Leicestershire villages battle it out at annual ‘bottle-kicking’ contest

Two villages in Leicestershire have competed against each other in an annual sporting tradition known as “bottle kicking”.

The contest between neighbouring Hallaton and Medbourne happens every Easter Monday and participants compete to bring a wooden barrel of beer across a boundary stream in their respective village.

The “bottles” – old wooden barrels holding about a gallon of beer – are sealed with wax before the annual contest.

Two of the bottles are filled with beer and the third, known as the dummy, is made of solid wood and painted red-and-white.

A poster on the event’s Facebook page reads: “The history of the Hallaton Bottle Kicking and Hare Pie Scrambling has links that could well date back over 1,000 years to pagan times.

“The event carries many of the centuries-old customs and practices to this day.”

Alicia Kearns, the Conservative MP for Rutland and Stamford, said bottle kicking was “an Easter tradition like no other”.

In a post on X on Sunday, she said: “Legend has it that bottle kicking is the game which inspired rugby … and it’s taking place tomorrow in Hallaton.

“The historic annual Hallaton Bottle Kicking is an Easter tradition like no other, as the villages of Hallaton and Medbourne battle it out to get three barrels, known as bottles, from the starting field to their own village by any means possible.”

The event on Monday afternoon was preceded by a parade led by the Nene Valley Pipe Band and the ceremonial slicing up and distribution of a hare pie.

The winning team celebrates by being lifted onto Hallaton’s historic stone Butter Cross and the opened bottle is passed up for players to drink from before being handed around the crowd.