There's a wife-carrying competition in Alberta and beer is a prize
Alberta is known for some outrageous things, and one spot in the province holds an annual wife-carrying competition, with the winners receiving beer and cash as prizes.
The competition is held by the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society along with the Lakeland County Fair in northern Alberta.
Competitors run the race course two teams at a time, and the three fastest teams qualify for prizes. The course is 254/278 yards long and features dry and wet obstacles.
The winning team receives the wife’s weight in beer and five times her weight in cash, while the runner-up teams receive half or one-third of that amount.
Teammates are not required to be legally married and must be at least 20 years of age.
@llbtourism couples from across Alberta and Saskatchewan competed in the second annual wife carrying championship race at the Lakeland Country Fair today 🏃♀️🏆#explorealberta #goeastofedmonton #laclabicheregion #wifecarrying #wifecarryingrace ♬ Let’s Go – JAXSON GAMBLE
The first modern-day wife-carrying event was held in Finland in 1992 and is now held annually in Sonkajarvi, Finland, as the World Championship of Wife Carrying. A North American Championship was started in 1999 at Sunday River Resort in Maine. The North American Wife Carrying Championship has been held annually ever since.
Lac La Biche Agricultural Society
The Alberta Wife Carrying Championship was started in 2023 by the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society.
The society seems to be eyeing a new competition to get excited about come 2026, with a Lawn Mower Drag Race featuring a $100 cash prize in the works.
Lac La Biche Agricultural Society
Would you be interested in taking part in this wife-carrying competition? Let us know in the comments below.