World Custard Pie Throwing Championship
Coxheath has the distinction of being the original home of the World Custard Pie Throwing Championship, the inaugural event of which was held in the village on June 24, 1967. Councillor Mike Fitzgerald, who founded the championships (and latterly served as Mayor of Maidstone in 2006/7), originally organised the event to raise money to build a village hall and was inspired by the Charlie Chaplin comedy film Behind the Screen. More than 80 teams threw custard pies at each other during its heyday dressed in Victorian Era style costumes or the latest fashion style at that time. In its early days only men were allowed to join as they thought it was unacceptable for women to join in. Before long worldwide teams homed in on the act coming from Japan, Canada, Finland and Germany. The winners of the Custard Pie Trophy were usually women. This tradition came to an end in 1982 at Coxheath when Councillor Fitzgerald moved to Ditton taking the championships with him, and it died out in 1988 after the trophy was lost and never found. However, the competition was revived on the 6th of June 2007, and it has been held annually in Coxheath ever since.
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