Later this month Penryn will play host to one of Cornwall's first ever Worm Charming Championships at Loveland near St Gluvias Church.

Organised by Georgia Gendall, the event is being held in connection with another local group show called 'Gathering' running at Grays Wharf from 29th May – 13th June.

Banned under the restrictions of Covid-19, 'Gathering' reflects a communal act of intimacy shared between people, site, and materials.

Worm charming, or worm grunting, and worm fiddling are words to describe the act of enticing earthworms to the surface of the earth.

As a skill and profession worm charming is now very rare, with the art being passed through generations to ensure that it survives.

Georgia is an artist based in Helston. Worms have been a focus within of Georgia's work for many years; from scanning a worm in B&Q to get the paint swatch of it and then painting the shed on her allotment the exact same colour as it to ceramic sculptures that act as subterranean monuments and meeting points.

Her interest in worms is partly a celebration of their hidden labour and partly an ongoing observation of their aesthetic and visceral absurdity.

In most competitions, the fiddlers with the collector (or collectors) of the most worms in a set time are declared as the winners.

They usually have a zone in which to perform their charming, measuring three yards square.

The current world record was established on June 29th, 2009, by 10-year-old Sophie Smith of Willaston, England, who raised 567 worms during Britain's World Worm Charming Championship.

There are 50 2 x 2 metre plots available, with teams of up to 4 people permitted, each team will work to collect as many worms as possible in 30 minutes.

A winner will then be declared. Charmed worms will be released after the birds have gone to roost on the evening of the event.

Click here to book a plot for your team at Cornwall's first ever worm charming competition at Loveland, Penryn, 2pm 27th June 2021.

[H3] See the latest news on our Twitter and Facebook pages. [.H2]