Gravy Wrestling Returns to Stacksteads on Bank Holiday Monday and the Fancy Dress Counts as Much as the Wrestling
Two-minute bouts in a sixteen-foot pool of Lancashire gravy at the Rose 'n Bowl on 31 August. Entry is free, the crowd votes on close calls and the fire brigade hoses you down afterwards.
The World Gravy Wrestling Championships take place on Monday 31 August 2026 at the Rose 'n Bowl on Newchurch Road in Stacksteads, Lancashire. Doors open at noon, wrestling starts at 1pm and the event finishes around 4.30pm. Entry is free and open to anyone.
The rules
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Bout length | Two minutes |
| Arena | A sixteen-foot pool of Lancashire gravy |
| Scoring | Wrestling technique, crowd appeal and fancy dress costume |
| Tiebreak | Crowd vote when the judges cannot separate competitors |
| Between rounds | Competitors are hosed down by the local fire brigade |
| Since | 2007 |
The gravy is topped up through the afternoon from barrels prepared earlier in the day.
The gravy is not gravy
It used to be. The original pool was made with meat juices and vegetables, in the manner of actual Lancashire gravy, and it attracted wasps in quantities that made the event unworkable. The recipe is now cornflour and caramel colouring, which looks identical on camera and is of no interest to a wasp.
That substitution is the most sensible thing about the entire competition and it is the reason it still runs nineteen years on.
Costume as a scoring category
Judging on fancy dress alongside wrestling ability is not a novelty add-on, it is the design of the event. A two-minute bout in a shallow pool has limited technical range, so the costume is what generates the differentiation and, more to the point, the photographs. Gravy wrestling results have appeared in Guinness World Records, and footage has carried on Australian television.
What it is for
Money raised by the championships goes to local charitable causes. East Lancashire Hospice lists the 2026 edition among its events.
Where it sits on Playdash
Playdash does not price gravy wrestling. This is editorial coverage of the novelty competitive calendar rather than a market preview.
Date, venue, timings, rules and history as published by calendar and encyclopaedic listings for the World Gravy Wrestling Championships, with the 2026 date also carried by East Lancashire Hospice. Recent winners were not confirmed in the sources consulted and are not stated here. Correct at the time of writing on 29 August 2026.