Cheese Rolling?!?!?!

The annual event of Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake takes place in Gloucester, England on Spring Bank Holiday in May. People from all over the world come to this hill to chase a giant wheel of cheese down a steep hill and others come to watch competitors tumble. Cheese Rolling is a tradition where people compete by chasing after a giant wheel of cheese, and deal with the steepness of the hill and other competitors run and fall down the hill.

Cheese Rolling is a very dangerous competition, many injuries have occurred during this contest. In recent years the hill was always maintained and kept nice, since 2010 the hill has not been maintained which makes it more difficult for the competitors to make it down the hill safely. With the ditches and holes in the ground, to the wet slippery hill, cheese rolling is very dangerous and is recommended that experts compete only.

Not only is there cheese rolling but a lot of fun activities for all ages. You will be able to taste and purchase all types of cheese. For the younger kids they have bean bag tossing, face painting, balloons and much more. The cheese rolling festival allows fun for all people. The competition is a fun way to get together, people dress up in fun costumes and they tumble their way down the hill.

For the roll they use a 7-9 pound roll of Double Gloucester which is a hard cheese made in a wheel.  Each roll of the cheese of cheese is put in a wooden casing to protect it as it tumbles down the hill at 70 miles-per hour .  At the beginning of the race people decorate the outside of the cheese with colorful ribbons.  A local cheesemaker and her son have been providing the race with their rolls since 1988.  Traditionally there three rolls of of cheese that go down the hill.  In 2013 cheese maker Diane Smart was warned by a police officer that she could be held accountable for any injuries that occurred.   

In the past, contestants have successfully crossed the finis line and received their prizes. 27-year-old and a 39-year-old males each won one of the four races in 2013. Winners of Cheese Rolling receive the wheel of Double Gloucester cheese they were chasing after and they also with two free ski season passes.

Although this event may seem crazy and senseless to some people, it actually originated from a representative ceremony. Rolling burning brushwood a hill represented birth of the New Year and was said to bring fertility and fruit harvests. This is where the idea of rolling cheese down a hill came from.

Cheese rolling may be one of the weirdest and most dangerous sports, but it is definitely very entertaining to watch. The event is basically people face planting down the hill for a huge piece of cheese, but it’s a fun experience you’ll never forget.  

By: Mia R., Hali W., Naomi B.