NEXT FLITCH TRIALS
Saturday 13 July 2024
only 116 days to go
 
 
Tickets for the 2024 Trials are now on sale - click here

BBC Radio Essex Presenter Attends Flitch Ball

Sadie Nine, the BBC radio Essex Presenter and Dunmow Flitch Trials Counsel in 2022 and again this year, attended the Flitch Ball in the Foakes Hall on 10th February 2024.

Along with over 100 other people, Sadie enjoyed a 3 course dinner before dancing the night away to local Dunmow band The Jjars.

The Flitch Ball was a colourful and lively fundraising evening to kick-start the Flitch Trials of 2024.

Sadie Nine at the Flitch Ball 2024

WELCOME TO THE DUNMOW FLITCH TRIALS™

The Dunmow Flitch Trials™ exist to award a flitch of bacon to married couples from anywhere in the world, if they can satisfy the Judge and Jury of 6 maidens and 6 bachelors that in 'twelvemonth and a day', they have 'not wisht themselves unmarried again'.

A reference to The Dunmow Flitch can even be found in The Wife of Bath's Tale within Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales.

The Flitch Trials are held every 4 years in Great Dunmow, Essex, England. The town is located north-east of London, just off the A120 between the M11 at Stansted Airport and Colchester: view a map

We must ensure that this unique local tradition continues for hundreds more years. So if you haven't seen or heard of the Dunmow Flitch Trials before, take a browse through this website, then come and watch the trials.

For more info, to volunteer or sponsor the Flitch Trials, please get in touch.

The Flitch Trials are about Marriage. Hopefully, happy marriages. High Court Judge Sir Paul Coleridge launched The Marriage Foundation in 2012. Sir Paul's wise words make us think that especially, in these austere times, less is actually more: 'Marriage is not something that falls out of the sky, ready made, onto beautiful people in white linen suits,' says Sir Paul, 'It involves endless hard work, compromises, forgiveness and love.'

Like us on Facebook

^ Back to top

What's a Flitch of Bacon?
It's also known as a side of bacon, which is basically half a pig, cut lengthways, cured & smoked.
2024 Flitch Trials
The big day is getting closer:
Find out more...
Claim the Bacon
Applications for couples wishing to enter the Trials in 2024 are now closed. For further enquiries, please get in touch...
Become a Friend
As a Friend of the Flitch Trials, you will be helping to secure the future of this unique and ancient tradition. Every four years, the cost and complexity of putting on the Flitch Trials increases. With your support we can increase the network of people interested in preserving the custom and developing the event to ensure the Flitch Trials continues to be a mainstay on the town's event calendar.
Find out more...