Bobbing for pigs' feet is one of the popular events at the Canadian Redneck Games in Minto. (Handout - Michael Chart Photography)

Are you someone who lives in a rural area, works hard for money and likes to have a good time?

Then, you might be a redneck. And if you're still reading this column, then you must be one.

That's the definition suggested by organizers of the wacky Canadian Redneck Games, Aug. 8 to 10, in Minto -- a town that likes to get down and dirty for the celebrated annual event.

"The first year of the event in 2006, we were scared people might not participate in events like the bobbin for pigs' feet and the mud-pit belly flop," said Belinda Wick-Graham, the town's business and economic manager.

"But, to our surprise, we had more contestants than pigs' feet and huge lineups for the belly flop contest," she added.

Attendance grew from 1,200 people that year to 3,000 last year and this time organizers anticipate some 5,000 rednecks -- many of whom will be decked out in country attire with fake teeth, mullet hairstyles and straw hats.

Its notoriety put it on the list as one of Ontario's Top 100 Festivals.

Where else can you gather in a redneck, outdoor, mud-pit-strewn coliseum to watch people rolling and belly-flopping in the mud, hurling toilet seats and hub caps and even bobbing for pigs feet?

Don't laugh. Fred Pritchard travelled from London last year and became the winner of the coveted toilet seat toss trophy.

Toilet seats are used as horseshoes in the redneck games, while hub-cap hurl sees who can toss a hub cap the farthest.

Bobbing for pigs feet, not apples, gives contestants 30 seconds to bob for raw feet in containers of water.

Mud pit belly flop is a contest of "style and performance" as is armpit serenade, requiring hands and moist underarms.

Mud pit tug-of-war pits up to 16 teams trying to avoid a mud bath and there's a mud slip and slide event for kids.

The redneck games began as an event "to celebrate our rural roots and have some good old country fun," Wick-Graham said. "It's a celebration of living in rural areas -- it's all about having a good time."

Feeling they were smack dab in the middle of nowhere -- en route to someplace else -- Minto officials decided to make some hay out of their country bumpkin stereotype.

Located at the northwest boundary of Wellington County, the town is made up of the former communities of Harriston, Palmerston and Clifford and rural Minto Township.

"With the popularity of Jeff Foxworthy, the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and various redneck songs, we knew this would be a great event because it is unique to Canada," Wick-Graham said.

Things get underway Aug. 8 with Comedy Night at the Norgan Theatre in Palmerston from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. with Scott Harris, Jeff Leeson and emcee Casey Corbin.

The games on Aug. 9 at the Harriston-Minto Community Centre start with breakfast served from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

There's an interesting parade of rednecks starting at noon that includes mud-covered trucks and a battered fishing boat from the Redneck Yacht Club.

There are redneck games for kids, a mechanical bull and water blaster maze, food and beer, entertainment with Pat Savage and Juanita Wilkins, the Meulensteen Tire Pick-Up Show and West Coast Lumberjack Show.

On Aug. 10, events at the New Clifford Rotary Park include a Mud Volleyball Tournament, entertainment, food, beer and a dinner.

And they promise there will be no road kill on the barbecue.

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FOX TROTS

Cactus, Cattle and Cowboys in west Elgin County happens next weekend with a parade on Saturday in West Lorne, southwest of London.

Starting with a farmer's market at 8:30 a.m., there's a horse parade at noon and events run from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. This includes a jamboree, blacksmith, horse breed displays, riding and roping demonstrations, wagon rides, line and square dancing and cowboy cooking, said publicist Scott Hilgendorff. Trail rides take place on Aug. 2 and 3. For details, call 1-866-401-2965.

It's a celebration of living in rural areas -- it's all about having a good time.

Games organizer Belinda Wick-Graham

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IF YOU GO

Admission to the Redneck Games is $5, or $20 for a family of five.

Details www.canadianredneckgames.ca; 519-338-2511; info@canadianredneckgames.ca

Directions From London, take Highway 23 north to just outside Harriston and turn right onto Highway 89 into town. From Toronto, take Highway 10 northwest out of Brampton to Orangeville and then Highway 109 to Harriston.