England Cheese Rolling Festival Canceled Because Kids Don’t Think It’s Cool Anymore

Kids nowadays! All they care about is Nando’s and Jeremy Corbyn and none of them even want to hear just how dope it can be to roll a fake block of cheese down the street. That’s why the annual Stilton, England cheese rolling competition has been canceled this year.

“WOT! NO CHEESE ROLLING!” reads a post on the Stilton Cheese Rolling Facebook page. Only two teams were registered for the event last year. They need more teams—12 to 16 for the men’s competition and 8 to 12 for the women’s division. “We have not come anywhere near these targets for 4 years,” the post continues. “The young people are marginally more keen to join in, but it is no longer seen as ‘cool.’”

It’s not just the lack of a cool-factor around cheese rolling, which actually involves rolling a block of wood painted to look like cheese. The Facebook post also cites the rising cost of insurance for the event—it breaks even most years—as well as parking issues, traffic congestion and “serious security problems.”

“Public order is now an issue to be dealt with,” the post reads. “In the past, Cheese Rolling had a reputation of a pleasant, family friendly day out. In recent years the atmosphere has changed and the issue of under age drinking has threatened our safety.”

But don’t get too upset. According to a second Facebook post from the group, organizers are hopeful cheese rolling can return in 2019 — without the drunken revelry.

via Atlas Obscura