Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
Updated: Wikipedia source
The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper's Hill, at Brockworth near Gloucester, England. Participants race down the 200-yard (180 m) long hill chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. It is uncertain when the tradition first began, and is possibly much older than its earliest known written attestation in 1826. The event has a long tradition, held by the people of the village, but now people from a wide range of countries take part in the competition as well. The Guardian in 2013 called it a "world-famous event," with winners coming from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States. The event is called Cheese-Rolling and Wake because it includes the cheese rolling race itself, and the festive gathering that follows. The word "wake" can mean an annual festival and holiday, originally one held in a rural parish on the feast day of the patron saint of the church. Brockworth has St George's Church, and the feast day of St George is 23 April.