5 Cult British Sporting Events You’ve Never Heard Of

Traditional football may be Britain’s most popular sport, but if you go a little off-the-beaten-track you’ll find all sorts of curious competitive activities. Did you know, for example, that in Wales people take part in a snorkelling race in a peaty bog? Or that us Brits have adopted the Finnish sport of wife-carrying? Read on to discover five of the most intriguing British cult sporting events.

Cult British Sporting Events

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling

Down the hill rolls a seven-pound wheel of Double Gloucester, and then comes the stampede of competitors chasing it: this annual cheese rolling competition at Cooper’s Hill is one of Britain’s most beloved, wacky and sometimes injury-inducing sporting events. Whoever reaches the bottom first wins both the competition and the cheese.

When? 26 May 2025

© Dennis Lam Sweden via Flickr

Ashbourne’s Royal Shrovetide Football Match

No murder, no unnecessary violence. These are two of only about six rules guiding the annual Ashbourne Shrovetide football match. This game has been played in the Derbyshire market town since the 1600s, and is a form of medieval mass street football. Taking place every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday in two sessions, the town is split into two – the ‘Down’ards’ and ‘Up’ards’ – who compete to bag a goal. The caveat? These goals are located five kilometres apart at opposite ends of the town, the game takes place over eight hours, and involves thousands of people. The game has only failed to take place on three occasions: during the 1968 and 2001 outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease, and during Covid in 2021.

When? 4 – 5 March 2025, visitpeakdistrict.com

The UK Wife Carrying Race

The wife-carrying competition is a Finnish import (where it has been running for hundreds of years), arriving on our shores in 2008 – although its organisers point out that Viking raiders may have brought the tradition over 12 centuries ago, when they literally ran off with many, likely unwilling, wives. Not for the faint of heart or short of stamina, wife-carrying takes place over a 380m course including 15 metres of up- and downhill climbs.

Risks for participants include limb dislocations, slipped discs, and other more serious injuries – death included. Wives must weigh at least 50kg (or wear a backpack to bring their weight up), can be carried in any one of the recognised holds (including the Estonian hold, in which the wife hangs down the man’s back, legs crossed in front of the face). The winning couple qualifies to compete on the global stage in Finland. Rules include not having to carry your own wife.

When? The next race takes place on 5 March 2025, trionium.com

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Tar Barrels In Devon

In Ottery St Mary, Bonfire Night takes an extraordinary twist as locals carry flaming barrels of tar on their shoulders, running not away from, but through the crowds. Though there’s technically a competitive element to the event, it’s easily overshadowed by the drama of the spectacle. The barrels are carried by teams, often made up of generations from the same families. Tradition runs deep here: children start with a smaller barrel earlier in the evening, preparing to one day take on the honour – and challenge – of the larger barrels. Health and safety might seem like an afterthought, but to the barrelers and the crowd, it’s all part of the thrill of this centuries-old event.

When? 13 January 2025, tarbarrels.co.uk

World Bog Snorkelling Championships

Don the goggles and a snorkel and dive right into the peaty bog of Llanwrtyd Wells, Mid Wales. This event gathers competitors from all over the world to compete in a hair-raising and vaguely dirty 110m swim in a peaty bog. There’s a fancy dress section for those rather less enamoured by the athletic ask of the race, which has seen a pantomime horse and an ironing board win. The whole thing is followed by a jolly day with live music and ale down the local pub, where the event was conceived nearly 40 years ago.

When? 24 August 2025, green-events.co.uk