Dorset knob-throwing festival to return for 2019

Knob-throwing has been a Dorset pastime since 2008

An annual knob-throwing festival which was cancelled for 2018 will return next year, organisers have said.

The competition to hurl the traditional Dorset biscuits the furthest distance has been running since 2008.

It began in the west Dorset village of Cattistock but moved to Kingston Maurward College, near Dorchester, in 2017 after its popularity grew.

Chairman Ian Gregory said the next festival would take place at the college on 5 May 2019.

He said support for the event had been "magnificent".

The one-day festival, which was attended by 4,000 people in 2017, incorporates a food festival, live music and knob-based games such as knob-and-spoon racing, splat the knob, knob darts and pin the knob on the Cerne Abbas giant.

It also hosts the knob-eating cup, where contestants battle to eat a plate of the bun-shaped biscuits in record time.

The event was not held in 2018 following the retirement of several committee members and concerns by Moores Biscuits that it had "run its course".

In the 2017 knob-throwing competition, Pete Asher threw his knob the furthest in the rainy conditions with an effort of 22.70m (74.4ft).

The festival is a collaboration between Cattistock village, Kingston Maurward College and Moores Biscuits - the manufacturer of Dorset knobs.

Dorset knob facts

• The biscuits have been made by Moores of Morecombelake for more than 150 years

• Originally, they were made from leftover bread dough with added butter and sugar, hand-rolled and left to dry in the dying heat of the oven

• It is thought their name comes from the hand-sewn Dorset knob buttons that were also made locally

• They can be eaten with Blue Vinny cheese, dipped in tea or cider, or taken with honey and cream - known locally as thunder and lightning