to tears by a sumo judge. The first baby to cry wins. In the event of a tie, the louder cry prevails. If they laugh, the wrestlers put on scary masks in order to supposedly drive the evil spirits away. How's that for a different take on things?

Fear of Large Crowds: Glastonbury

Glastonbury is the granddaddy of modern music festivals, and one of the largest. Organized by Michael Eavis after he saw Led Zeppelin at the Bath Music Festival, the Pilton Festival (the original name for Glastonbury) couldn’t have kicked off on a more auspicious day—September 19, 1970, 2 days after the death of Jimi Hendrix. Modeled after the hippie idealism of festivals like Woodstock and Isle of Wight, Pilton drew 1,500 attendees and a diverse array of acts including glam rock legend T. Rex. You could say the festival started organically; Eavis paid the bands in installments from his dairy farm’s milk sales.

Now, every year on the weekend closest to the summer solstice, as many as 150,000 people create something akin to a small, very muddy town amidst undeveloped land and dairy farms across 900 acres, in order to see the world's biggest acts, from Beyoncé to David Bowie. So if you're game, you'll be handsomely rewarded with some of the best music ever created.

Fear of Aliens: Roswell UFO Festival

Because of how pop culture depicts aliens as hostile, scarily advanced, insect-looking creatures who just want to kidnap you, these space dwellers are enough to strike fear into anyone. Whether you're scarred from watching X-Files as a child, are a conspiracy theorist, or can't help but believe stories like these (because who are we to call them liars?), Roswell's UFO Festival makes a celebration of the unknowns and all the "what-ifs" with a bunch of quirky fun. Spend as much time as you want chasing the serious topics (such as lectures from speakers and authors specializing in the Roswell Incident specifically, as well as the paranormal, science fiction and alien abductions), and then immerse yourself in the fun of costume contests and light parades with your fellow humans (at least, as far as you know). Add in a July 4 firework extravaganza, UFO art show, planetarium show, live music, family friendly fun and festival food, and you'll have a weekend having fun while better understanding your fear of aliens.

Fear of Flying: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Flying in a jumbo jet is one thing – they do have multiple, huge engines which are actually marvels of technology – but hot air balloons, which are propelled simply by massive gas burners and the resulting heated air that causes the whole contraption to rise? That formula seems almost too low-tech to work, but it does – which you can witness for yourself at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, where 750 gas and hot-air balloons at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, floating gracefully in a Technicolor ballet above the serene New Mexico landscape. Not only that – you can get in a hot air balloon yourself to put your newfound bravery to test.

Fear of Death: Festival of Near-Death Experiences or the Fiesta de San Fermín

The fear of death is pretty common – there's no shame in it, and most of us live with it on a daily basis, irrationally or not. Spain's Festival of Near-Death Experiences lauds those who've come close to the end, or as the Spanish call it, "the dark mansion of Death." As an homage to their transcendence to a new life on Earth, solemnly-dressed family members carry those who claim a near-death experience in the past year to the church, where a mass is celebrated around noon (often, with many of the near-dead sitting erect in their coffins). There are also older men without families who must carry their own coffins. But it's not all morose. Everything's topped off by wild afternoon and evening of celebration occurs with fireworks, brass bands, gypsy music and street vendors.

If you desire to transform yourself into a an adrenaline junkie in order to face down your fear of death, head to the Fiesta de San Fermín for the much-loved, much-hated Running of the Bulls, also in Spain. Since the 14th century, locals have run with the bulls. The modern-day event is a half-mile course down a narrow cobblestone road that leads through the town to the bullring. Runners ask Saint Fermín for protection and make a daring dash to the ring. If you fall during the run—duck, cover your vitals, pray to Saint Fermín and try to get out of the street because you could also get trampled by other runners, in addition to the bulls.