Now animal-rights campaigners Peta want the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships to go vegan after demanding that a Welsh town's mackerel festival be rebranded to a cabbage festival

By SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER Published: 19:32, 1 August 2026 | Updated: 19:36, 1 August 2026 Animal rights campaigners have demanded the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships use vegan alternatives, arguing it was wrong for the 'blood and fat' of pigs to be hurled for 'a bit of fun'. The annual competition, held in Ramsbottom, Lancashire, sees rivals throw bloody sausages in a bid to knock traditional Yorkshire and Lancashire black puddings off a 20ft high plinth. The quirky northern tradition is said to have been inspired by a bitter 1455 battle in nearby Stubbins during the War of the Roses - fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. In a letter to event organisers, Peta said it was wrong for the animals to have their 'blood and fat thrown at a target for a bit of fun'. 'It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt,' the organisation wrote. 'In the case of the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships, someone does indeed get hurt: pigs.' The campaigners also said they would pay for 'cruelty-free' options in lieu of the Yorkshire puddings and the bloody sausages thrown towards them. Paul Jenkins, who organises the annual event, said the 'quintessential British event' already offered vegan alternatives to its competitors. And while he said the championships would not make the use of vegan alternatives compulsory, he said people who opted for them were 'more than welcome to'. Animal rights campaigners have demanded the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships use vegan alternatives (Pictured: Attendees at the event) The quirky northern tradition is said to have been inspired by a bitter 1455 battle in nearby Stubbins during the War of the Roses (Pictured: PTom Lowten celebrating his win in 2019) Of the event, he said: 'It's on the same level as cheese-rolling at this point.' It comes as Peta also demanded a small Welsh coastal town, famed for its colourful Ballamory-esque homes, be rebranded from its mackerel festival into one about cabbage. Aberaeron, nestled along the picturesque coast of west Wales, welcomes hundreds of visitors annually for the event marking the end of fishing season. During the mackerel fiesta, residents carry a huge papier-mâché mackerel through the streets of the town located in Ceredigion. The procession, mocking ones seen in funerals, sees the faux fish carried through Aberaeron before being burnt on the beach. Some believe this tradition helps to secure a bountiful mackerel harvest the following season. However, Peta proposed to event organisers, Aberaeron Yacht Club, that they use a giant papier-mâché cabbage and also included an AI-mocked image in their letter. Dawn Carr, Peta's vice-president of vegan projects, penned: 'Celebrating life-giving plant produce rather than fish slaughter would be more in line with the compassion and warmth Wales is known for.' In a letter to event organisers, Peta said it was wrong for the animals to have their 'blood and fat thrown at a target for a bit of fun' Last year's annual black pudding throwing contest was won by 18-year-old Harry Ogden, who managed to knock six Yorkshire puddings from the 20ft high plinth 'Fish value their lives and deserve respect and freedom.' A man at the club rejected the suggestion, adding that they were not even burning a real fish.  He asked: 'What about being cruel to cabbages?  'It seems a strange thing to focus on. It's just a bit of fun, and an excuse, really, to drink some beer. It brings the village together. 'They should have bigger, more relevant targets, you'd think, than a small little Welsh harbour town.' Dawn Carr, Vice President of Vegan Corporate Projects said: “Pigs are curious, sensitive animals, who deserve better than being forcibly bred, confined, and slaughtered for a meal, or in the case of this event, a prop. It would be just as entertaining for people to toss a vegan black pudding, a sponge, or a locally grown turnip, so there’s no reason to involve a pig’s blood in the festivities. That’s why PETA is urging the Stubbins Village Community Trust to give the pigs a break by ‘pudding’ on a kinder, and more sustainable, bloodless event.”