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Ottery Tar Barrels

The Ottery Tar Barrels event is a tradition hundreds of years old, held in Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK. The event is held of November the 5th each year (only changes when the 5th falls on a Sunday). It is not technically a sport, but it is undoubtedly unusual. Participants carry flaming barrels of tar through the streets of Ottery.

Seventeen barrels are carried during the day, starting in the afternoon and range in size depending on who is carrying them. The barrels are set alight at various public houses and hotels around the town until the final barrel is carried in the square around midnight.



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