| Where: | Cockermouth, Cumbria at the Maltings Building at Jennings Brewery(Formerly at Santon Bridge, Cumbria at the Bridge Inn) |
| When: | October (Formerly a Thursday in mid-November) |
| Time: | Formerly 7pm |
Former Wasdale pub landlord Will Ritson was a teller of tall tales and each year a competition was held in his memory, to see who could follow in his footsteps and produce a plausible but untrue and entertaining story with a time limit of five minutes. After a break of several years, the event is returning to Cumbria once again in 2026 at a new venue in the historic town of Cockermouth. There are outrageous lies and plenty of beer from Jennings, the brewers who organise the event. Politicians and lawyers are classed as professionals in the field and are barred from competing…. You can expect lots of laughs, some Cumbrian dialect which may be incomprehensible to you depending on where you hail from, and a few cracks at local politicians.
Helpful Hints
In 2026 the contest returns in October, full details yet to be confirmed but at a new venue, the Maltings Building at Jennings’ Brewery on Cockermouth.
Mendacity is a must for participants but anyone can go to be entertained; tickets may be purchased from Jennings in advance (it’s always a sell-out). You also got fed before the competition started – a traditional Cumbrian Tattie Pot supper when we visited which was delicious and included lamb and black pudding (vegetarian lasagne was also available on request). There’s a Jennings beer named after the competition and John recommends it!
The photos are from when we went to Santon Bridge.
Click here for Jennings’ website: http://www.jenningsbrewery.co.uk/
I nominate Jacqueline StaCruz Cabasag as undoubtedly the biggest liar still living
Had I known about this contest earlier, I surely would nominate my Mother.
Her name is Barbara Ebbink. She has to be the worlds biggest liar, but the thing is she believes it all to be true. She could easily win this title hands down.
all women are like that
Sorry, my typing is rubbish, it’s Lassut
Frankie Lassut.
I even have a tale about Joss Naylor but it’s true.
I hope you all remember Joss, an old mate of mine.
We’ve just been to the Lake District, and went to the Wasdale Head Inn. I think this competition used to be held there, as there is a sign on one of the doors, saying the inn is the home of the World’s Biggest Liar, and in one of the bars there is a framed winner’s certificate.
Wasdale is a wonderful place; I thought Wastwater one of the most beautiful places we saw in the Lakes.
My friend seems to be a perfect fit for this, can’t give his name cause he’s probably lying.
I nominate Jay Jung Hun Lee who is a young earth creationist. He is very good at making up a false evidences against evolution and other fields of science.
At first I thought that he just didn’t know science at all. However, as I see more of his youtube video, I easily found that he was copying and pasting only the specific parts(including joking) of the talk and manipulate them.
He is the best lier I ever seen in the world.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001099602991&fref=ts
Oh btw, he also is go by “Finger of Thomas”
http://www.fingerofthomas.org
My name is Spartacus I entered the completion last year and I have a complaint to make there was nowhere for me to land my helicopter
I nominate journalists
They are good at lying and creating stories.
And, like lawyers and politicians, they should be barred from this competition.
I think there should be a special one-off contest between Boris Johnson and Sergei Lavrov. They are both stunning, heavyweight, world-class liars.