WIFE CARRYING IN SONKAJÄRVI SINCE 1992
This year the contest will be organised for the seventeenth time, for the fourteenth time on the world championship level in Sonkajärvi 3rd July 2010, Finland.
WIFE CARRYING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
AT SONKAJÄRVI 2nd - 3rd July 2010
Preliminary program
Friday 2nd July At 17.00-01.00 adults 12 €,
12-20 Traders in the market place, free entrance
19.00 The Wife Carrying Sprint Competitionl
18-21 Semifinals in Wife Carrying Karaoke contest
20 English Evening Worship in Sonkajärvi Church
21-01 Market dance in the hall, music by Mira & Mika Show
Saturday 3rd July, tickets 20 €, children under 12years old 5 €
9-18 Traders in the market place, free entrance
13.30 Opening ceremony and market speech
14.00 TEAM COMPETITION IN THE WIFE CARRYING
16.00 THE 15th WIFE CARRYING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
18.00 Wife Carrying Prize awarding ceremony
18.30 Finals in Wife Carrying Karoke contens
21-01.30 Wife Carrying dance in the hall, music by Neljänsuora
For further information and reservation of the sales stand Sonkajärven Eukonkanto Oy
NEWS - Wife Carrying around the world…
UK championships @ Belfast, Northern Ireland
6th of Septermber, 2008:
Northern Irish students Aaron Moisson and Clara Hawthawn-Cole won the title and will go on to compete in the world championships in Finland.
Ireland championships @ Kerry
26th of July, 2008:
The event, which was inspired by a similar competition in Finland, was being staged as part of the Sneem Family Festival.
The winning couple John O’Shea and Aoife Desmond from Caherdaniel, Co. Kerry won an all expenses paid trip to Finland to represent Ireland in the World Championship in 2009.
North American championships @ Sunday River, Maine (USA):
11th of October, 2008:
Ri Fahnestock and Sarah Silverberg took first place in the North American Wife Carrying Championship at Sunday River, Maine. Fahnestock and Silverberg missed first place in the 2007 Championship by three tenths of a second, the closest margin in the event’s history, and returned this season intending to make up for that loss.
Australian championships @ Singleton
2nd of May 2009:
Anthony Partridge is now a four-time Australian champion after winning the race in Singleton with his partner Kathrine Whalan. Antony will return to Finland to compete for he visited Sonkajärvi also in 2007.
Estonian championships @ Väike-Maarja
6th of July, 2009:
Last years’ world champs Alar Voogla & Kristi Viltrop won the annual preliminary race in Estonia. They’ll be travelling to Sonkajärvi to defend their victory.
 
This year the contest will be organised for the seventeeth time, for the fourteenth time on the world championship level in Sonkajärvi 3rd July 2010.
The idea of the Wife Carrying Competition is Sonkajärvi’s very own and, in spite of its humorous aspects, it has deep roots in the local history. In the late 1800’s there was in the area a brigand called Rosvo-Ronkainen, who is said to have accepted in this troops only those men who proved their worth on a challenging track. In those days, it was also a common practice to steal women from the neighbouring villages.
In addition to the product prize the world champions will receive the equivalent of the wife’s weight in beer, a bag full of wife carrying products and a statue with wife carrying motif.
The second and the third couple as well as the most entertaining couple, the best costume and the strongest carrier will be awarded with wife carrying products and statues.
Margo Uusorg and Birgit Ulricht from Estonia hold the Wife Carrying world record of 55.5 seconds. The Finnish record of 56,7 seconds is held by Jouni and Tiina Jussila from Raisio.
Along with the wife carrying world championships there is also a team and sprint competition.
In the team competition the track is the same as Wife Carrying World Championships but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink the official "wife carrying drink" before continuing the race. The winners receive wife carrying products and satatues. The team with best costumes will be awarded with wife carrying products and statues.
In the sprint competition the length of the track is 100 meters, and the surface of the track is partially sand and partially gravel. The track has a water obstacle, about one meter deep. The contestants run the qualification round 5 to10 couples at a time and the first three of each heat will continue in the next round until there are just three couples left to compete in the final. Winners will receive wife carrying products and statues.
For the public there will be a cheerleaders’ competition. Four to six persons form a group that takes part in the competition but they may have backers of their own with similar humour in the audience. The registration for the competition is done by filling in the participation form in the wife carrying web site.Wife carrying new web site are www.eukonkanto.fi, www.eukonkanto.com and www.wifecarrying.fi .
Sonkajärven Eukonkanto Oy - Wife Carrying Ltd
Rutakontie 21
FIN-74300 Sonkajärvi, Finland
eukonkanto@sonkajarvi.fi
tel. +358-(0)17-2727105
fax +358-(0)17-2727106
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Asiointi
