Worm charming championships sees locals attractive critters in unusual UK pageant

Who’d have thought that worms are fans of bluegrass music?

That’s the only plausible explanation for the results of the 2024 Falmouth Worm Charming Championships. One team emerged victorious yesterday (Sunday, May 19), luring a whopping 32 worms to the surface of a two metre square grass plot with their country and western tunes.

The quirky event, now in its fourth year, has been growing in popularity since it was first conceived by artist Georgia Gendall in 2021. Initially held in Penryn, Cornwall, the contest relocated to The Dracaena Centre in Falmouth in 2022, when a single worm was discovered during a heatwave.

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This year, the championship returned to the same venue, featuring the usual worm-themed food, merchandise, and a brass band, Cornwall Live reports.

In the competition, each team is given a two-metre square grass plot to charm worms out of within half an hour, without resorting to digging or using mechanical tools. This year saw over 200 plots as hundreds of participants employed a variety of unusual techniques to coax the worms to the surface.

Worm charming, also known as worm grunting or worm fiddling, refers to the practice of enticing earthworms to the soil’s surface. As a skill and profession, worm charming is increasingly rare, with the art being passed down through generations to ensure its survival.

Worms naturally wriggle to the surface when raindrops hit the ground, mistaking the vibrations for a downpour. Clever birds mimic this by pecking or rapidly stomping their feet.

At this year’s quirky Falmouth Worm Charming Championships, competitors tried everything from serenading with instruments, hammering garden forks, busting some serious dance moves, to even consulting a Ouija board in an attempt to coax the worms out.

The champs of the day were the Tennessee Worm Tuggers, who set a new local record by charming a whopping 32 worms in half an hour at the event. Yet, they’ve got their work cut out if they want to smash the world record, which stands at an earth-shattering 567 worms, unearthed by Sophie Smith, 10, during the World Worm Charming Championship on June 29, 2009.

Georgia Gendall, the brain behind the event, explained that the worms are lured out by ground vibrations.

She remarked: “If it’s good soil, then there should be worms, but that’s all part of what the worm charming is about – understanding our soils, understanding the importance of worms.

“So in some ways, it is like a soil health check that we’re doing and just trying to understand a bit more about where worms are and what they’re up to.”

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