Animal rights activists have called for the World Black Pudding Championships to switch to vegan alternatives. The annual contest, held in Ramsbottom near Bury, Greater Manchester, sees competitors hurl blood sausages at Yorkshire puddings to knock them off a ledge.
The tradition dates back to 1455, when rival soldiers in a War of the Roses battle ran out of ammunition and staged a food fight instead. Pudding tossers have competed ever since.
Peta says pigs get hurt
Peta, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said it was wrong for pigs' "blood and fat" to be "thrown at a target for a bit of fun." The group wrote: "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. In the case of the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships someone does indeed get hurt - pigs."
Peta offered to pay for cruelty-free alternatives to the blood sausages and Yorkshire puddings. Organiser Paul Jenkins said the September championships were a "quintessential British event" on the "same level as cheese-rolling." Competitors already had the option to throw vegan alternatives, but Jenkins said making vegan puddings mandatory would not happen.
Online reaction
The row sparked online outrage. Christine Bradley: "Oh for pities sake! I'm a vege but I think this festival is relevant because it's ancient and amusing. Can't see any harm." Graham Elliott: "Interesting that people think they can order other people how to behave." Chris Bradford wrote: "How can you tell if someone's a vegan? Because they'll tell you. Again and again and again…" Richard Nicholls wrote: "How about they throw vegans instead?"
Mackerel festival targeted too
Peta also targeted a mackerel festival in Aberaeron, west Wales, calling for it to be rebranded as a cabbage fiesta. The event attracts hundreds of visitors with its annual celebration marking the end of the fishing season. Locals carry a giant papier-mâché mackerel through town in a mock funeral procession before burning it on the beach, a folk tradition meant to ensure a huge mackerel catch the following season.
Peta wants the fish effigy replaced by a papier-mâché cabbage and offered to supply one. Dawn Carr, vice-president of vegan projects at the group, wrote: "Celebrating life-giving plant produce rather than fish slaughter would be more in line with the compassion and warmth Wales is known for. Fish value their lives and deserve respect and freedom."
One of the festival organisers said: "It's not even real mackerel we're burning. What about being cruel to cabbages? It seems a strange thing to focus on. It's just a bit of fun, and an excuse, really, to drink some beer. It brings the village together. They should have bigger, more relevant targets, you'd think."
