Man versus Horse Marathon
Runners race horse-and-rider over 22 miles of Welsh hill country, a wager born in a pub argument.
Britain's smallest town punches well above its weight: a working on-site brewery, a genuine calendar of eccentric community events, a cafe and a real pub make it a rewarding and oddly spirited destination for anyone willing to seek it out.
Cottages, B&Bs and hotels near Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys.
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"Three days of the finest Welsh dogs working sheep across a hill field near Brecon, with ice cream from Llanfaes Dairy and a real trial hush over the crowd."
Welsh National Sheepdog Trials
"The market town at the heart of the Elan Valley turns its cattle market into a gathering of vintage tractors, steam engines and working machinery each August, a show that could only happen in a part of Wales where the landscape itself feels preserved from an earlier century."
Rhayader District Vintage Show
"A leisurely ride through mid-Wales hills where every checkpoint hands you cider and perry, capped by a BBQ and free live music in town."
Summer Cider Cycle
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Teams of two mountain bikers tow a charioteer in a Roman-style chariot in a flat-out dash for the world title."
World Mountain Bike Chariot Racing Championship
✦ Weird and Wonderful"A 25,000-capacity festival on a Brecon Beacons estate where ten areas wrap live music around literature, science, comedy and a giant burning Green Man."
Green Man
"The Victorian spa town of Llandrindod Wells dresses entirely in period costume for a week each August, with residents, traders and visitors all adopting Victorian dress for street entertainment, performances, markets and a grand parade through a town whose architecture still looks exactly as it did when the railway brought Victorian society to drink the waters."
Llandrindod Wells Victorian Festival
"One of the biggest prize race meetings of its kind in the UK, three days of flat-out trotting and pacing on a grass track in mid-Wales where the sport has deep roots, with sulkies rattling past the spectators at very close quarters."
Tregaron Festival of Harness Racing
"Ploughmen from across Monmouthshire turn up to a rotating farm venue each October for their county match, a competition held in the border country between Wales and England where the hedged fields and red Hereford cattle still look much as they always have."
Monmouthshire Ploughing Match
"A sailing regatta with roots going back to 1837, combining competitive racing on the water with a Marching Carnival, live music, and a Pink Wig Parade ashore."
Falmouth Week
"Massed pipe bands lead the chieftain's parade from the Bridge Hotel to Couper Park in this small fishing village on the far northeast coast."
Helmsdale and District Highland Games
"The last free games in the Highlands, where Games Day on the seaside Links feels like New Year, opened by Lord Cawdor himself."
Nairn Highland Games
"Scotland's premier sheepdog competition over four days at Letham Farm in the Ochil Hills, where the nation's finest handlers qualify for the International and the once-every-three-years World Trial."
Scottish National Sheepdog Trials