The second annual Pass the Pigs World Championship was won in spectacular style by Isaac Mace, defeating his opponent, Rich from Uley Brewery, in a tense pig-off after an exciting day of action.
Evesham’s long-heralded connection with the popular 1980s children’s game began in 701 when Eof, a swineherd, glanced up from tending to his pigs and spotted the Virgin Mary on the banks of the River Avon, which led to the founding of an Abbey, the naming of the town, and just 1,324 years later, the inaugural Pass the Pigs World Championship.
Competitors travelled from far and wide, with entrants making the journey from London, Oxford, Warwick, just for the Championship, along with superb support from local Swines.
There was a shock defeat for 2025 World Champion, Finn Dickinson, who started his campaign with a double razorback, but was ultimately beaten in the first round.
A record-breaking fifty-four people entered, doubling last year’s attendance, and filling The Red Lion with cries of “Pig Out”, “Makin’ Bacon!”, and eruptions of joy for a Leaning Jowler.
A delegation from co-hosts Uley Brewery made the short trip up the M5 for the day, partly to help with the seven Uley beers which were available for refreshment, and partly to attempt to avenge head of operations Emily Brooks’ traumatic defeat in last year’s final. Belinda Holley, their trade manager, put on an admirable performance but couldn’t quite make it through to the final.
The World Championship will return, even more ambitiously, in 2027. Watch this space…