The Lancashire and Cheshire Clog Dance Competitions were revived in 1977 by Sam Sherry and Alan Bell, and were hosted by Fylde Folk Festival until 2014.

There was originally just one competition, The Lancashire and Cheshire Clog Dance Championship, an ‘off the toe’ hornpipe routine. Competitors are required to perform 9 steps of their own choice, plus a final step comprising of only hopping double shuffles (step shuffle, hop shuffle) off alternate feet, with a two bar finish.

Over the years different competitions were introduced to encourage wider participation, helping keep our tradition alive as well as inspiring dancers to create new steps, making clog dancing a truly living tradition.

Sadly 2014 saw the final Fylde Folk Festival, so we took the opportunity to move the competitions to Queen Street Mill, and incorporate them into a weekend of Clog at the Mill.

In 2016 the clog competitions remained in East Lancashire, but moved to Pendle Heritage Centre as part of a Clog Dance Weekend.

The competitions moved to it’s new home, Clitheroe Castle, in 2023 and changed the format to incorporate Clitheroe Clogfest on the Saturday, ahead of the Clog Competitions on the Sunday. The name “Clogfest” was kindly gifted by Barbara & Paul Bentley, who are some of the remaining organisers of the fondly remembered Clogfest previously held in Skipton. Clitheroe Clogfest hopes to provide the same opportunities for the clog dancing community to come together, to share ideas and socialise, that we don’t tend to get in the wider folk scene.