Yes, you read that right. The 28th International Festival Of Worm Charming is upon us! The unusual activity of worm charming has become an annual event in the picturesque village of Blackawton, near Dartmouth in South Devon. This year the festival will be held over the early spring Bank Holiday weekend on Sunday 3rd May 2009 from around 11am, attracting hundreds of visitors keen to try their hand at enticing earthworms from the ground.
All manner of methods are used by competitors to attract as many worms as possible to the surface, from bouncing balls and sticking garden forks into the ground then vibrating or ‘twanging’ them by hand, to sprinkling beer, tea or water on to the turf and playing musical instruments. With two categories, under 11s and over, the Worm Charming Festival is great fun for all ages. Teams of three comprise a worm charmer, catcher and counter; the winning team is whichever can charm the most worms out of a 3 x 4ft piece of ground in fifteen minutes. All worms must be returned to the soil after the contest, preferably to their original holes.
