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World Toe Wrestling Championship – A Bizarre Battle of Barefoot Brawn
Picture this: two competitors sitting across from each other, shoes and socks removed, bare feet intertwined in what looks like the weirdest handshake ever. Welcome to the world of toe wrestling, where victory comes down to pinning your opponent’s foot to the “toedium” – a specially designed platform that’s basically a wrestling ring for your toes.
The Toe Wrestling Championship was invented in Staffordshire, England, in 1976. It was initiated by a group of mates at the Ye Olde Royal Oak Inn. They wanted an activity where Brits could reign supreme, and toe wrestling, for some reason, became the chosen sport. Talk about national pride gone wonderfully wrong! The most prolific player is superchampion Alan “Nasty” Nash, with at least fourteen wins, called golden toes.
The competition has grown into an international phenomenon, with participants from all over the world including Canada, America, Pakistan, India and China will descend on Ashbourne, Derbyshire for The World Toe Wrestling Championship. It is the tournament’s 50th year where all the terrific toe-fun will play out on Saturday August 31, 2024. Winner receives the coveted bronze-cast trophy, which is in the shape of a foot and there’s a £500 win each for both the men and women’s categories.
Cheese Rolling at Cooper’s Hill – The Most Dangerous Dairy Dash
It’s been described as the world’s most dangerous race, and it’s certainly one of the most ridiculous – a 200-yard dash after a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. Every year, thousands of spectators gather at Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire to watch brave souls throw themselves down a nearly vertical slope chasing an 8-pound wheel of cheese that can reach speeds of up to 80 mph.
The statistics are as jaw-dropping as the participants tumbling down the hill. Twenty five people were injured at an annual cheese‐rolling competition in which daredevils chase giant cheese wheels down a steep slope in western England. Of the 25 people hurt, 12 were spectators, one of whom was hit by one of the hard, 4 kg, dinner plate sized cheeses used in each race, but only two people were taken to hospital for further assessment. “We usually average around 30 to 40 people who need treatment”, said Jim Jones, operations training manager for St John Ambulance.
Serious injuries are practically guaranteed, one year Anderson witnessed three broken ankles, two of which belonged to international runners who missed their flights home because of emergency surgery. Anderson won his first of his record 23 races in 2005 and broke his ankle in the celebrations, but the excruciating pain and eight weeks in a cast didn’t put him off.
Wife Carrying World Championship – Running for Beer and Glory
In the land of saunas and Nokia phones, Finland has gifted the world with one of its most entertaining sports: wife carrying. Among the headline-grabbing competitions that take place in Finland, the World Wife Carrying Championship is at the top of the list. Organized in Sonkajärvi every year since its inception in 1992, the race is won by the first one over the finish line carrying their spouse. But here’s the twist – you don’t actually have to carry your wife!
The rules are very simple: men race while carrying their female partners through a special obstacle track. There are several types of carrying: piggyback, fireman’s (she is over his shoulders) and Estonian-style (she hangs upside-down holding with her legs around his shoulders). The Estonian-style is particularly entertaining to watch, as it essentially involves the woman dangling upside-down while her partner navigates the course.
What makes this competition even more appealing is the prize: The prize is something very valuable in this Nordic region: the woman’s weight in beer. Invented in Finland, where it’s known as Eukonkanto, the practice of wife-carrying has a bit of a dark, and admittedly muddled history. Apparently, a thief named Herkko Rosvo-Ronkainen and his fellow thieves would either steal wives from villages and carry them away, or train to carry stolen goods on their backs using either hefty sacks or wives.
Air Guitar World Championships – The Ultimate Pretend Performance
Since 1996, the small Finnish city of Oulu has hosted what might be the world’s most sincere competition about something completely fake. Performers at this year’s Air Guitar World Championships in Finland tuned up Friday for the air guitar world’s version of the Olympics, featuring dedicated competitors like “Shred Lasso” and “Guitarantula.” The Air Guitar World Championships in Finland was held for the 27th time on Friday, featuring a host of dedicated competitors including “Shred Lasso” and “Guitarantula.”
The competition is surprisingly sophisticated, with The jury had to consider a contestant’s “originality, ability to be taken over by the music, stage presence, technical merit, artistic impression and airness” in deciding to award points on a 4.0 to 6.0 scale, according to the competition’s online rulebook. The Dark Horses Qualifications followed on Thursday, culminating with the World Championships Final on Friday night with the crowning of Canada’s Zachary “Ichabod Fame” Knowles as the 2024 Air Guitar World Champion.
“Air guitar playing is not instrumental sports or arts, nor does it require any special venues or skills, so it is accessible to all,” according to the championships’ website. The rules stipulate that whether electric or acoustic, the guitar MUST be made of air.
Baby Crying Contest – Making Infants Wail for Good Fortune
In Japan, there’s a 400-year-old tradition that might seem cruel to outsiders but is deeply rooted in cultural beliefs about health and prosperity. The Baby Crying Contest involves sumo wrestlers holding babies and trying to make them cry first – or cry louder than their opponent’s baby. The belief behind this unusual competition is that a crying baby grows up healthy and strong.
The contest typically takes place at various shrines across Japan, with the most famous being held at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo. Professional sumo wrestlers, dressed in traditional mawashi, gently hold the babies while making faces or gentle noises to encourage tears. The first baby to cry is declared the winner, bringing good luck and health to the infant according to Japanese folklore.
Parents voluntarily enter their babies into these competitions, often traveling long distances to participate. The event draws hundreds of spectators who cheer on the crying babies, creating a surprisingly festive atmosphere around what might otherwise seem like infant distress. Medical professionals are always on standby to ensure the babies’ safety throughout the competition.
World Black Pudding Throwing Championship – A Food Fight with History
In the small town of Ramsbottom, England, an ancient rivalry between Yorkshire and Lancashire counties plays out annually in the form of hurling blood sausages at stacks of Yorkshire puddings. The World Black Pudding Throwing Championship requires competitors to throw black pudding wrapped in women’s tights at Yorkshire puddings positioned on a 20-foot high ledge.
Held annually in England, every 2nd Sunday in September, the “World Black Pudding Throwing Championships” is one of the most bizarre contests of all. Held in celebration of the ancient rivalry between Yorkshire and Lancashire, this competition involves three attempts at flinging a black pudding swaddled in lady’s tights underhanded in an attempt to knock down as many puddings of the rival team off a 20-feet high plinth on the side of a pub wall, as one can.
The competition stems from the historic Wars of the Roses, when the House of Lancaster and the House of York fought for control of England. Local legend claims that during a food shortage, opposing sides threw food at each other instead of wasting it on battle. Each contestant gets three attempts to knock down as many Yorkshire puddings as possible, with points awarded for each successful hit.
Extreme Ironing Championships – Domestic Chores Gone Wild
Extreme ironing is part extreme sport and part performance art. The competition involves taking an ironing board to a remote location and ironing clothing. It all started in 1997 in Leicester, England, by resident Phil Shaw when he wanted to go rocking climbing instead of doing house chores … so he decided to combine them.
Extreme Ironing World Championships, held first in 1997 in Leicester, Great Britain, is among the craziest competitions around and hence requires the first mention. An exciting and perilous sport that requires participants to not just possess rock-climbing or maybe scuba diving skills but also the art of ironing items of laundry! So, extreme ironing championship is all about being able to iron laundry in ‘extreme’ circumstances such while atop a mountain, or snowboarding or even canoeing or under water.
It has grown into a worldwide phenomenon with participants vying for the most extreme locale — ironing on mountainsides, in streets and even underwater. In the context of the world championships however, contestants are made to iron in a variety of extreme settings, often on alternative surfaces, and are judged on both the quality of the ironed garment and the creativity of their techniques.
World Sauna Championships – The Deadly Heat Endurance Test
The World Sauna Championships were once considered the ultimate test of human endurance, but they came with a tragic cost. The World Sauna Championships were an annual endurance contest held in Heinola, Finland, from 1999 to 2010. The Championships were first held in 1999 and grew to feature contestants from over 20 countries.
The starting temperature in the men’s competition was 110 °C (230 °F). Half a litre of water was poured on the stove every 30 seconds. The winner was the last person to stay in the sauna and walk out without outside help. The 2003 champion and world record holder Timo Kaukonen, stayed in the sauna for a massive 16 minutes 15 seconds.
The competition came to a tragic end in 2010 when On 7 August 2010, two competitors were removed from the sauna and brought to the hospital in critical condition after six minutes of 110 °C (230 °F) heat, both suffering from serious burns and trauma. Russian finalist and former third-place finisher Vladimir Ladyzhensky, an amateur wrestler, was dragged out, suffering from convulsions, burns, and blisters. After the death of one finalist and near-death of another during the 2010 championship, the organizers announced that they would not hold another event.
Rock-Paper-Scissors World Championships – The Ultimate Strategy Game
What started as a simple childhood game has evolved into a serious competitive sport with international recognition, substantial prize money, and dedicated training regimens. The World Rock Paper Scissors Championships attract competitors from around the globe who have developed complex strategies and psychological techniques to gain an advantage in this seemingly simple game.
Professional players study their opponents’ tendencies, employ statistical analysis, and even use psychological warfare to win matches. The competition features elimination rounds, with players advancing through increasingly difficult brackets until a world champion is crowned. Prize pools can reach thousands of dollars, and top players are treated like celebrities in the competitive gaming community.
The sport has developed its own terminology, with moves like “The Avalanche” (three rocks in a row) and “The Bureaucrat” (paper, paper, paper) becoming standard strategies. Training involves studying opponent patterns, practicing throw timing, and developing the mental fortitude to remain unpredictable under pressure. Some players even hire coaches to help them improve their game.
Underwater Hockey Championships – The Aquatic Sport Nobody Talks About
Also known as Octopush, underwater hockey is exactly what it sounds like – hockey played at the bottom of a swimming pool. Players wear snorkels, masks, and fins while using short sticks to push a weighted puck across the pool floor toward goals at either end. The sport requires exceptional lung capacity, swimming skills, and the ability to strategize while holding your breath.
Teams consist of six players in the water at any time, with games played in two 15-minute halves. The puck is made of lead and weighs about 3 pounds, ensuring it stays on the pool bottom. Players must surface regularly to breathe, creating a constant dynamic of players diving down to play and surfacing for air. The sport combines elements of hockey, swimming, and freediving.
International competitions are held regularly, with the sport particularly popular in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. The World Underwater Hockey Championships have been held since 1980, with teams from over 20 countries participating. Players develop specialized techniques for maneuvering underwater, passing the puck, and coordinating with teammates while dealing with the three-dimensional nature of underwater play.
Conclusion: The Beautiful Absurdity of Human Competition
These ten competitions remind us that the human spirit of competition knows no bounds – even when those bounds involve toe wrestling, cheese chasing, or pretending to play guitar. What makes these events truly special isn’t just their absurdity, but the genuine passion and dedication of their participants. From the toe wrestlers who surgically remove their toenails for better grip to the extreme ironers risking their lives to press clothes on mountain peaks, these competitors take their unusual sports seriously.
While some might dismiss these competitions as silly publicity stunts, they represent something deeper about human nature: our need to challenge ourselves, connect with others, and find meaning in the most unexpected places. Whether it’s the community spirit of a Finnish wife-carrying championship or the international camaraderie of air guitar competitions, these events bring people together in ways that traditional sports sometimes can’t.
Who would have thought that chasing cheese down a hill or making babies cry could become legitimate competitions with international followings? What other everyday activities might become the next great sporting sensation?
Besides founding Festivaltopia, Luca is the co founder of trib, an art and fashion collectiv you find on several regional events and online. Also he is part of the management board at HORiZONTE, a group travel provider in Germany.
