MANITOU SPRINGS — For nearly three decades, folks have flocked to Manitou Springs during the last Saturday of January to fling, chuck, and let fly one infamous holiday confection that often goes uneaten, the fruitcake.
This year, the National Day Calendar, a group that curates and distributes calendars including many (if not all) of the unique, quirky national days, proclaimed Manitou Springs as the official destination for National Fruitcake Toss Day.
According to event organizers, the Great Fruitcake Toss traces its origins back to 1996; where, in an attempt to draw folks to town for a fun, post-holiday event, a group of individuals decided to head outdoors and start hurling their uneaten/unwanted fruitcakes leftover from the festive season.
The rest is history.
Over the years, the sweet-loaf-lobbing event has evolved to include competitions of balance, accuracy, strength and even taste.
Enthusiasts are presented with:
- Obstacle courses
- Chances to achieve the farthest-flung cake
- Sets of rings and targets to aim cakes at
- Chances at achieving the best-tasting fruitcake
The event welcomes folks to bring their own fruitcake for tossing (given that it meets weight requirements), the event also provides a set of rental cakes for folks who can't bring their own.
Cakes baked for the event are made by the Community Congregational Church of Manitou Springs and include no preservatives. That way, after the event is done, the cakes made for the event can be donated to, "SunMountain so they can be fed to their resident animals..."
The event also serves as a food drive, with entrants encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for the Manitou Springs Community Pantry. Each canned item equals a single event ticket, with a max of 10 tickets per family. Additional throws can also be purchased for $1.
More information on this wild Manitou Springs tradition can be found on the Great Fruitcake Toss website.
_____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
