Jedburgh Ba' Game
Twice a year the entire town of Jedburgh divides into Uppies and Doonies to contest a football match with no fixed rules, no referee and no pitch boundaries through the streets and closes of the town, a tradition said to derive from the use of an English soldier's head after a medieval border battle.
A compact, well-stocked Borders town punching well above its weight: a royal abbey, a celebrated bakery, a monthly market, and enough genuine history to fill a proper afternoon without padding.
Cottages, B&Bs and hotels near Jedburgh, Scottish Borders.
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"The sport's ultimate contest held only every three years in the region widely considered the birthplace of the Border Collie, where handlers from across the world gather at Huntington Farm for five extraordinary days."
World Sheepdog Trials
"Cornet and mounted supporters ride the marches to drum and fife, commemorating a 1514 skirmish."
Hawick Common Riding
"Hundreds of riders follow the standard bearer round the burgh boundaries in the oldest of the Borders common ridings."
Selkirk Common Riding
"One of the Scottish Borders' best-loved civic weeks, the Melrose Festival culminates in a horseback rideout through the shadow of the Eildon Hills and the crowning and installation of the Festival Queen on the Thursday."
Melrose Festival
"A week of riding the marches, crowning of the Beltane Queen and pageantry in this Tweed valley town."
Peebles Beltane Festival
"A dawn cavalcade to the Raid Stone commemorates a 1337 victory over English raiders, with Soor Plums handed between sweethearts and a Mixing of the Roses ceremony recalling the marriage of Margaret Tudor to James IV."
Galashiels Braw Lads Gathering
"On Easdale Island, accessible only by foot ferry, competitors skim slates across a flooded quarry pool on the last Saturday of summer, in the world's only skimming championship held on a Scottish island with no cars and a population of around 60."
World Stone Skimming Championships
✦ Weird and Wonderful"At the stroke of midnight villagers light ten-foot tarred birch torches and parade them behind a pipe band before hurling the flames into the River Earn."
Comrie Flambeaux
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Up to a thousand torch-bearing guizers in Viking dress march through the dark and set a full-size longship galley ablaze."
Up Helly Aa
✦ Weird and Wonderful"A three-day seaside spectacle in the tiny village of Seaview complete with a greasy pole over the sea, tug of war, swimming races, diving and a fireworks display over the Solent."
Seaview Village Regatta
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Competitors snorkel two lengths of a peat bog trench without conventional swimming strokes, in Britain's smallest town."
World Bog Snorkelling Championships
✦ Weird and Wonderful"An international event (which means people from Sheringham and further afield take part) on Cromer Pier, where crabbers compete to catch the greatest number and the largest specimen in two hours, with all crabs returned to the sea to wait for next year."
World Pier Crabbing Championships
✦ Weird and Wonderful