Pipe Cleaner Festival

An extract from the book 40 Humourous British Traditions

Throughout the centuries the hobby of smoking a pipe has steadily declined. However, the usage for pipe cleaners has increased, largely because of the Kirby Muxloe Pipe Cleaner Festival.

A Pipe Cleaner is a strong metal wire covered in some material such as cotton, which can be easily bent into shapes or used to make sculptures.

At Kirby Muxloe this art form reaches its zenith on the 111^th day of the year, which is almost always April 21^st apart from in leap years. There are many different categories of pipe cleaner art. Competitors are allowed to colour their pipe cleaners before they begin their sculpture, but can’t change those colours once the sculpture is complete.