Kent's weird and wacky off-the-wall competitions, including custard pie championships, walking the plank, and oyster eating
17:27, 06 February 2015
Maidstone's own World Custard Pie Championships are expected to attract interest from all over the world when they return with a splat on Saturday, June 6.
The big day, which will be held in its birthplace, Coxheath, pits teams of four against eachother in a fun - but fiercely-contested - pie-throwing competition, throwing left handed.
But it's not the only off-the-wall contest which the county plays host to.
In celebration of the event opening for entries, we've compiled a list of other bizarre and wacky annual events which Kent is home to.
1. Sutton Valence, near Maidstone, has an annual Pram Race, in which hundreds turn out in fancy dress on New Year’s Day, to race around the village, with a pram and a ‘baby’.
2. The world walking-the-plank championships are held on the Isle of Sheppey and organised by the Sheppey Pirates in August every year. Captain Cutlass and his shipmates dispatch unlucky souls in to Queenborough Harbour.
3. In May each year, thousands turn out in Rochester for the Sweeps Festival, during which some 60 groups of traditional Morris dancers perform.
4. The Hawkhurst Gang Bonfire Society organises a procession through the village on Bonfire Night, to commemorate an infamous gang of smugglers who controlled the area in the 1700s, and were known for frequenting local pubs with loaded pistols on the tables. Their leaders were executed in 1748 and 1749.
5. Kent plays host to a number of scarecrow festivals, including Loose near Maidstone, Biddenden, Lower Higham near Gravesend and Charing, with entrants creating life-sized characters ranging from giant ducks to famous characters such as Peter Pan and Olaf from Disney’s Frozen.
6. The Whitstable Oyster Festival in July each year includes a hotly contested oyster eating competition during which competitors must eat six oysters and drink half a pint in the quickest time. The week-long festival includes a symbolic Landing of the Oysters, and the shellfish then go on to receive a “blessing” from the vicar.
Latest news
Features
Most popular
- 1
‘This rat-run bridge isn’t wide enough - someone will be killed soon’
- 2
Boy, 16, found safe after going missing nine days ago
2 - 3
Only shop in village to shut this week as ‘devastated’ couple leave Kent
16 - 4
A-road shut in both directions after water main bursts
- 5
Mum joined teen son in smashing up ex’s family home and car