Saturday, October 5, 2024 In the heart of England’s picturesque South West, Ottery St Mary comes alive each November 5th with a spectacle that harks back to the 17th century. Known as the Tar Barrels festival, this fiery tradition sees the town’s locals and numerous visitors gather in anticipation of a night lit by burning barrels carried through the streets. Ottery St Mary, famous worldwide for this unique event, sees each of its central pubs sponsor a barrel.
These barrels, steeped in tar for weeks leading up to the event, are set ablaze outside the pubs. Once alight, daring participants—known affectionately as the ‘Barrel Rollers’—hoist them onto their backs and shoulders, parading through the town’s narrow streets to the cheers of the thronged spectators. The festival begins in the afternoon with lighter barrels for women and boys, but as dusk falls and night takes over, the barrels grow heavier, some weighing upwards of 30 kilos by midnight.
The atmosphere is electric, with a camaraderie that spans generations of families who proudly take part in the barrel carrying, vying for the honor of leading the procession. Throughout the town, participants bearing flaming barrels weave their way between active pubs and locations of former ones. The event culminates in the town square with the evening’s highlight—a massive barrel, affectionately termed the Midnight Barrel, marking the festive climax.
This event, deeply rooted in tradition, draws as many as 15,000 .