The Tournament of Tomfoolery returns after six years, and this time it’s on a grand stage indoors.
After a successful Crowdfunding campaign, The Chap Olympiad is set to return to the London circuit in 2025 – but this time in the Winter.
The very first Chap Winter Olympiad will take place on Saturday 8th November at Hamilton Hall, London, the setting for last year’s Grand Silver Jubilee Ball. How will a traditionally outdoor event work in an indoor setting, you may well ask?
The generously proportioned stage at Hamilton Hall will be covered in Astroturf, upon which the Chap Olympians will take part in a series of games specially designed for the location. Old favourites such as Cucumber Sandwich Discus and Not Playing Tennis will return, and other events from the Summer roster that can be adapted to an indoor setting. Ironing Board Surfing, alas, will not prove practicable. However, a full roster of new events will be showcased, based on the Winter Olympics.
Expect Chappish variations on Bobsleigh, Curling, Ice Hockey, Nordic Skiing and Figure Skating. Registration for each event will be much the same as at previous Chap Olympiads: one simply turns up, visits the registration table and chooses the events one wishes to participate in. One is then assigned a number, valid for any events entered, which is carefully taped to one’s back. Naturally, novelty costumes and character outfits are enthusiastically encouraged. The dress code for those purely attending to spectate will be strict but anarcho-dandiacally broad: anything as long as it is absurdly formal, precisely vintage or decadently glamorous.
Master of Ceremonies and commentator on all the events will be the living legend that is Tristan Langlois, host of nearly every Chap Olympiad held in Bedford Square Gardens and Goodwood Revival in the past. Tristan has been persuaded out of self-imposed exile to revisit his key role in the tournament of tomfoolery. Other familiar faces will be attending to the Chap Olympians signing up to take part; all in all it will just like the Old Days, but with the added frisson of an indoor location.
Those wondering how a Chap Olympiad can possibly take place without the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic Pipe need fret no more. The Olympic Pipe has been carefully stored in a special sealed container at CHAP HQ, and will be lit on the steps of Hamilton Hall before the games commence, then passed, according to tradition, around all the registered contestants for them to take a motivating puff.
This will be the first of many Chap Winter Olympiads, but for those who prefer a Summer setting, we have much in store for you too. The Summer of 2026 will see The Chap’s traditional outdoor tournament take place at a bucolic new venue whose rhododendron bushes are already being watered in anticipation.
Tickets for the first Chap Winter Olympiad may be acquired individually, or in groups of four, six and twelve on a table with bottles of chilled champagne. There will be a restaurant available for pre-event dining.
Join us for this inaugural winter and watch unsporting history being made!
