Feast Days have been celebrated for centuries in English villages as a way of honoring Christian saints. Our village has a record of foot and horse racing being a part of Feast Day way back in the 1700s and continuing well into the 1800s. And although participation dwindled at the beginning of the 20th century, Sports and Feast Day started up again and had remained a part of this community since the 1970s.
The program for the day began with a "Fancy Dress" (costume) competition. The theme this year was the circus! There were some very creative entries.
Timothy dressed up as a clown:
After that, the races began! There were all types of races for all ages. A lot of them were familiar to us:Running Race
Bean Bag Race
Egg & Spoon Race
Wheelbarrow Race
Three-legged Race, and Sack Race
There was even a running race for the mothers and the fathers! 
Ethan and I participated, and we each got 3rd place!!There were also some races that we had never heard of before:
A Backwards race (where the contestants run backwards)
Sledges ("sledge" means "sled")- in this race, 2 people pull a third teammate on a plastic sack
and Slow Bike Race- 
for this race you try to come in last! But, your bike can't tip over and you can't go backwards at all.After a free tea time with tea and cakes, the competitions resumed with an Obstacle Race,
an intense Egg-Throwing Contest, 
Musical Hoops (Musical Chairs), Tug of War: girls vs. boys (the women won!!),
and a high jump contest.It was a jam-packed day at the races. Timothy competed in just about every one, and since his age group was 5-7 year olds (he's 7), he did very well, winning first place many times. And each time he won, his prize was money! They had different local businesses sponser the races, so you won money for getting 1st, 2nd, or 3rd prize. 1st prize was one pound fifty (p) pence, 2nd prize was one pound, and 3rd prize was 50p. Tim earned around 5 pounds total, and Ethan and I each came home 50p richer!
The Sports Day also had a bouncy slide
and swings,
which is where Maddie and her good friend Alex spent most of the day. 
There were also stands for Tombola (like a raffle), ice cream and juice, and Bric-a-Brac, where they sell donated items.After the competitions, everbody went home to rest and get ready for the village barbeque that evening. For the barbeque, everyone brought their own meat to cook and a dish to pass. Thankfully, there were tables and chairs set up under a tent as the weather got a little misty!
I've got to say, I love how the British barbeque!
People brought nice tablecloths, silverware, and glass stemware that evening. Some even brought candelabras! Our American family stuck out like a sore-thumb with our sweatshirts and jeans, hot dogs, and processed cheese for our burgers!It really was a wonderful evening. The kids ran around and played with their friends, and we shared some glow-sticks that my friend Liz shipped over (thanks Liz). Some of them had never seen glow-sticks before!
Ethan was also in his element. There was free beer for the evening! But this wasn't just any beer: this was cask ale, which he got to hand-pull himself. He was a very happy camper!
All in all, it was a wonderful day. On base they had a big Fourth of July carnival with free rides and fireworks on Saturday as well. But, I think we made the right decision being a part of our community's Sports Day!
1 comment:
What a great fun-filled day for kids and parents alike. (Love that there was a running race for the dads and moms!)
How were you to know that you were to pull out your stemware and steaks for a neighborhood barbeque?! Oh well. :oP
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