World Gurning Championships
The World Gurning Championships is part of the annual Egremont Crab Fair. The Egremont Crab Fair has been taking place since 1267 when the fair was recognised by King Henry III. Gurning is the process of facial distortion and at the fair, this normally done through a horse collar.
Toothless contestants generally have the most success at the World Gurning Championships and some well-known winners of the contest have gone as far as removing their own teeth. Tooth removal enables competitors to carry out the most amazing gurns, with the nose being covered by the lower lip on occasions.
The World Gurning Championships takes place on the third Saturday in September and attracts competitors from across the globe. As such, many local hotels are booked up months in advance. This otherwise quaint British town becomes home to some of the strangest events seen in the UK.
Besides the World Gurning Championships, Egremont Crab Fair is also home to a pipe smoking competition and some other bizarre wrestling competitions. The Egremont Crab Fair website is a decent source of information and people interested in learning more about gurning can visit hardgurningnrg.co.uk.
Some foreign visitors might find a contest to see who can pull the ugliest face most distasteful. However, this long British tradition shows no sign of fading away, and the World Gurning Championships continue to be one of the Lake District’s most successful events.