Challenge Stage at Harewood House

Are you Man (or Woman) enough to take it on?!?

There are laughs throughout the day with our Men (or Women) v Food challenges on the Challenge Stage. Any adult over 18 can take part as long as you sign the disclaimer and are up for a laugh!

The challenges start off gentle and get harder throughout the day. The first challenge is at 11:30 with Pairs vs Treat which is a dessert-based challenge where Pairs of competitors compete against other pairs to be first to finish platefuls of delicious goodies. At 12:30, as we head to lunchtime, the huge sausages are cooked and our Men v Meat competition kicks off. Want to see a grown man cry? Then the Challenge Stage is the place to be for our Chilli Challenge at 2:30pm. It's hard to watch and harder for our contestants to stomach - but whatever happens it’s great entertainment. We'll take our contestants from a Jalapeno all the way to the World’s Hottest Chillis - if they can handle it! Only one will walk away as the victor!!

It's only a fiver to enter each of the challenges and every penny will go to Charity. Sign up at the Challenge Stage on the day – be quick though as there is only a limited number of spaces for each event. As well as prestige, the winner of each challenge will win one of our coveted T-Shirts!

In between all that, on the Challenge Stage at 1:30 we taste and judge the cakes entered for our Cake Off. This is free to taste, free to enter and you even get into the festival for free if you enter a cake! Find out more and enter

The Challenge Stage Schedule

Jam-packed throughout the day (subject to change though, so check on the day!)

11.30am – Pairs v Food (Treat)... Teams of two take on our dessert-based challenge

12pm – Cheese-off

12:30pm – Men v Food (Meat)…the big sausage eating contest!

1pm – GB Cheese Off Taste & Vote!

1:30pm – Cake Off... Taste & judge cakes

2:30pm – Men v Food (Heat)… hot, hot, hotter! Chilli eating challenge.

The Challenges


11:30am Treat Challenge

Teams of two take on a mammoth sweet treat… with a nice little twist.


12:30pm Sausage & Cider Challenge

Competitors aim to eat a yard of sausage and down a pint of cider faster than anyone else.


2:30pm Chilli Challenge

Hot, hot and hotter. If it gets too hot there is a pint of milk (then you're out!). Medics will be on hand.