Great Egg Toss Day
September 6
About Great Egg Toss Day
Great Egg Toss Day is celebrated annually on 6 September, marking the sport and tradition of competitive egg tossing. The date was chosen to honour a remarkable moment on 6 September 1981, when Finnish athlete Risto Antikainen launched a raw egg 317 feet and 10 inches (approximately 96.9 metres) to catcher Jyrki Korhonen, a throw that entered the record books and inspired annual recognition. Today, the day is observed in the United States and internationally, bringing together families, community groups, and competitive sportspeople for one of the most good-humoured pastimes in the calendar.
What is Great Egg Toss Day?
Great Egg Toss Day celebrates the act of tossing a raw egg between partners, who move progressively further apart with each successful catch. The aim is straightforward: be the pair who survive the greatest distance without shattering their egg. The game blends accuracy, communication, and a gentle touch, making it genuinely inclusive and accessible to people of all ages and abilities.
The sport also has a formal competitive side. The World Egg Throwing Federation (WETF), established in 2004, oversees international championships held annually in Swaton, Lincolnshire, England. Events sanctioned by the Federation include two-person static relay, throw-and-catch, target throwing, and the crowd-pleasing Russian Egg Roulette, in which competitors must press an egg against their forehead without knowing whether it is raw or hard-boiled. All competition eggs must come from organically fed, free-range, sustainably managed hens, embedding an animal welfare standard into the sport from the outset.
The connection between Great Egg Toss Day and the Lincolnshire championships underlines how a seemingly silly pastime can develop genuine institutional depth. The Federation issues official rules, maintains records, and welcomes international entrants, giving the day a grounding in structured competition that sits alongside its more relaxed community appeal.
When is Great Egg Toss Day?
Great Egg Toss Day falls on 6 September every year. The date commemorates the 1981 world-record throw by Risto Antikainen. It is an unofficial observance with its strongest following in the United States, though the underlying tradition of egg tossing is much older and the World Egg Throwing Championships in Lincolnshire draws competitors from across Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Why It Matters
Egg tossing belongs to a tradition of communal outdoor games that require skill, cooperation, and a willingness to accept mess. Great Egg Toss Day keeps that tradition alive in an era where leisure increasingly moves indoors and onto screens. The day encourages people to step outside, interact directly, and accept a degree of cheerful unpredictability in the form of a potentially broken egg.
There is also a competitive dimension worth taking seriously. Top egg-throwing competitors develop real technical skill: a slightly cupped hand, a lofting arc, and careful timing are far more effective than a hard, flat throw. The World Egg Throwing Federation has built a small but dedicated international community around these skills, and the championships in Swaton have become a genuine annual sporting event attracting media coverage and spectators.
Beyond sport, the WETF’s requirement that competition eggs come from free-range, organic sources gives the day a practical environmental message. By tying the rules of the game to high-welfare farming standards, the Federation uses a lighthearted occasion to advocate for more sustainable agriculture.
How to Get Involved
Participating in Great Egg Toss Day requires very little preparation. A box of eggs, an outdoor space, and at least one willing partner are all that is needed. Here are some ways to mark the day:
- Classic backyard toss: Stand roughly five metres apart, toss the egg back and forth, and take one large step back after each successful catch. Continue until one egg breaks, then declare the pair who lasted longest the winner.
- Tournament bracket: Gather multiple pairs and run a proper knock-out competition. The pair who achieve the greatest distance with an intact egg take the title.
- School or community event: Great Egg Toss Day works well as a field-day activity or community picnic game, suitable for children and adults alike. A relay format can involve larger groups simultaneously.
- Charity fundraiser: Some groups use egg-tossing competitions to raise funds, charging a small entry fee and donating proceeds to a local food bank, wildlife charity, or agricultural cause.
- Watch the professionals: The World Egg Throwing Championships in Swaton have been covered by the BBC and other outlets. Search for footage online and try to match the distances achieved by top competitors.
History
Egg-tossing has roots stretching back several centuries. Accounts from medieval England describe egg-throwing games at village festivals and parish celebrations, with communities gathering to compete in distance and accuracy. In Lincolnshire, local tradition holds that a 14th-century landowner who kept the only flock of chickens in the area distributed eggs to parishioners after Sunday services, with villagers improvising a tossing competition to celebrate their windfall.
The modern sporting tradition took a decisive step forward on 6 September 1981, when Risto Antikainen of Finland threw a raw egg 317 feet and 10 inches to catcher Jyrki Korhonen. The achievement became a landmark moment in competitive egg throwing and provided the date around which Great Egg Toss Day would later be built.
The World Egg Throwing Federation was formally established in 2004, creating a governing body for the sport with official rules, sanctioned events, and a commitment to welfare-certified eggs. Its annual championships in Swaton, held each year since 2006 on the last Sunday of June, have grown into an international occasion. The current world record for a two-person throw-and-catch stands at 309 feet (approximately 94.3 metres), set by a team from New Zealand in 2016.
Great Egg Toss Day grew alongside this institutional development as an informal observance, particularly in the United States, where egg-tossing games are a staple of summer fairs, school sports days, and neighbourhood gatherings. Its recognition on 6 September each year gives participants a focal point to organise events, share results, and connect with the wider egg-throwing community.
Noteworthy Facts
- The World Egg Throwing Championships have been staged in Swaton, Lincolnshire, every year since 2006, on the last Sunday of June.
- All eggs used in WETF-sanctioned competitions must come from organically fed, free-range, sustainably managed hens.
- Russian Egg Roulette is one of the Federation’s competitive disciplines: a carton contains a mix of raw and hard-boiled eggs, and competitors press one against their forehead, unsure of the outcome.
- The aerodynamic properties of an egg’s ovoid shape help stabilise it during flight when thrown with a lofting arc, making a gentle throw more effective than a flat, hard one.
- The 1981 record throw by Risto Antikainen, which gives Great Egg Toss Day its date, covered roughly the length of a football pitch.
- Egg-tossing competitions have been documented in the United States since at least the 19th century, frequently appearing at county fairs and agricultural shows.
Hashtags
#GreatEggTossDay #EggTossing #WorldEggThrowingFederation #EggToss #September6 #OutdoorGames #FunAndGames
Featured image: Photo by AJ on Unsplash.
When is Great Egg Toss Day?
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 6 September |
| 2027 | TBC |
| 2028 | TBC |
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