By Melpomeni Paraskevopoulou & Helen Skouta (A Class)
For 749th consecutive year in the small town of Egremont,the locals celebrated the Crab Fair. This celebration is the home of the World grimaces Championship and this year was the same as all the others: a bunch of people trying to make their faces look as odd as possible.
For this ensemble of wacky individuals, ugly is beautiful.
They have been taking part in the World grimaces Championships, where the winner is whoever can pull the ugliest face for ages.
Men and women wear around their neck a horse collar and try to make the most bizarre grimace. The competition has rules, including a ban on make-up, though manipulation of false-teeth is allowed for those who have them.
Contestants have to put their head through a horse collar and “snarl like a dog, look savage, distort the countenance’.
The grimace contest is only one part of a series of traditional sports held as part of the Crab Fair, including horse and pony leaping and pipe smoking competitions.
The reasons why contestants participate are various. A man decided to take part in the championship to break the world record of participation in most world championships. Another woman had come from the distant Stroud, after realizing how frightening she seemed to be without her front teeth.
Here are some photos:
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