Oh what a beauty! How the mangelwurzel is making a comeback

A forgotten vegetable once viewed as peasant or livestock food is enjoying an unlikely comeback in Somerset as a festival in its honour takes place this weekend.

More than 100 people across seven villages between Glastonbury and Bridgwater are now growing mangelwurzels, the bright red root crop crossed between beetroot, sugar beet and chard.

The Great Polden Hills Mangelwurzel Day will see vegetables judged in categories like 'Biggest Girth', 'Best Looking Legs', and looking 'Most like Donald Trump'.

Event founder Beverley Finnegan said: "What started as a challenge between friends to grow the biggest mangelwurzel has, eight months later, become a festival with hundreds of locals involved."

Finnegan, who lives in Chilton Polden, said: "I'm a big veggie fan and always really bored with the supermarket offerings.

"After spotting seeds for sale online I decided to give growing them a go and word spread to my neighbours."

Before she knew it she had 190 members signed up to her dedicated Facebook page.

The inaugural Mangelwurzel Day at Edington Village Hall will also feature a performance by Glastonbury folklore band Savage Sisters who have written a song all about the wonderfully wonky vegetable.

There will also be mangelwurzel hurling and food and drink made from the bulbous root and the leaves.

Sam Charlesworth, who is the chair of the hall, said: "This festival has grown its own legs and roots and leaves and gone very bonkers.

"It's been six months in the making and turned into this beast.

"I'm incredibly proud of it because it's taken that community spirit that we all love and has really grown. We celebrate Somerset."

Proceeds from The Great Polden Hills Mangelwurzel Day will raise money for the village hall and a charity called Seed of Hope, a not for profit organisation that helps people with mental health problems through therapeutic gardening.

• A large root vegetable related to beetroot, sugar beet and chard.

• Traditionally grown for both people and livestock.

• Known for its unusual shapes and ability to reach enormous sizes.

• First developed in the 18th Century as a high-yield fodder crop.

• Hardy enough to thrive in the British climate and store for months after harvest.

• Once an important crop during times of food shortages.

• Fully edible, with roots and leafy tops both used in cooking.

• Has strong links to Somerset culture and traditions.

• Inspired the name of West Country folk band The Wurzels.

• Hollowed-out mangelwurzels are still traditionally carved with faces and carried on Punkie Night celebrations in Hinton St George.

• Also associated with traditional West Country competitions and events such as mangelwurzel hurling.

The people of Somerset aren't the only ones to jump on the mangelwurzel craze.

They were featured in the Great Pavilion at this year's Chelsea Flower Show after attracting attention on social media.

A mangelwurzel was even used in a 2025 ad campaign featuring Hollywood actor Timothée Chalamet.

Both Finnegan and Charlesworth hope the festival will become an annual tradition.

When asked if she hopes mangelwurzels will soon be stocked by supermarkets Finnegan said: "It's a bit confronting as a vegetable and it does grow to be really huge.

"I'm not sure it would ever be really popular, I'm quite happy for it to remain a niche thing."

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