You Put Your Head Through a Horse Collar and the Judges Score the Difference

The World Gurning Championship is held on Saturday 19 September at Egremont in Cumbria, as part of the Crab Fair.

Competitors push their heads through a horse collar, known locally as a braffin, and pull the ugliest face they can manage. Judges score the starkest transformation between the ordinary face and the gurn, which means an unremarkable face at rest is an advantage rather than a handicap.

There are men's, women's and junior categories. The women's category was added in 1978 and the junior in 1979.

Tommy Mattinson holds the Guinness world record with 18 men's titles. He won the first junior title in 1986 at the age of 11. His father, Gordon Mattinson, held the record before him with ten wins between 1967 and 1977.

Reporting on this year's field says the defending women's champion Lynn Kelly and the former champion Claire Spedding are entered, and that Mattinson may not compete.

The Crab Fair itself runs on a royal charter granted in 1267, which makes it one of the oldest fairs in the country. Gurning at it is harder to date. The earliest reference describing it as an ancient tradition comes from 1852, which is as close to a start date as anyone gets.

Entry and attendance figures for the gurning contest specifically are not published.