Greasy pole competitors returns to St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester

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Contestants should run, stroll, slide, prance, or in any other case grapple their solution to the top of the pole and snag the American flag. 

Colin Candy is carried by different contestants after grabbing the flag to win the Friday greasy pole competitors on the 93rd Greasy Pole Contest throughout St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on June 23, 2023. The competition runs all weekend with totally different bouts on Saturday and Sunday and has been a practice within the metropolis for years. The fiesta itself sponsored by the Italian-American fishing group of Gloucester. (Photograph by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP through Getty Pictures)

What do fishermen, a greasy phone pole, and a 5K have in widespread? They’re all a part of the annual St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester. 

St. Peter’s Fiesta and the Greasy Pole Contest are again this weekend, offering an opportunity for locals to take a swing, or slip, on the contest. 

Contestants run up a greasy 45-foot (13.7-meter) pole to seize a flag on the 93rd Greasy Pole Contest throughout St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on June 23, 2023. The competition runs all weekend with totally different bouts on Saturday and Sunday and has been a practice within the metropolis for years. The fiesta itself sponsored by the Italian-American fishing group of Gloucester. (Photograph by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP through Getty Pictures)

The Greasy Pole Contest is made by slathering a 40-foot phone pole in biodegradable grease and attaching it to a 12-foot-by-12-foot platform off Pavillion Seashore.

The pole can also be lined in different gadgets that may trigger contestants to slide off the sting, together with banana peels, orange rinds, eggs, and fish guts. 

Colin Candy grabs the flag to win the Friday after runnning up a greasy 45-foot (13.7-meter) pole on the 93rd Greasy Pole Contest throughout St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on June 23, 2023. The competition runs all weekend with totally different bouts on Saturday and Sunday and has been a practice within the metropolis for years. The fiesta itself sponsored by the Italian-American fishing group of Gloucester. (Photograph by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP through Getty Pictures)

Contestants should run, stroll, slide, prance, or in any other case grapple their solution to the top of the pole and snag the American flag. 

WCVB posted a video to their Twitter account of Saturday’s winner, 27-year-old Colin Candy of Gloucester. 

Friday and Saturday’s opponents needed to get their names on a choose checklist, however Sunday’s competitors is much more unique, with solely former champions, these strolling of their stead, and Saturday’s winner being allowed to compete. 

Contestants run up a greasy 45-foot (13.7-meter) pole to seize a flag on the 93rd Greasy Pole Contest throughout St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on June 23, 2023. The competition runs all weekend with totally different bouts on Saturday and Sunday and has been a practice within the metropolis for years. The fiesta itself sponsored by the Italian-American fishing group of Gloucester. (Photograph by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP through Getty Pictures)

Though the greasy pole is the shining — or slippery — star, this occasion additionally has non secular ties. 

St. Peter is taken into account to be the patron saint of fishermen. This competition, which honors him, has been held yearly since 1927. It additionally features a 5K race and a carnival. 

Contestants run up a greasy 45-foot (13.7-meter) pole to seize a flag on the 93rd Greasy Pole Contest throughout St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, Massachusetts, on June 23, 2023. The competition runs all weekend with totally different bouts on Saturday and Sunday and has been a practice within the metropolis for years. The fiesta itself sponsored by the Italian-American fishing group of Gloucester. (Photograph by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP through Getty Pictures)