Bluegrass music is not something you’d normally associate with worm charming – but for one record breaking (see what we did there) team it worked a treat.
Thousands of people flock to the fourth annual Falmouth Worm Charming Championship 2024, in association with the Soil Association, at the Dracaena Playing fields on Sunday (May 19) afternoon.
Although the weather was great for the participants with bright sunshine and temperatures of around 22 degrees, it was perhaps not so ideal for worm charming.
However at 3pm organiser Georgia Kendall mounted her elevated platform for the countdown to the worm charming to begin, warning teams that anyone who mistreated the worms would be disqualified!
Each competing team has a “three yard square” marked out them on the fields to charm their worms from.
There were all kinds of fancy, energetic and inventive ways of trying to lure the slippery customers including amazing contraptions, a ‘wormiji’ board, musical instruments, flippers, good old fashioned feet and even a tuning fork.
There were family groups, students and local residents taking part, with many dressing up for the occasion. Even St Keverne Band took part!
The winning team the Tennessee Worm Tuggers charmed 32 worms out of the ground using bluegrass music and set a new record as a result. They won a trophy made by artist William Darrell.
The longest worm was also charmed by the Tennessee Worm Tuggers so the award went to the 2nd longest worm of 28cm using a saxophone - this trophy was made by artist Thaïs Lenkiewicz.
And the award for the Most Inventive Worm Charming Technique went to a solo man who had come all the way from Ireland who was imitating the frequency of the mole using a tuning fork - he charmed 0 worms. The trophy for this category was by artist Rafał Zajko.
Overall 544 worms were charmed.
Speaking after the event Georgia said the day was a wonderful success with over a thousand attendees but it had a serious purpose.
“Everyone had a fantastic time and the community spirt was radiating through the field,” she said. “This year we partnered with The Soil Association to create a nationwide picture of worm abundance for their annual worm hunt, the data collected from FWCC will go towards building a better understanding of the health of soils in gardens, allotments and green spaces across the UK and show us where we need help to restore their numbers.
“FWCC believes in celebrating the earthworm and raise awareness of this silent hero.”
The worm charming championships have been running Since 2021. It started in Penryn but moved to Falmouth as it grew in popularity and is now a pillar of the Falmouth and Penryn community event season with people queuing around the corner to get a pitch.
Worm charming, or worm grunting and worm fiddling, describe the act of enticing earthworms to the surface of the earth. As a skill and profession worm charming is now very rare, with the art being passed through generations to ensure that it survives.
Most worm charming methods involve vibrating the soil, which encourages the worms to the surface.
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