Its origins have been lost to history, but this weekend some hardy Ayrshire souls will tackle a unique tradition – and all to win a ham.

The greasy pole challenge in Irvine sees teams attempt to scale a 25ft (7.6m) wooden pole that is lathered in grease, before unhooking a ham from barbed wire at the top.

The curious spectacle dates back more than 100 years and is a key part of the area’s Marymass festival – a 12-day celebration of free shows, fireworks and live music.

Dillon Green, who works with the festival’s two organising committees, told BBC Scotland the greasy pole has an appeal which is unique to the area.

Last year the prize went unclaimed, and Mr Green, 30, is optimistic that a winner will claw their way to the top at the event on Saturday.

“Back in the day the ham was to feed the poor of the town,” he explains.

“Guys would climb the pole, win the ham and then share it out among the town.

“Now when someone wins they’ll go around the festival site or some of the local pubs with the tarpaulin from the ham, and collect donations for good causes.

“It goes back at least 100 years but we don’t know exactly how far back it goes, or exactly how it started.”

Saturday marks the main day of the overall festival, including a large parade, horse racing, live jousting and a funfair. But the greasy pole arguably towers above all.

Last year marked the challenge’s return after a five-year hiatus, partially due to events being cancelled during the Covid pandemic and then due to organisers having issues with insurance costs.

“There was uproar when it didn’t go ahead in 2022 and 2023,” admits Mr Green, an Irvine native who works in a gift shop by day.

“We had to switch off our phones as we were getting so many notifications coming in from angry people.

“It is a focal point of the festival and it is something unique to Irvine – Kaleb Cooper from the Clarkson’s Farm TV show mentioned it in one of his books as being one of the most unique events in the whole country.”

The Marymass website settles on “iconic” as a description for the challenge, although Mr Green told BBC Scotland News there is one area for improvement.

“We haven’t a women’s team compete since the 90s, it’s usually men who try it.

“The usual tactic is to scale the pole on top of one another to retrieve the ham.

“Most of the work is just getting up the pole, but once there you have to get the wire off too – that’s used to tie the ham to the pole, and it’s covered in shrink wrap.”

The uniqueness of the event is part of the appeal, during a busy couple of weeks in the Ayrshire region.

Gala days and weeks occur in areas throughout Scotland, all with their own customs, and Marymass is one of the most successful.

Mr Green estimates lines several people deep will form along the streets during the Saturday parade that follows the crowning of the Marymass queen.

More than 7,500 people attended a fireworks display on Irvine Moor earlier in August – a record crowd, helped by the recent good weather.

He believes the overall festival – which dates back to the Middle Ages – remains something that can draw a community together, even hundreds of years after it’s inception.

“There remains such an appetite for the festival, It’s almost something that’s in your blood here,” he said.

“I remember my papa would have us up at six in the morning to see the first horse boxes arriving. It’s always something I’ve wanted to get involved in.

“It was originally a horse fair, and we’ve tried to keep that tradition while bringing in modern elements, but things like the greasy pole, the horse racing, and jousting are part of that history.”

Believed to have started in 1372 as a religious festival, many of the modern Marymass elements like the crowning of a queen are dated to the 1920s.

Mr Green is a member of both the Irvine Carters’ Society and the Marymass Festival Committee, the two groups that run the festival.

The event is something Mr Green hopes will continue for many years to come, even in a rapidly changing world.

“The world has changed a lot, but Marymass has been here long before us and hopefully, with hard work, it will be here for many years more.

“We are just the custodians of it for now.”