Red Bull Up The Mast returns to the Barbican

Plymouth's waterfront is about to get a bit slippery. Red Bull Up The Mast is back on the Barbican for its final stop of the 2026 season, and if you've never seen it, the premise is hard to beat: a greased pole, a flag at the top, and a lot of people falling into the water.

The event lands on Saturday 26 September, running from midday to 4.30pm at The Barbican and Sutton Harbour. The whole thing is a nod to the centuries-old Turkish tradition of Yağlı Direk, or 'greased pole', and it's turned into a proper spectacle over the last couple of years. Around 200 competitors line up to test their speed, balance and nerves, sprinting up a greased mast to snatch the flag at the tip. The rules are simple: whoever grabs the flag moves on to the next round, whoever doesn't is out. Only the fastest and safest climber makes it to the final, where one person is crowned Plymouth Champion 2026.

It's worth a bit of background to see how it got here. The competition made its UK debut in 2024 in the northern waters of St Andrews, Scotland, where Graham Mutch took the first title. The following year it moved down to the Devon coast, drawing record numbers of spectators and participants, and it was a local, Jack Plummer, who walked away with it after two tense final rounds. That's the kind of home-town victory the crowd gets behind.

For anyone thinking of having a go, entry is open to over-18s, and you'll need to register through the Red Bull Up The Mast website. If you'd rather watch from dry land, spectator entry is free, which makes it an easy one to drop into for the afternoon.

And because it's on the Barbican, you're not far from plenty else if you want to make a day of it. The Barbican itself is one of the oldest parts of the city, with buildings dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries that survived the Second World War, and it's the last departure point of the Pilgrim Fathers, marked by the Mayflower Steps. Next door, Sutton Harbour is home to the National Marine Aquarium, the UK's largest, with more than 5,000 marine animals on display including over 40 sharks, open every day from 10am to 5pm. Southside Street holds the Plymouth Gin Distillery, the oldest working gin distillery in England, which has been making its gin since 1793 in a building that was once a monastery. There's also the Mayflower Museum near the steps, the Elizabethan House, the Elizabethan Gardens on New Street, and the Tinside Lido, built in 1935 with its Art Deco setting and sea views. If you're still going strong, the Royal Citadel, the Eddystone lighthouse out on its rock, and the harbour cruises taking you round to Cawsand and Mount Edgcumbe are all within reach. It's a lot to pack around a few hours of watching people slide off a pole, which is exactly what makes it a good day out.