You thought you had seen everything in your life? France Bleu will surprise you! As the international flip flops throwing competition approaches in Gironde, one of the biggest sporting and unusual competitions of the department, your radio offers you to discover thanks to our interactive map the championships “not like the others” of the South West. And we’re going to blow your mind. Did you know that there was a melon seed throwing competition in Lot-et-Garonne or a jug throwing competition in Gironde? Follow the guide, France Bleu takes you to discover the most unusual of the championships which (also) make the richness of our region.
View our interactive map
Our 8 favorite contests
World flip flops throwing championship – Gironde
It is considered by the Girondins as THE competition. After three years of absence, the flip-flop throwing world championship is making a comeback in Hourtin in the Médoc this Sunday, August 7, 2022. Be careful, it’s not about throwing your flip-flop with your hands! You have to put it on like at the campsite and throw your leg very hard forward. Your flip-flop should reach as far as possible! A word of advice: warm up well to avoid breakdown.
The longest shot, the 2015 record, stay unbeaten at 39.56 meters.
The Basque Country Sneaker Throwing Championship – Pyrénées-Atlantiques
No jealousy, the espadrille also has the right to its competition! Organized every year during the Bayonne festivities by the peña Or Konpon, twenty-three teams competed this year. The rules are simple: you throw with the foot of your choice and the shoe must fall between the demarcations. Whoever throws the farthest wins! This year, Jérôme established throwing record at 28.80 meters.
Sneaker throwing is also honored in Béarn, on the occasion of the Piperadère, a big festival that celebrates the piperade, the specialty of the region. Mid-August, Salies-en-Béarn organizes the WORLD Sneaker Throwing Championship.
The international turkey cry competition – Dordogne
Exit Lascaux! The nugget of the Dordogne is located in Varaignes in Périgord Vert. In this small village of less than 400 inhabitants, the town hall organizes the turkey fair but above all the international turkey cry competition! A championship also known as the “gobble contest”. The opponents present themselves in front of the public one by one to sing their best imitation of the turkey. It’s amazing but very very funny. We advise you to relive the 2021 edition and Catherine’s victory here. Its gurgling is worth its weight in gold.
The world championship of melon seed spitters – Lot-et-Garonne
Do you like melon? You will love the world championship of melon seed spitters in Fréchou, about ten kilometers from Nérac, a town renowned for … its melons. Created in 1980, the competition is making a comeback on Sunday August 21 at 4:30 p.m. Each participant stands on the line in the melodrome (it’s like a bowling alley but for melons) and must spit a pip as far as possible. the world record is held by an Agenais with a throw at 13 meters. He dethroned the previous record of 1977. We hope he didn’t take the melon?
The French championship of the cry of the pig – Hautes-Pyrénées
It is undoubtedly one of the best known! It is organized during the Pourcailhade in Trie-sur-Baïse: the French pig cry championship. Several candidates, often covered in a pretty pink piglet costume, perform in front of a jury and the public. Whoever growls the best wins!
The reigning French champion is and will undoubtedly remain for a long time Manchois Noel Jamet. He won the competition six times and was even crowned world champion ten times. We let you admire the talent of Noël Jamet in this video ⤵
The European Prehistoric Weapons Shooting Championship – Charente-Maritime
Do you want to play the prehistoric man or woman? We have what we need in our bag! One of the rounds of the European Prehistoric Weapons Shooting Championship is organized by the Paléosite every year in Saint-Césaire in Charente-Maritime. The last edition took place on June 4 and 5. Competitors compete on a course of several dozen targets. Participants are armed with bows and arrows and can also practice propellant shooting, a Paleolithic hunting technique born 19,000 years ago
“The competition brings together passionate amateurs, many managers and agents of French prehistoric sites but also attracts more and more novice families” can we read on the Paléosite website.
The election of the King of Liars – Lot-et-Garonne
At Moncrabeau, the international capital of liars, we know how to disguise the truth! Every first Sunday of August, the town, through its Academy of Liars, perpetuates this old Gascon tradition of the 18th century by organizing the Festival of Liars which sees the election and the annual coronation of the “King of Liars”. The candidates must recite in front of the members of the Academy a text mixed with humor, truth… and lies. “Each academician, equipped with a salt shaker and a wooden spoon, allocates from two to ten spoons of salt according to his perception of lying” explained our colleagues from the Republican during the 2019 edition. “All the containers are weighed at the end of the afternoon” they specified. Whoever collects the most salt is elected King of Liars. The next edition is held on August 7, 2022.
Election of Mr. Ordinary France – Landes
The election of Monsieur Ordinaire France is a beauty contest that wants to put an end to the cult of bodybuilders! It was organized in Capbreton in the Landes in mid-July this year. The winner won a one-year modeling contract with the Budgy Smuggler brand (organizer of the contest), a billboard in the winner’s city and a trip to Australia in 2023.