If you want to see people risking life and limb chasing cheese, head for Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, where competitors battle it out in pursuit of an eight-pound Double Gloucester.  Read more

Based on the original games organised by Robert Dover in 1612, this year marks the 400th anniversary. The games were established to honour the ancient Games of Greece and brought it to the beautiful location of Dover's Hill. Features Morris dancing, falconry, cannon fire and other rustic activities. The evening is then ended with fireworks and a torchlight procession into Campden with dancing in the square. Highlights of the event include shin kicking, tug o' war and the Championship of the Hill.   Read more

Six waterboatmen race with the tide from London Bridge to Chelsea's Albert Bridge during the annual Doggett's Coat and Badge Race, competing for the prize of scarlet livery with a large silver badge. This traditional rowing race started in 1715.  Read more

Married couples have the opportunity to win a side (flitch) of bacon in this wacky event, dating back to medieval times. Convince a jury that you don't regret marrying your partner, or risk the shame of the consolation prize: gammon.  Read more

Since medieval times, Egremont has celebrated crab apple time with unique events. The Crab Fair features unlikely sports such as climbing up a greasy pole to try and get a leg of lamb, and the World Gurning Championships.  Read more

Upholding the 19th-century tradition of finding the heaviest gooseberry has always been of utmost importance at Egton Bridge in North Yorkshire. Some 200 years after its origin, competition entrants at St Hedda's Schoolroom are as enthusiastic as ever.  Read more

Lawn mower racing was started back in 1973 stemming from an idea that didn’t involve lots of money and was readily accessible to everyone. Lawn Mower Racing takes place all over the country from Wales to Norfolk and Yorkshire to Sussex, appearing at Country Shows, Fayres and Steam Rallies. Racing generally starts in May through to October, incorporating The British Championship. There is also a World Championship, British Grand Prix and Endurance Championship and the most famous of all , The 12 Hour Endurance Race.   Read more

One of the main highlights in the domestic English tug-of-war-calendar men, ladies, junior men and junior ladies weight classes will be competing. UK Championships take place in August.   Read more

Each year thousands of adults of all ages and sexual persuasions visit the Olympia Exhibition Centre's Erotica event in search of products to enhance their lifestyle. Exhibitors sell everything from clubwear, leatherwear and rubber to fetish, beachwear and lingerie.  Read more

World's biggest free maritime music festival sees around 350 British and international singers perform sea shantys and songs. Aims to preserve and promote the maritime heritage of Falmouth and Cornwall and raise money for Royal National Lifeboat Institution.   Read more

To be branded the biggest fool is a highly-coveted accolade at Muncaster Castle. During the annual Festival of Fools, international jesters, comedians and walkabout artists perform around the grounds, vying for the Fool of Muncaster title.  Read more

From curious walkabout characters to jugglers and around 100 shows, the Festival of Fools unleashes five action-packed days of fun and chaos onto Belfast's streets. Expect circus acts, puppet shows, comedians and more.  Read more

Europe's premier event for model tram enthusiasts, the Festival of Model Tramways fills the Kew Bridge Steam Museum with high-quality layouts and displays. Bring along your model tram to impress fellow enthusiasts and make new friends.

The Perthshire village of Comrie lights up for New Year. Hundreds of locals gather in the village square for a ceremony of eight flambeaux (fired torches), which process around the village before being ceremonially thrown into the River Earn.

Allendale in Northumberland has an interesting way of seeing in the New Year. Men dress up, balance flaming whisky barrels filled with hot tar on their heads, then toss them onto a bonfire...  Read more

Celebration of local food and drink which runs alongside Scottish Food Fortnight. Events taking place include open days, local menus, demonstrations, tastings, talks, forages, workshops, new products and music.   Read more

Quintessential Cotswold village Bourton-on-the-Water sits astride the Windrush. This three-metre-wide bubbling brook flows down Bourton's main street, and it's here that the annual Football in the River game takes place, and has done for over 100 years.  Read more

Fright Night is Britain's biggest Halloween party. More than 40,000 people, many in fancy dress, flock into Sheffield city centre every year for an evening of ghoulish activity, with street theatre and funfair rides providing family entertainment.  Read more

Stories of the strange goings-on throughout the centuries at Hampton Court Palace will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. Discover the palace's spooky secrets on this 90-minute ghost tour, held on Fridays and Sundays until spring.  Read more

For all the X-Files fans out there, the truth may be found at the Glastonbury Symposium, one of Britain's largest crop circle conferences. Debates and presentations aim to dissect the truth about crop circles, what they symbolise and how they materialise.  Read more