Ethnosport

10/09/2026

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09/09/2026

🇩🇪 Sorbian harvest tradition Hahnrupfen continues in Lower Lusatia
On 5 September, young people in several villages of Lower Lusatia, Germany, including Drehnow, Papitz and Döbbrick, held the traditional Hahnrupfen — Lower Sorbian łapanje kokota, one of the region’s living harvest customs.
For the contest, young men prepare a gate covered with oak leaves and suspend a dead rooster, traditionally understood as a symbol of fertility. Riders gallop beneath the gate and try to seize parts of the bird. The rider who takes the head becomes the Harvest King, while those who obtain the wings take the next places.
The competition does not end with the result. The successful riders select Harvest Queens, after which the village youth continue the celebration with music and dancing. In some communities, young women also take part in their own traditional competitive games.
Hahnrupfen belongs to the agricultural calendar of the Sorbs/Wends of Lower Lusatia, a Slavic minority whose villages have preserved a complex annual cycle of customs. Harvest traditions including Hahnrupfen are recognised as part of the intangible cultural heritage of Germany.
Here, horseback competition is not a reconstructed “heritage sport”: the contest itself remains part of the harvest ritual, organised and transmitted by village communities and their youth.
Source: Sorbischer Veranstaltungskalender — Hahnrupfen in Drehnow, Papitz und Döbbrick.

Zur Erntezeit, in den Monaten August/September gibt es dann wieder einen spektakulären Höhepunkt: das Hahnrupfen (K***t). In einigen Gemeinden wird statt des Hahnrupfens auch das Hahnschlagen durchgeführt.

08/09/2026

🇮🇳 Punjab’s village Chhinj Mela keeps traditional kushti wrestling within the local religious fair
On 8 September, the results of the annual Chhinj Mela in Bagowal village, Punjab, India, were reported. Dedicated to Gugga Jahar Pir, the gathering brought together around 250 wrestlers from different akharas for bouts of kushti — the traditional wrestling culture of northern India.
Chhinj is a distinctive Punjabi form of village wrestling gathering in which kushti is embedded in a wider festive and religious setting. Such contests are traditionally held during local fairs and observances, often connected with shrines and the veneration of pirs. Wrestlers arrive from neighbouring villages and established akharas — traditional wrestling schools and training communities.
The bouts are therefore only one element of a larger social event. A chhinj brings together the village community, visiting kushti wrestlers, spectators, religious observance and the long-standing culture of the akhara.
Similar Chhinj Melas are still held across Punjab during the same festive season. Their continuity shows that kushti here has not been reconstructed as a separate “heritage sport”: it remains embedded in the village fair, religious calendar and living network of local wrestling communities.
Source: Samaj Weekly — Mahakumbh of Wrestling Adorns the Land of Bagowal

Nawanshahr (Asian independent) (Jatinder Pal Singh Kaler ): Dedicated to Sri Gugga Jahar Peer Ji, the wrestling tournament of village Rail Majra concluded successfully, leaving behind unforgettable memories. In this wrestling tournament, invited wrestlers from renowned akharas across Punjab showcase...

07/09/2026

🇲🇹 Traditional ġostra returns to Xlendi Bay during Gozo’s village festivities
On 6 September, Xlendi Bay on the Maltese island of Gozo hosted its annual traditional ġostra and children’s canoe races as part of the local village festivities.
The main challenge is deceptively simple: a long greased wooden pole projects diagonally over the sea, and competitors attempt to run or balance their way along it and capture the flags at the end. Most attempts inevitably finish with a fall into the water.
Ġostra belongs to the tradition of festive water games once associated with several Maltese coastal communities. In Xlendi it remains closely connected with the annual village feast, held on the first Sunday of September, when the bay itself becomes the arena for community celebrations.
The programme also includes canoe races for children. Their presence gives the event an important intergenerational dimension: younger participants enter the same festive and maritime environment in which local water games have been practised for generations.
In Xlendi, ġostra therefore survives not as an autonomous modern sport but as part of a larger cultural setting: sea, village feast, spectators, risk, skill and collective participation remain joined in a single local tradition.
Source: Events in Gozo — Il-Ġostra Tradizzjonali u Tlielaq bil-Canoe għat-Tfal.

06/09/2026

🇮🇹 Pacentro’s barefoot mountain race returns for the feast of the Madonna of Loreto
Today, 6 September, the mountain village of Pacentro in Abruzzo, Italy, holds its traditional Corsa degli Zingari, a barefoot race celebrated every year on the first Sunday of September in honour of the Madonna of Loreto.
The runners climb to Colle Ardinghi and then race barefoot down a steep mountain path over stones and uneven ground, cross the Vella stream and climb back through the village. The finish is not a stadium but the Church of the Madonna of Loreto, where the runners reach the altar at the end of the race.
The first two competitors receive a palio — a length of cloth. In the past, the prize could be used to make a good festive suit; today it remains a symbolic trophy connected with the older structure of the celebration.
The adult race is preceded by the Corsa degli Zingarelli, in which children also run barefoot through the village. Ethnographic documentation describes this younger race as an important means of transmitting the practice and its devotional meaning to the next generation.
The local word zingaro in the name of the race is used here in the sense of “barefoot” and has no ethnic meaning.
Pacentro shows how a competitive practice can remain inseparable from its cultural setting: mountain landscape, barefoot movement, religious devotion, village festival and intergenerational transmission form a single tradition.
Sources: Catalogo Generale dei Beni Culturali; Associazione Corsa Degli Zingari

Offerte Puoi contribuire ad aiutare l’Associazione Culturale Corsa degli Zingari alla miglior riuscita dell’evento con un semplice click. Scegliendo la somma da offrire riceverete in omaggio il gadget scelto. Volume Corsa degli Zingari €50.00 Aggiungi al carrello T-SHIRT VERDE €10.00 Quanto ...

05/09/2026

🇳🇱 Traditional ringrijden brings Zeeland riders to the village of Wemeldinge
Today, 5 September, the village of Wemeldinge in Zeeland, the Netherlands, hosts its traditional ringrijden competition. Riders gallop along the village course without a saddle and attempt to catch a small metal ring with a lance.
Ringrijden has deep roots in Zeeland’s rural culture. Its earliest known written record dates to 1687, when church authorities complained about young villagers celebrating and competing in ring riding around Pentecost. For farmers and labourers, such gatherings became an important part of festive community life.
Wemeldinge preserves its own elements of the tradition. Riders compete for the pollepel — a wooden cooking spoon awarded in a special series of runs. The day traditionally ends with stoeltjesrijden, a local horseback version of musical chairs.
The practice also remains closely connected with horses. Historically, riders primarily used working farm horses; today different breeds participate, but the characteristic ba****ck riding, lance and suspended ring remain central to the competition.
In July 2026, ringrijden and the related sjezenrijden were added to the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Netherlands, recognising a tradition still maintained by village associations, riders, volunteers and generations of Zeeland communities.
Source: Municipality of Kapelle — Ringrijwedstrijd Wemeldinge.

Ringrijden is een echte Zeeuwse traditie die plaatsvindt in de zomermaanden. Bij de wedstrijd gaat het erom wie de meeste ringen steekt. Dit wordt gedaan op een paard of pony. De ruiter rijdt zonder zadel in galop door de baan en moet hierbij een ring steken met een lans. Een vast en bijzonder onder...

03/09/2026

🇼🇸 Samoa’s traditional fautasi longboat race at Measina Festival
On 3 September, the traditional fautasi longboat race was held off Apia as part of Samoa’s Measina Festival 2026. In strong headwinds, drizzle and choppy seas, five village crews took part in the five-mile race around the Mulinu’u peninsula.
Fautasi are large Samoan oared longboats whose races have become an important form of inter-village gathering and collective participation. A boat represents not simply its crew but a village community: its preparation, training, financing and participation depend on collective effort.
The tradition also reflects the maritime history of Samoa. Over time, the practical functions of fautasi as vessels for transport and other purposes declined, while racing survived as their principal contemporary cultural expression.
At Measina Festival, the fautasi race is therefore more than a competition: it is a public expression of village identity, collective organisation, maritime knowledge and community tradition.
Source: Talamua Online — Little Rina Scoops Inaugural Measina Festival Longboats Race.

By Jeannie Penehuro/ Apia, Samoa – 03 September 2026 – In choppy and windy conditions, the much anticipated Longboats Race for the inaugural Measina Festival, witnessed Little Rina from Toamua village take home the first-place in an exciting five mile race. Little Rina, led by Captain Matuaotofi...

02/09/2026

🇬🇭 Asafo companies race traditional canoes as Cape Coast reopens Fosu Lagoon
On 1 September, a traditional Bakatue Regatta was held on Fosu Lagoon in Cape Coast, Ghana, as part of the annual Oguaa Fetu Afahye festival. Canoe crews representing local Asafo companies competed on the lagoon, including Nkum No. 4, Anaafo No. 2 and Bentsir No. 1.
The race is embedded in a wider ritual cycle. Before Fetu Afahye, fishing in Fosu Lagoon is prohibited. During the Bakatue ceremony, the Paramount Chief pours libation to the lagoon deity Nana Fosu and casts a net into the water three times, symbolically lifting the fishing ban. The lagoon is then reopened to the community, beginning a new fishing cycle.
The competitors represent the Asafo tradition of the Fante people. Historically, Asafo companies were military organisations, but they also developed into enduring community institutions with their own names, numbers, regalia, shrines and distinctive flags.
The Cape Coast regatta therefore remains more than a canoe race: competition takes place within a ritual marking the reopening of local waters, the renewal of the fishing cycle and the continuity of the Asafo communities themselves.
Sources: Ghana Tourism Authority / Visit Ghana; Oguaa Fetu Afahye; TW Radio 88.9; Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.

TW Radio 88.9 is set to organise the Oguaa Fetu Afahye Bakatue Regatta for the next five years, beginning in 2026, as part of a long-term commitment to pro...

01/09/2026

🇯🇵 “Wind-Stopping Sumo” is held in Fukuoka to protect the harvest from typhoons
Today, 1 September, the community of Keya in Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, holds its annual Keya Kazedome Sumo — “Wind-Stopping Sumo” at the sumo ring of Taiso Shrine.
The ritual forms part of Hassaku, traditionally associated with the first day of the eighth lunar month and the agricultural calendar. In a region exposed to late-summer typhoons, the sumo is offered as a prayer to prevent destructive winds and ensure a successful harvest.
Local schoolchildren and adults take part in dedicatory sumo bouts. Afterwards, boys celebrating their first Hassaku enter the ring wearing ceremonial sumo aprons and red-and-white headbands, carried by young wrestlers. Their ritual appearance expresses another purpose of the festival — a prayer for children’s healthy growth.
Keya Kazedome Sumo shows a dimension of traditional wrestling that modern competitive sport often obscures. Here, the bout is not an autonomous sporting contest: it remains part of a Shinto ritual, the agricultural calendar and the relationship of a local community with seasonal natural forces.
Sources: Fukuoka Prefecture Official Tourism Guide; Itoshima City.
https://www.crossroadfukuoka.jp/event/11278

30/08/2026

🇷🇺 Atmanovskie Kulachki: a festival can be cancelled, a tradition cannot
On 28-29 August, Atmanov Ugol, a village in Russia’s Tambov Region, was expected to host its annual Atmanovskie Kulachki — traditional Russian fist-fighting games associated with the local feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
The large public event did not take place. Russian internal affairs authorities declined to approve it because of the current security situation and the threat of drone attacks.
But the cancellation of the festival did not mean the interruption of the tradition. Instead, Atmanov Ugol became a field site of the Summer Ethnographic School of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the participation of Tambov State University and the Federation of Ethnosport of Russia. Young anthropologists and ethnographers studied the tradition in the environment where it continues to be remembered and transmitted.
Local tradition dates the fist fights of Atmanov Ugol back to 1648, the year the village was founded. They were held around the Dormition feast and survived in local memory long after fist fighting disappeared from most Russian villages. Fieldwork since the 1990s documented former participants, rules and locations; the public festival format was revived in 2010. In 2013, Atmanovskie Kulachki was included in Russia’s register of intangible cultural heritage.
The case of Atmanov Ugol shows an important distinction: a festival is a public form of presenting a tradition, while the tradition itself belongs to its bearers, local memory, festive calendar and cultural landscape. A mass event can be cancelled. Heritage continues as long as the community remembers and transmits it.
Sources / Источники: Федерация этноспорта России; ИЭА РАН; Каталог нематериального культурного наследия народов России.