If the above headline makes no sense to you, it’s because you’re unfamiliar with the tradition of egg rolling. This is a game played around Easter in which children roll hard-boiled eggs down a big hill. The reason you’ve never heard of it is because it’s localised to Scotland and the Lancashire city of Preston.
It’s hitting the news now, because PETA have stepped in to ask that we use potatoes instead of eggs. And as a Prestonian myself, I want to say this is the worst thing to ever happen to someone in the Easter period (barring the crucifixion, of course).
PETA is urging a city council to “modernise” their famous Easter egg roll – by swapping traditional hens’ eggs for dyed potatoes.https://t.co/pdCFY6vRaE
— ITV Granada Reports (@GranadaReports) March 31, 2026
The spud, the bad, and the eggly
Wikipedia notes the following about egg rolling:
In Lancashire there are annual egg rolling competitions at Holcombe Hill near Ramsbottom and Avenham Park in Preston. Egg rolling has been a tradition at Avenham Park for hundreds of years, but in recent years chocolate eggs have been used.
We were already using chocolate eggs when I grew up in the 90’s, so this is nothing new. If it rained, we used to roll them down the stairs at home. When I grew up, I was baffled to learn that most people eat their chocolate eggs without first rolling them down some sort of incline.
Wikipedia adds:
Traditionally, the eggs were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to give them a mottled, gold appearance (although today they usually are painted), and the children competed to see who could roll their egg the farthest. There is an old Lancashire legend that says the broken eggshells should be crushed carefully afterward, or these would be stolen and used as boats by witches.
No one believes the above now, of course, because it’s well known Preston witches build their boats from fiberglass.
Getting to the story at hand, Blog Preston reported:
An animal rights organisation has urged Preston City Council to swap eggs for dyed potatoes for the annual tradition of egg-rolling.
People have been visiting Avenham Park to roll eggs down the hill for more than 150 years and thousands of people attend every year.
But PETA has written to Preston City Council urging them to switch eggs for dyed ‘Easter potatoes’ – despite the majority of people now rolling chocolate eggs rather than boiled eggs.
In PETA’s own words:
Children love animals and would be sad to learn that the eggs used for fun and games at Preston’s egg rolling event come from tormented hens who live miserable lives on Britain’s farms.
Easter should be a time of renewal and joy for all sentient beings – and that means hens, too.
There are a couple of problems with PETA’s stance. The first is they’re several decades too late, because people mostly use chocolate eggs now. The second is there are no inspectors checking attendees’ eggs to ensure they’re up to code. People just rock up and roll; it’s incredibly informal like that.
As Preston City Council said:
The event does not prescribe the type of egg to be rolled, and visitors have the choice as to what they roll down the hill.
This isn’t the first time that PETA has attached itself to a baffling campaign anyway:
Dear @peta
As the parent of a child with Autism, kindly get in the bin.
What is your issue with people who are neurodivergent?
This is next level ableism and flat out lies. pic.twitter.com/G8gvVgsRhE
— Alex Tiffin (@RespectIsVital) January 5, 2021
If you’ve read this and would like to know more about Preston, our other big controversy is that historians keep asking our promoters stop claiming Toto wrote their smash hit Africa in one of our nightclubs. We’re also the birthplace of R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker (RIP).
Featured image via Visit Preston
By Willem Moore
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