15 of the World's Most Unusual Food Competitions

Forget what your parents might have told you: Some situations call for playing with your food. In Eau Claire, Michigan, competitors puff their cheeks and blow in a cherry pit–spitting contest. In Iceland, horseback riders balance beers while bringing their steeds to a distinct gait known as the tölt. And on Shrove Tuesday in England, runners race through the streets with pancake-laden skillets.

Instead of sticking to that resolution to watch what you eat this year, why not resolve to watch it fly at Scotland’s annual haggis hurling championship? Or choose from any of these 15 contests to test your mettle in wrestling, throwing, and even creatively cooking. Make 2019 the year you win your first roadkill cook-off or become South Carolina’s Rolling in the Grits champion.