Overview
- The Greasy Pole competition began Friday, June 26, and local coverage reported Max Allen as an early winner in the first rounds.
- Contestants run across a roughly 40–45-foot telephone pole mounted on a 12-by-12-foot platform about 200 yards off Pavilion Beach and try to grab a flag at the far end before falling into the water.
- The pole is coated in biodegradable grease plus items such as banana peels, eggs and fish guts, which make the surface extremely slippery and produce dramatic falls captured widely on social media.
- Friday and Saturday competitors are chosen by an annual lottery and the contest follows a courtesy round then multiple elimination rounds, with Sunday reserved for past champions, protégés and Saturday’s winner.
- St. Peter’s Fiesta is a near-century-old religious and community festival celebrating Gloucester’s fishing and Italian-American heritage and it concludes with a parade of winners and awards Sunday evening.