From ancient Greek Olympics to casual card games, humanity has forever sought fresh ways to pit skill against rival. In today’s ever‑shifting culture, ten quirky competitions have sprung up, each more bizarre than the last, and yes—they really exist.
Ten Quirky Competitions That Capture Our Imagination
10 Mobile Phone Throwing
Forget javelin or discus—traditional field events look dull when you consider the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championships. The sport was born in Savonlinna, Finland, back in 2000, thanks to the translation firm Fennolingua, which wanted a lively way to let people vent frustration while promoting phone recycling. Sponsors supplied a stash of refurbished handsets, so no beloved smartphones met the turf in pieces.
What began as a quirky Finnish pastime quickly went global. Today, throwers of all ages line up on tracks across Europe and beyond, competing for national titles. The event now boasts two main divisions: Original/Traditional, where competitors launch a phone over‑the‑shoulder for pure distance, and Freestyle, judged on visual flair and artistic impression.
One standout is Taco Cohen, a 19‑year‑old circus performer from the Netherlands, who seized the Freestyle gold in 2007 with a routine that blended juggling, acrobatics, and pure showmanship. The distance crown belongs to a Belgian champion who hurled a handset a staggering 110 meters (about 360 feet) at the 2021 championship held in Belgium.
9 Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest
It may sound like a bridal‑shower game, but the Toilet Paper Wedding Dress Contest is a bona‑fide competition staged annually in New York City. Designers are challenged to craft a full wedding gown and headpiece using only toilet paper, tape, glue, and needle‑and‑thread. While the concept conjures images of mummy‑style wraps, the final creations are surprisingly sophisticated, rivaling haute‑couture in elegance.
From a flood of photo submissions, twelve finalists are chosen and their garments shipped to New York (complete with a massive “Handle With Care” sticker). A runway showcase then displays these crisp, fitted masterpieces, and the winner walks away with a $10,000 prize.
8 Hobby Horsing
Hobby horsing has captured the hearts of pre‑teen and early‑teen girls in Finland and is now galloping into other nations. Imagine a traditional equestrian event, but instead of a live horse, each rider grips a stick‑handled hobby horse—think the wooden steeds from Enid Blyton stories, upgraded with soft‑material heads for modern competition.
Participants race their hobby horses through obstacle courses, leap over hurdles, and even perform canter‑style gaits. In the dressage arena, the emphasis shifts to graceful, music‑driven prancing while keeping the upper body still, mirroring real‑world dressage standards.
The movement sprouted privately among Finnish teenagers, later surfacing on online forums. Filmmaker Selma Vilhunen discovered these boards in 2012, inspiring her 2017 documentary The Hobby Horse Revolution, which showcases the community of riders, coaches, judges, and local contests that now surround the sport.
7 High Heel Drag Queen Race
Imagine sprinting three city blocks in sky‑high heels while dressed in flamboyant drag attire—that’s the spectacle of the 17th Street High Heel Race in Washington, D.C., held each pre‑Halloween weekend. The event celebrates LGBTQI diversity and freedom, drawing crowds who cheer on participants as they clomp down the street.
What started as a spontaneous 1980s gathering among friends has evolved into a city‑backed affair, organized by the Mayor’s Office. While a few die‑hard athletes train rigorously in heels, most participants enjoy the light‑hearted, clumsy fun, with first‑aid teams on standby for any accidental tumbles.
6 Ugliest Dog Contest
The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, a beloved highlight of the Sonoma‑Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, has been drawing crowds since the 1970s. Its mission is simple yet heartfelt: promote rescue, love, and adoption for canines of every shape and size, regardless of conventional beauty standards.
The idea sprang from local resident Ross Smith, who originally organized a small‑town event for kids. He never imagined it would balloon into a global media sensation, showcasing a parade of uniquely charming, often mis‑shapen dogs.
Recent champions include Zsa Zsa, a bulldog with a spectacularly crooked grin and a tongue that nearly kisses the floor, and Scamp the Tramp, a dog with dreadlocked fur and bug‑eyed stare. Both rescued pups have since toured New York for media appearances, proving that every dog can be a star.
5 Air Guitar Playing
Don’t be fooled—air‑guitar contests don’t require a physical instrument. “Airheads,” as participants are affectionately called, take to stages worldwide, pretending to shred invisible guitars with flamboyant moves, elaborate costumes, and theatrical flair.
The crown jewel is the Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu, Finland, held each August. National winners converge to perform two 60‑second sets: one to a chosen song and another to a surprise track. While props are allowed, actual instruments are banned, though “air roadies” may join the act. The victor walks away with a custom‑carved, hand‑made guitar.
Though the concept dates back to Joe Cocker’s iconic air‑riff at Woodstock in 1969, the modern competitive scene launched in 1996 as part of the Oulu Music Video Festival, thanks to Finnish musician Jukka Takalo. The event champions world peace with its motto “Make Air Not War.”
4 Bed Racing
Who says beds are solely for sleeping? Every June, the Yorkshire town of Knaresborough, U.K., hosts the Great Knaresborough Bed Race, a whimsical 3.8‑kilometre (2.4‑mile) dash that mixes a parade of decorated beds with a high‑energy sprint.
Ninety teams, each comprising six runners, navigate grassy slopes and village streets while pushing a wheeled bed that carries a passenger. The passenger dons a helmet and shouts directions, acting like a coxswain in a rowing crew. After weaving through town, the team must “swim” the bed across the icy River Nidd to the finish line.
Since 1966, the race has raised money for charity, with bed designs meticulously engineered for specific dimensions and wheel configurations. Handymen craft the frames, while local dressmakers stitch themed costumes. Despite Yorkshire’s fickle weather, the race has persisted, only pausing river crossings in 1972 and 1998 due to severe flooding.
3 Chess Boxing
Picture a sport where you alternate between rapid‑fire chess and three‑minute boxing rounds—that’s chess boxing, the ultimate paradox of mind and muscle. Competitors switch from headphones and gloves to a table and chessboard, aiming for either a checkmate, knockout, or points victory.
The concept emerged in the early 2000s as performance art. Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh adapted French comic‑book writer Enki Bilal’s imagined championship from the 1992 Nikopol Trilogy, turning it into a real‑world sport.
The inaugural Chess Boxing World Championships unfolded in Amsterdam in 2003, and the sport has since spread globally, with national tournaments and a notable pay‑per‑view event streamed from London in mid‑2020 during the pandemic.
2 Santa Claus Championships
The Santa Claus World Championships, affectionately known as Clau Wau, take place each November at the Samnaun Ski Resort in Switzerland, marking the start of the ski season. Since 2001, teams of costumed Santas compete over two days in a series of festive challenges.
Highlights include a chimney‑climbing trial, where participants scale a towering brick structure, present a gift, and then slide the present down a chimney. Other events feature sleigh driving, snowmobile rallies, gingerbread decorating, and a mechanical reindeer rodeo.
1 Extreme Ironing
When you think of extreme sports, ironing isn’t the first thing that comes to mind—unless you’re an “Extreme Ironer.” These thrill‑seekers pack up their ironing boards and venture to remote locales—from mountain peaks to sky‑diving planes—to press garments in the most unlikely settings.
The movement sparked in the late 1990s in a Leicester backyard, when Phil Shaw, nicknamed “Steam,” convinced his housemate Paul “Spray” to try ironing outdoors for a change of pace. Their antics quickly grew into an international phenomenon, with a world tour in 1999 and the inaugural Extreme Ironing World Championships held in Munich, Germany, in 2002.
Since then, ironists have pushed boundaries worldwide, even setting a Guinness World Record for the most people extreme‑ironing underwater—173 participants in the Netherlands in March 2011, who ironed for ten minutes beneath the surface.