Do beach breaks bore you and weeks in the sun leave you sighing? Then forget about abroad and book a short break in the UK, where there are eccentric events that will blast away your holiday doldrums.
Marshwood’s Stinging Nettle Eating Championships (7 June) attracts participants to Dorset from all over the world to chomp their way through two-foot long stalks of nettles, with the winner being the person who can put aside the pain and produce the most bare stalks after an hour of munching.
The Maldon Mud Race in Essex (25 May) challenges competitors – many in fancy dress – to race 400m across the bed of the River Blackwater, enduring cold water and gallons of thick mud to reach the other side.
The 49th edition of the wonderfully quirky Knaresborough Bed Race (14 June) takes place across a 2.4 miles course that is part pageant and part gruelling time trial which ends with swim through the icy waters of the River Nidd.
Charles Dickens was a regular visitor to Broadstairs in Kent for years, so today the townspeople celebrate his visits by donning costumes and putting on plays, best dressed Victorian family competitions, a Dickensian cricket match and a Dickensian beach party and seaside frolics (14-20 June).
Watch the Bird Men of Bognor Regis soar (we hope) through the skies with their homemade flying machines during the annual south coast event (28-29 June), which sees contestants launch themselves off the town’s pier and into the sea below.
Dinosaur Land in Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight is opening the giant gates to ‘Restricted Area 5’ this spring, a new display that will bring you face-to-face (well, face-to-ankle) with a dinosaur the size of a double decker bus and possibly the largest animatronic T-Rex in the country.
This summer sees the eclectic Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall make a welcome return (24-27 July). This giant garden party attracts everyone from celebrities and foodies to bookworms and art lovers, and caters for all with quirky areas including the Cabaret Tent, the Wardrobe Department the magical Hullabaloo children’s area.
Victorian Week in Ilfracombe in Devon (7-15 June) is more than 40 separate events and entertainments celebrating the splendor of the age. Many locals don full Victorian costume to enter into the spirit, and events include fancy dress competitions, a grand parade, tea party, bathing belles & beaus, a paper boats competition and Victorian Olympics.
In the Dorset Knob Throwing Festival in Cattistock (4 May) participants compete to hurl a Dorset Knob biscuit as far as they can. With games, entertainment and some of the county’s best food producers all in one place, this event always attracts the crowds.
The (tongue in cheek) World Bellyboard Championships takes place in Chapel Porth, just south of Newquay (7 September). This is a surfing challenge stripped backed to basics and free to enter – the only kit you need is a swimsuit (or fancy dress) and a wooden board. Entry is open to all comers – from kids to wave-riding grannies.
Whodunnit fans from around the world make their way to the English Riviera each year for this celebration of Agatha Christie, one of our most beloved crime writers (14-21 September). Torquay and the surrounding towns are transformed, with a murder mystery promised around every corner. Festival goers dress up in their 1920s and ’30s best, and there are theatre performances, panel events and even a sea swim dedicated to the novelist.
To book a short break to watch, or even take part, in any of these events go to BreakFree Holidays.