Weird British traditions worth travelling for.

Fire tradition · England

Lewes Bonfire Night

Lewes, East Sussex

Bonfire societies parade burning crosses, tar barrels and effigies through the county town.

Free to watch

5 November 2026

Fire tradition · England

Ottery St Mary Tar Barrels

Ottery St Mary, Devon

Local barrel rollers carry burning barrels through the town.

Free to watch

5 November 2026

Traditional games · Scotland

Kirkwall Ba’ Game

Kirkwall, Orkney

Uppies and Doonies scrum through Kirkwall's streets for a cork-filled leather ba'.

Free to watchFamily

25 December 2026

Fire tradition · Scotland

Stonehaven Fireballs

Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire

Fireball swingers parade at midnight to welcome the New Year.

Free to watch

31 December 2026 – 1 January 2027

Festive swim · Scotland

Loony Dook

South Queensferry, Edinburgh

Costumed dookers parade through South Queensferry, then plunge into the Firth of Forth.

Have a goFree to watchFamily

1 January 2027

Traditional games · England

Haxey Hood

Haxey, Lincolnshire

A giant rolling scrum pushes a leather tube across fields to one of four village pubs.

Free to watchFamily

6 January 2027

Fire tradition · Scotland

Burning of the Clavie

Burghead, Moray

A burning barrel is carried through town as part of a local custom.

Free to watchFamily

11 January 2027

Folk tradition · England

Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival

Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire

A straw-covered bear leads a procession with dance teams.

Family

15–17 January 2027

Fire tradition · Scotland

Up Helly Aa

Lerwick, Shetland

Torchlit procession culminating in the burning of a galley.

Family

26 January 2027

Ceremony & pageantry · England

Grimaldi Clowns’ Service

Haggerston, London

Clowns in full costume attend a church service in Hackney honouring Joseph Grimaldi.

Free to watchFamily

7 February 2027

Unusual race · England

Olney Pancake Race

Olney, Buckinghamshire

Shrove Tuesday race carrying frying pans and pancakes.

Free to watchFamily

9 February 2027

Traditional games · England

Royal Shrovetide Football

Ashbourne, Derbyshire

A two-day, whole-town game of medieval football between the Up'ards and Down'ards.

Free to watchFamily

9–10 February 2027

Unusual race · England

UK Wife Carrying Race

Dorking, Surrey

Pairs tackle a course with one adult carrying another.

Have a goFree to watchFamily

14 March 2027

Folk tradition · England

Britannia Coconut Dancers of Bacup

Bacup, Lancashire

The Coconutters dance from one boundary of Bacup to the other every Easter Saturday.

Free to watchFamily

27 March 2027

Traditional games · England

Hallaton Bottle Kicking & Hare Pie Scramble

Hallaton, Leicestershire

Two villages wrestle small beer barrels across streams after a parade and a hare pie.

Free to watch

29 March 2027

Folk tradition · England

Padstow ’Obby ’Oss

Padstow, Cornwall

Two 'osses dance through Padstow all day on May Day to drums, accordions and the May Song.

Free to watchFamily

1 May 2027

Unusual race · England

Maldon Mud Race

Promenade Park, Maldon, Essex

Competitors race across the muddy riverbed.

Have a goFree to watchFamily

30 May 2027

Unusual race · England

Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling

Cooper’s Hill, near Gloucester

Competitors chase a rolling cheese down a steep hill.

Have a goFree to watch

31 May 2027

Unusual race · England

Great Knaresborough Bed Race

Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

Decorated beds race through town and across the River Nidd.

Have a goFamily

12 June 2027

Folk tradition · England

Bawming the Thorn

Appleton Thorn, Cheshire

Children decorate a hawthorn with flowers and ribbons beside the village church.

Family

19 June 2027

Unusual competition · England

World Peashooting Championship

Witcham, Cambridgeshire

Dried peas are blown through tubes at targets.

Have a goFamily

10 July 2027

Folk tradition · Scotland

The Burryman

South Queensferry, Edinburgh

A man clad head to toe in sticky burrs walks seven miles round South Queensferry for luck.

Free to watchFamily

13 August 2027

Unusual competition · Scotland

World Stone Skimming Championships

Easdale Island, Argyll

Stone-skimming competition on a former slate-quarry island.

Have a goFree to watchFamily

11 September 2027

Unusual competition · England

World Conker Championships

Southwick, Northamptonshire

Championship version of the traditional conker game.

Have a goFamily

10 October 2027

Unusual competition · England

Dunmow Flitch Trials

Great Dunmow, Essex

Married couples argue before a mock court to win a side of bacon for marital harmony.

Have a goFamily

15 July 2028

Unusual competition · Wales

World Bog Snorkelling Championships

Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys

Snorkelling through a water-filled bog trench.

Have a goFamily

August bank holiday weekend

Unusual competition · England

Egremont Crab Fair and Gurning World Championships

Egremont, Cumbria

Traditional fair featuring competitive face-pulling.

Have a goFamily

Third Saturday in September

Unusual competition · England

World Worm Charming Championships

Willaston near Nantwich, Cheshire

Competitors use vibrations to coax worms to the surface.

Have a goFamily

A Saturday in June

Unusual competition · England

World Gravy Wrestling Championships

Bacup, Lancashire

Fancy-dress wrestling in a pool of gravy.

Have a goFamily

Late summer, recently on the August bank holiday Monday

Unusual competition · England

World Black Pudding Throwing Championships

Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester

Throwers hurl black puddings at a stack of Yorkshire puddings on a tall plinth.

Have a goFree to watchFamily

Usually the second Sunday in September, outside The Oaks pub on Bridge Street

Unusual competition · England

World Toe Wrestling Championship

Ashbourne, Derbyshire

Barefoot competitors lock toes and try to pin their opponent's foot for a world title.

Have a goFamily

Usually a Saturday in July or August

Unusual race · Wales

Man v Horse

Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys

Runners race against horses and riders across countryside.

Have a goFamily

A Saturday in June

Unusual race · England

Tetbury Woolsack Races

Tetbury, Gloucestershire

Competitors carry heavy woolsacks on a steep town-centre course.

Have a goFamily

Spring bank holiday Monday (late May)

Folk tradition · England

Abbots Bromley Horn Dance

Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire

Traditional horn dance involving antlers.

Free to watchFamily

Wakes Monday: the Monday after the first Sunday after 4 September

Ceremony & pageantry · England

Swan Upping

River Thames, Sunbury to Abingdon

The King's Swan Uppers row up the Thames for five days counting and checking cygnets.

Free to watchFamily

Five days, Monday to Friday, in mid-July (2026: 13-17 July)

Ceremony & pageantry · England

Ceremony of the Keys

Tower of London, London

The Tower of London is locked up for the night in a short ceremony held every evening.

Every night of the year at 9.30pm (free tickets, released in batches and snapped up fast)

Folk tradition · Wales

Chepstow Wassail and Mari Lwyd

Chepstow, Monmouthshire

Horse-skull Mari Lwyds, morris dancers and an orchard wassail fill Chepstow in January.

Have a goFree to watchFamily

A Saturday in mid to late January, from about midday into the evening

Unusual competition · England

Brambles Bank cricket match

The Solent, Hampshire

Two yacht clubs play cricket on a Solent sandbank during the brief low-tide window.

Free to watchFamily

Once a year on a very low spring tide, usually late summer; time set by the tide

Traditional games · England

Cotswold Olimpick Games

Dover’s Hill, Gloucestershire

Traditional games including the World Shin-Kicking Championships.

Have a goFamily

The Friday after the spring bank holiday