Australian Watermelon Skiing (and other watermelon related activities)

Every two years the Australian town of Chinchilla (300 kilometers from Brisbane) hosts a Watermelon Festival to honor the region’s most important agricultural product.

Normally, a watermelon fair might sound a tad boring, but leave it to the Aussies to celebrate in style. Take, for example, the Watermelon Head-butting Contest. This year local hero John Allwood smashed his noggin into 40 watermelons in 60 seconds, breaking the current World’s Record of 36.

Another record was broken when a father-son combination wheeled in the largest melon ever grown in Australia: 191 pounds.

There is also a pip spitting contest, a melon queen (no jokes, please), and a melon bungee. But, by far the most entertaining part of the festival is Watermelon Skiing. Contestants stick their feet into watermelons sliced in half and then try to ski down a slippery tarp.

You can check out some of the highlights on this video here (or more photos here), but if you want to go in person, you’ll have to wait until February 14, 2009 for the next one. That should give you plenty of time to practice your skiing.

(Thanks for the tip, Marilyn!)