The annual Cheese-Rolling Festival at Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire traditionally takes place each year 
at 12:00 midday on the Late Spring Bank Holiday Monday.

To contact www.cheese-rolling.co.uk (this site) Email info@cheese-rolling.co.uk

 

Notice on the hill.

The Cheese-Rolling festival was originally held at midsummer but was moved some years ago to Whitsuntide, taking place on Whit Monday which was at that time a UK Bank Holiday.

[Whit Monday  is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a movable feast in the Christian calendar.]

Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday (also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit) gets its English name for following "Whitsun", the day that became one of the three baptismal seasons. It is movable because it is determined by the date of Easter. The name "Whitsunday" is now generally attributed to the white garments formerly worn by the candidates for baptism on this feast.

In 1967, in the UK, the Whitsun bank holiday (Whit Monday) was replaced by the Late Spring Bank Holiday - fixed as the last Monday in May each year.

The 'Cheese Rolling and Wake' was again moved, this time to the Late Spring Bank Holiday Monday.

[In 1978, the first Monday in May was also named, in England Wales & Northern Ireland as a  Bank Holiday.]

 

Uncertainty of the future of Cheese Rolling at Cooper's Hill.

Following the decision of CHCRC Ltd, the organisation responsible for staging the "official" event, to cancel the 2010 event, it was proposed to hold a two day, ticket only event in mid June. However, following massive protest from fans, residents of the area, locals and the public in general, the plans were scrapped and the June 2011 event was cancelled.
CHCRC Ltd has now been wound up and no longer runs the event leaving it to the fans to stage traditional free events in this and future years.

It is evident that many people, including the organisers and the police, would wish to see an end to the popularity of this event, with access granted, it at all, to only a few locals. 

Gloucestershire seems to have a death wish with it's acquiescence in the cancellation and closure of many of the public events (Cheese-Rolling at Cooper's Hill, Tall Ships Event in Gloucester Dock, the Carnival Procession through the streets of Gloucester to name but three.) that would normally bring tourists flocking to the area.

The excellent 2010 Unofficial Cheese Rolling Event at Cooper's Hill, was successful in maintaining the unbroken tradition of the event, probably this was be repeated in 2011 following the failure of CHCRC to organise the event.

Whatever the future holds for the event, full information will be made available, as a free public service, to the public in general via this web site.