Where: Coxheath, Kent
£: Costs £40 per team to enter
What is it?
The World Custard Pie Championships will be celebrating their 50th anniversary on Saturday 3rd June. The championships, which first began in 1967, will take place in Coxheath, Kent, and will be raising money for Children in Need.
The event will see teams of four, from across the World – including Japan, France, Finland, Kent and across the country – join the battle of custard pies to win the coveted World Trophy. This year, the teams will be dressing up in Victorian Costume or ‘with-it’ gear of the 21st Century. A prize will be presented to the best dressed team.
Some 2000 pies will be thrown during the championships, and the competition will be scored and judged by special Custard Pie Judges who are well versed in the art and tradition of pie and sponge throwing.
The event will begin at 12pm with the registration of teams, followed by the Parade of teams at 2.30pm. Younger family members will be able to register for the Battle of the Sponges, which begins at 1pm. This will involve throwing sponges at human targets from a distance of two metres.
For those interested in taking part in the championships, the rules are as follows:
1. Each contestant should be 8’3¼” from the target (the opposing team member).
2. Pies should measure no more than 10¼” in diameter or 2.47cm in depth.
3. Pies can only be thrown with the left hand.
4. Pies should be held flat in the hand.
5. The pies should not be raised above shoulder height.
6. Points will be awarded for direct hits and near misses as follows:
a. Six Points for a direct hit (this must strike squarely on the face)
b. Three points for a near miss (from shoulder height upwards)
c. One point for a pie hitting any other part of the body
d. Two consecutive misses and the team member forfeits one point
7. On no account should any contestant be in possession of more than three pies
8. Targets may avoid pies, but should not take more than 3’2” or one step in any direction.
9. At no time should any pie be a greater distance from the ground than that previously agreed with the judge. Account will be taken of wind velocity, danger to onlookers and the general fitness of contestants to cope with pies flying at high speeds.
10. No compensation can be awarded to any onlooker who is either deliberately or accidentally daubed with a quantity of pie filling, unless this should exceed the average quantity of custard eaten per head in the year 1987.
11. Teams drawn to compete against each other will act as their own human targets.
12. Judges well versed in the art of Custard Pie Throwing will award points for direct hits etc.
13. Special marks will be awarded by the judges for dress, maximum 6 points when the teams parade for the championship.
More info: www.worldcustardpiechampionship.co.uk