According to Susan Ewing of the Wybunbury Tower Preservation Trust, everyone believes they have the winning formula, at least until their pie makes an abrupt but well lauded exit from the competition.

“Everybody thinks theirs is the best,” she said. “You can hear people saying ‘Oh this one’s a winner’ and then it gets about 10 feet down the road.”

The annual Fig Pie Wake, Cheshire’s quirkiest and most enduring village tradition, returns in 2026 this Saturday with hundreds expected to descend on the village for the spectacle of competitive pie rolling. While outsiders may view it as harmless eccentricity, for seasoned competitors the construction of a successful pie is a matter of precision engineering.

The connection with figs, Susan explains, dates back centuries. Palm Sunday was traditionally also known as Fig Sunday, when figs were eaten as a seasonal treat around the time of the original wakes held in early March. Over time, the event evolved into the popular summer festival held today, but the figs and the distinctive salt-glazed pastry remained which ensure it’s still the only pie rolling event to exist in the United Kingdom.

The official and original recipe has never changed. The measurements are carefully designed to create a hard pastry capable of surviving the steep descent of Church Bank. Too soft and the pie collapses on impact. Too dry and it risks cracking under pressure.

“The main piece of advice is to stick to the recipe,” Susan said.

Even then, success is never guaranteed.

“What matters is if it’s a perfect balance, or how it’s shaped. Some people bake pies in a tin or stick the two halves of pastry together. It also depends on the road conditions.” With all these elements to consider, the event is almost like reading the form to back a racehorse.

Previous entrants have commented that baking your pie for as long as possible or leaving it out in the sun to dry can also help with aiming for the right consistency.

Preparations for the event begin well before the first pie reaches the starting line. On Friday, Church Bank and the pavements leading towards Wrinehill Road are swept in readiness for Saturday’s competition. By Monday, the cleanup operation begins again, with volunteers armed with brushes and wheelbarrows clearing crust remnants and splattered fruit filling before developers Anwyl return the village to its usual postcard perfection.

Quite a few pies do survive the journey intact, Susan says, although many meet a less dignified end somewhere between the tower and the bottom of the hill.

The competition’s modern history is preserved on the winner’s cup, engraved with names and winning distances dating back to 2012. In 2022, one champion pie achieved an impressive roll of 151.9 metres.

Organisers have also developed methods to prevent overly ambitious competitors from attempting to gain an unfair advantage. Each year, every pie is marked with a different coloured pen to prevent contestants re-entering hardened pies from previous years, a tactic which would presumably give them the structural integrity of an anvil.

Entry forms traditionally go on sale at Wybunbury Post Office at the beginning of May, giving bakers plenty of time to perfect their creations. Around 300 forms are normally printed, with last year seeing strong demand ahead of the event.

This year’s festivities begin at 1pm, with pies required to be registered by 2.45pm ahead of the 3pm roll down Church Bank. All proceeds from the day go towards the upkeep of the iconic leaning tower, with the event remaining the trust’s main annual fundraiser. This year’s wake is sponsored by Massey Feeds, TT Pumps, Martin K. Davies Osteopaths, Splash of Paint L.T.D, and Cheshire Lamont alongside support from local businesses and volunteers.

More importantly, Susan believes the wake continues to do what village traditions have always done best: bring people together.

“It keeps everyone involved and people come from all over,” she said. “It also keeps the village and local businesses connected.”

Whatever the outcome for the pies on the day, there may never have been a more perfect what3words address for the event than overpaid.livid.figs, especially when it involves competitive pastry propulsion.