The Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake is an annual event held on the Spring Bank Holiday at Cooper’s Hill, near Gloucester in England. Participants race down the 180 m long hill chasing a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese.

The event has a long tradition, held by the people of the local village of Brockworth, but now people from all over the world take part. The Guardian called it a “world-famous event”, with winners coming from Canada, Belgium, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

This ceremony originally took place each Whit Monday, but was later moved to the Spring Bank Holiday. The first written evidence of cheese rolling is found in a message written to the Gloucester town crier in 1826; even then it was apparent that the event was an old tradition, and it is believed to be at least six hundred years old.

From the top of the hill, a 3–4 kilograms round of Double Gloucester cheese is sent rolling down the hill, which is 180 m long. Competitors then start racing down the hill after the cheese. The first person over the finish line at the bottom of the hill wins the cheese.

Over the years, the event has gained international attention and has become a popular and somewhat eccentric sporting spectacle. Participants, often in costume, come from all over the world to take part in the races.

According to the Internet