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It’s the last Monday in May on Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire, England, and I’m standing on a frighteningly steep slope, ready to watch 25 daredevils hurl themselves down after a wheel of cheese.
This is the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling.
“One to be ready!” calls out the master of ceremonies at the top of the hill.
“Two to be steady!”
The competitors, laser-focused on the route ahead, steel themselves for the descent. As for me, spectating on the side, my shoes are sinking into loose dirt and I’m hoping I can stay upright long enough to photograph them.
“Three for the cheese!”
At this point, the master of ceremonies throws out a seven-pound Double Gloucester cheese, wrapped in red and blue ribbons. That cheese may reach speeds of 70 miles per hour before it hits the finish line.
“Four to be off!”
And with that, the men leap off the hilltop and race down — slipping, falling, somersaulting, and getting up again before they’re taken down a second, a third, a fourth time.
Not one of them will catch the cheese. Nobody ever catches the cheese.
This blog post was published in May 2026, based on attending the cheese rolling in May 2026.
The Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling is an epic event that has been taking place for at least a few centuries. On the UK’s spring bank holiday (the last Monday in May), people line up to watch people hurl themselves down the steepest hill in the region, vying to chase the cheese.
Contrary to popular relief, they are not trying to catch the cheese. It’s a race to the finish line.
(And for most competitors, the finish line is where they are grabbed and tackled by a local rugby player so they don’t end up running into the crowd.)
So how did this crazy event start? Nobody knows for sure, but there are plenty of theories out there. Some speculate the tradition has pagan roots and was a celebration of the beginning of the summer.
You should know that despite its fame, the Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling is technically an unofficial event, due to the safety risk. Broken bones are common. In 2025, the hospital sent multiple land ambulances and one air ambulance for victims.
And because of this, there is no official organizer, as they would have to take responsibility for the injuries. Consequently, there isn’t an organized safety plan, either — just written warnings that you put yourself at risk by taking part of this race or even by being a spectator.
There are several rounds of races: four downhill races (three for men and one for women, as some people say, because men are three times more stupid than women), and three much safer uphill racers: for kids (under 11s and age 11-17) as well as mixed adults.
So what does the winner get? The first person to cross the finish line gets to keep the cheese. And, you know, the ETERNAL GLORY that comes with winning!
And the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling got a lot more famous in the last few years, when it was featured in the first episode of the Netflix documentary We Are The Champions. My husband Charlie and I loved the episode so much, we immediately decided to attend it ourselves!
Cooper’s Hill is located in the town of Brockworth in Gloucestershire, England. The two closest main cities are Gloucester and Cheltenham, which are easily accessible by bus.
To get to Brockworth, you can either drive or take public transportation. For driving, street parking is strictly prohibited, but there is parking available behind the Toby Carvery, costing 10 pounds for the day. This is right across from the entrance to the public footpath leading to Cooper’s Hill.
For public transportation, there are two main bus lines that run from Cheltenham down the A46 (Painswick Road/Shurdington Road), which has a bus stop right at the public footpath leading to Cooper’s Hill. These bus lines are the 10 and 166.
Yes — there is a footpath. This is important.
If you ask Google Maps how to get to Cooper’s Hill, it will take you from the A46 up Green Street, a very steep and extremely narrow street, eventually leading you to the hill. It will get you there, but it’s a longer, steeper, and less pleasant journey.
Instead, take the Cooper’s Hill Footpath, which is about three quarters of a mile and mostly uphill. It takes around 30 minutes, but expect it to take longer on the day of the cheese rolling.
The entrance to the Cooper’s Hill Footpath is located to the right of the Shell Station in Brockworth. You can see the sign above.
This is a link to the exact spot on Google Maps.
There is only one Shell station in Brockworth, but just know it’s across from the Toby Carvery and the Subway. And the 10 and 166 buses drop you off at this intersection.
How early should you get there? We got to the footpath entrance at 9:45 AM and were on the hill by 10:20 AM. It worked out, but I think leaving 20 minutes earlier for a 10:00 AM arrival would have been optimal.
Guess what — even if you’re only going as a spectator, you will be climbing uphill as well! Cooper’s Hill is just one hill perched on a series of hills.
Once you start on the footpath, you’ll be walking along a flat area next to farmland. Up next, there may be a bottleneck at the gate, as only one person can go through at a time. When walking through the gate, you climb over a rock.
And from there, it’s time to climb, climb, climb up the first of a few hills. The terrain is steep but mostly smooth, though once you get higher, there might be some gnarlier pathways.
(And if it’s a rainy or recently rainy day, expect there to be a lot of mud.)
There isn’t much shade along the route, though you’ll hit some trees closer to the top. This is a good spot to catch your breath.
The good news is that the scenery is absolutely stunning along the way, especially if you get a sunny day like I did.
The bad news is that this path is not accessible to wheelchair users or people with mobility difficulties.
Frankly, I’m not sure if wheelchair users can attend this event in any form, though it would probably be easier for all people with mobility difficulties to avoid the footpath and get dropped off on the road as close to the top as possible. Keep in mind that this road too is very steep.
As soon as you reach the bottom of Cooper’s Hill itself, get ready for pandemonium! Everyone is clamoring for a good spot on either side of the hill.
We arrived on site at about 10:20 AM. Just before getting to the base, there were a few people selling water, ice cream, and a few food items, shouting that this was the last chance to get any food or drink. Further on, there are people selling cheese rolling merch, mostly t-shirts and hats.
We even came across a man giving away free samples of Double Gloucester cheese!
And then comes the hard part — where is the best place to watch the cheese-rolling?
From what I read beforehand, it’s better to watch closer to the bottom than the top. You get a better vantage point that way. And with my goal of getting photos and videos of the event, I decided to stay relatively close to the bottom and stand on the left side (as seen from the bottom of the hill).
Things were more complicated because it was a sunny day. The left side was in the shade, but part of the right side was right in the sun, and looked like it would be miserable standing there on such a hot day (it was a record-breaking 31 C or 88 F that day).
Now this became the toughest part of the day: climbing the side of the hill. I hadn’t realized just how difficult it would be!
The hill was covered with dry dirt, with a thick layer of leaves on top of it. It was like climbing scree on a mountain — every time I put my foot down, it would sink behind me, and I couldn’t get a good grip.
Before long, I was climbing with my hands as well as my feet, getting so much dirt under my fingernails. I reached out for trees to hold onto.
Unfortunately, I lost my sunglasses on this climb. I knew the general area where I had lost them and ordinarily I would have retraced my steps, but it was so steep and so covered with leaves that I just decided to leave them.
Charlie and I immediately sat down in a spot about 20 feet from the orange fence creating the spectator section, but I moved to the edge just before the races to photograph them.
And while Charlie and I had traction where we were sitting, there was almost no traction where I ended up by the edge. I would switch back and forth between sitting and standing, using the fence to hold myself up.
Eventually, I stood on a tiny tuft of grass, and believe me — for 90 minutes, my feet held onto that tuft for dear life!
But then came the races. And while each of them were over in seconds, it was so exhilarating being surrounded by people, cheering for the competitors, chanting, “Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!” and watching them do the most uncomfortable-looking flips and slides you’ve ever seen!
All in pursuit of cheesy glory.
This year, German YouTuber Tom Kopke won the first men’s race for the third year in a row. He beat Chris Anderson, a local legend who holds the Guinness world record: 23 wins between 2005 and 2022. Anderson actually came out of retirement to run again this year.
And Anderson’s son William was the boy winner of the Under 10s race! Ariadne won the Under 10s for the girls, while the older kids’ race winners were Xander (also part of the Anderson family) and Dotty.
The women’s race was won by Alix Heugas from France. The other men’s races were won by Niels of the Netherlands and Otto of Florida in the US (am I surprised Florida Man won a race like this? NOT ONE BIT!).
And let’s not forget the mixed adults uphill race — Jamie won for the men, and Ariel Dempsey for the women. And they’re both local.
The Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling is one of the most difficult-to-photograph events I’ve ever experienced. More difficult than Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Songkran in Thailand, Up Helly Aa in Shetland.
You will be shooting people at breakneck speeds, so you’ll need to optimize your camera settings. Either shoot in sports mode, if your camera gives you that option, or shoot at a shutter speed of 1/1000 or faster in order for it not to be a blurry mess. Make sure your focus settings are correct, as well.
Use a good zoom lens, but you don’t need a safari-like wildlife lens. My lens went from 17-70, and I was happy with the length.
If all you have is a smartphone, you will definitely get photos, but it’s tough to get good ones — especially at a distance. It’s easy for everything to end up looking grainy and blurry.
Unfortunately, as any photographer knows, sunny weather conditions make things far more complicated. At noon on the very sunny day when the race started, half the hill was in sunlight and half was in shade.
This made it exceptionally difficult to get the light right — in most of my photos, half of the photo is blown out too bright, and the other half is way too dark.
Unfortunately, a lot of my photos were not salvageable — but I did the best I could with what I had.
One last thing — a few friends asked if I brought my Insta360 camera, which I love and use often on my travels. I didn’t use it for the Cheese Rolling because the camera is best for selfies and close-up shots with a cool background. It’s not a camera I would recommend for an event like this.
I was glad I was sitting in my position at 10:30 AM — the fanfare began at 10:40 AM with a woman carrying a maypole, followed by a drummer and a group of dancers, each of them twirling with handkerchiefs in their hand. One of them held up the cheese, wrapped in its blue and red ribbons.
That was it for the pre-festivities. The race started at 12:00 noon sharp, and races took place every 15 minutes, alternating between the downhill and uphill races.
This is the schedule:
And once it’s over, everyone just leaves. Since I was standing next to the fence, I just hopped it and trotted down the hill.
The most important thing is to dress for the weather. I attended the cheese rolling in 2026, which sadly was a record-breaking day for heat in the UK in May, with temperatures hitting 31 C (88 F).
Because of that, I dressed lightly but for sun protection. I wore a light merino wool dress from Wool&, topped it with a long-sleeved light button-down I bought in Bristol, and added a baseball cap. I also wore plenty of sunscreen.
(FYI: Don’t be shocked if you see a lot of Brits dressed skimpily and turning bright red. Soaking up every bit of sun you can is a national pastime. But I urge you not to do this. It’s a good way to end up burned and miserable.)
Know that the weather is often cool and rainy, and the hills get VERY muddy. If this is the case on the day you’re attending, dress warmly and wear a hooded raincoat (much easier than climbing with an umbrella) and rain pants.
Wear good sneakers, ideally hiking sneakers. You’ll be climbing a steep hill with very uneven terrain. And once you get to the actual Cooper’s Hill, you’ll be standing on a steep hill of loose dirt if it’s a dry day, or a lot of mud if it’s a wet day.
Bring a water bottle — and perhaps a bit of food. Water is essential, especially if it’s hot out. I ate a decent-sized breakfast and didn’t feel the need for food, but you may want some. Protein bars are great for sudden hunger pangs!
Bring a waterproof picnic blanket or something to sit on. Everyone was sitting in the dirt and everyone had telltale dirt marks on their butts by the end of the day. (Except for me. Charlie told me every bit of dirt on my Wool& dress brushed right off!) If it’s a rainy or muddy day, you’ll want something waterproof.
Don’t forget wet wipes. I was constantly brushing dirt off my hands and scraping dirt out from beneath my fingernails. Wet wipes would have been heaven-sent.
A walking stick would have been helpful. Not just for climbing the hill at the beginning, but for holding yourself in place while standing on that steep hill during the competition.
A backpack is easier to carry than a purse. Keep in mind you’ll likely be climbing the hill on your hands and knees.
So you actually want to enter the cheese rolling? Well, okay! Understand that you are risking grave injury and it’s not uncommon for people to break bones at this competition.
Here’s something that gets left out of the Cooper’s Hill cheese rolling coverage: not everyone who plans to race actually gets to race. There are four downhill races — three for men, one for women — and they are each capped at 25 participants.
In 2026, more than 250 people showed up wanting to race. Inevitably, it led to disappointment.
If you want to race, show up at the top of the hill and make yourself known to the organizers. I would recommend getting there by 10:00 AM at the latest.
And if you don’t get to race, you’ll be allowed to run down the hill independently at the end. Plenty of would-be entrants did that instead.
And be sure to dress for hurling yourself down a hill. Dress comfortably for athletic activity. Some of the more serious competitors wore athletic onesies, and they looked very comfortable.
You may want to wear a helmet — plenty of people wore them. Wear shoes that are tightly fastened to your feet; a bunch of racers lost shoes along the way.
And please don’t carry a camera while running. Everyone who did that looked ridiculous and really struggled. If anything, wear a GoPro with a chest strap so your hands are free.
Do people wear costumes for the cheese rolling? Only a few did. Apparently someone wears Borat’s mankini every year. This year he had shorts on over it. BRING BACK THE FULL MANKINI!
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