It’s a sporting event unlike any other. Where else in the world can you find Bakewell Battles, Beach Vollybowler, Breadbasket Ball or Tug of Hair? That’s right, this weekend The Chap Olympiad is back for another session of eccentric sporting panache, or as the organizers like to call it, “a world-famous celebration of sporting ineptitude and immaculate trouser creases.”
Hosted by The Chap Magazine — a journal celebrating tweeds, hat-doffing, martinis and all things gentlemanly as well as Bourne and Hollingsworth — this delightful one-day festival is filled with themed sporting events, live music, side shows and refreshments. True to the Chap style, the Olympiad requires the minimum in physical exertion with events designed to separate the chaps from the cads. Participants compete to win the coveted bronze, silver and gold cravats or take a self-congratulatory puff off the Olympiad pipe.
Why not take part in the Tea Pursuit? For this, expect to cycle around a track transferring a cup of tea from one rider to the next. Or there’s the Bakewell Battles in which contestants try to defend their cake slice while trying to knock off their opponent’s. Also included in the festivities is the umbrella jousting on bikes, with cyclists wearing bowler hats and carrying briefcases; and the Tug of Hair competition for which two teams will wrestle over a 20-foot mustache.
Taking place on Saturday, July 13 in Bedford Square Gardens in London, games begin at 1 p.m. A spokesman for the event said, “This year, as every year, all Olympiad guests and participants are encouraged to come in period dress and fully immerse themselves in the event’s old-fashioned activities and charming entertainment. Expect radio plays, country fair side shows and old-fashioned lawn games, such as a coconut shy, boules, and hoopla.”
