About
Established by Robert Dover in 1612 with the personal blessing of James I, the Cotswold Olimpick Games predate the modern Olympics by nearly three centuries — and Baron de Coubertin cited them as an influence when reviving the Games in 1896. Held on the Friday after the Spring Bank Holiday — Friday 4 June 2027 — the day mixes traditional country sports (tug of war, hammer-throwing, obstacle races, sack races) with the notoriously brutal shin-kicking championships.
The setting is Dover's Hill, a natural amphitheatre with a Cotswold-wide view. Events run from mid-afternoon into the evening, culminating in a torch-lit procession down the hill into Chipping Campden's Market Square for the Scuttlebrook Wake celebrations the following day.
Free to attend; car parking on Dover's Hill; food and drink stalls run throughout the day. Dates derived from the annual pattern; confirm with the Olimpick Games committee.
In Chipping Campden
An unbroken curve of honey-stone houses on a single high street, and the official starting point of the Cotswold Way.
Read the Chipping Campden guide →