The Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship 2022 was held in Finland last week – check out the bizarre footage below.

The event was launched back in 2019, but it did not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After hosting a virtual edition last year, the championship returned to the small town of Joensuu last Friday (July 8).

Organisers have described Heavy Metal Knitting as “the oddball of all sports”, explaining how “needlework and music become united like never before” through the unique annual contest.

They continued: “On the same stage … heavy metal music and knitting shaking hands. Knitting to the rhythm of heavy metal music can be compared to playing air guitar.”

A livestream of this year’s competition has since been shared on YouTube. Per the video’s description, eight artists from five different countries competed for the winning title last week.

These included Titan feat. Dexter the Dropbear (Australia), Woolfumes (UK), UniKorn (US), Yuki Redrock (Japan) and Maatiaisgootti (Finland).

As EuroNews reports, a second UK team called String Thing were crowned overall winners. They beat their United Kingdom rivals Woolfumes (which included members from Scotland and India), who came in as runners-up. The US-based UniKorn finished in third place.

The judges praised String Thing for their “surprising and energetic show”, adding: “Creativity was shown in many different forms – from costumes to the use of space and stage

“The show popped from the stage in the form of huge yarn balls and the audience was included to have fun with the artist.”

You can watch the wild, one-and-a-half-hour championship unfold in the above video.

The next Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship is due to take place on July 7, 2023. You can find the full list of rules and entry requirements here.