World Haggis Hurling Championship to take place in Alloway Burns country will be hosting a Highland fling with a difference when the World Haggis Hurling Championship takes place in Alloway. Last year's winner Gary McLay, from Kilmarnock, will be aiming to defend his title at the annual event, which is part of the Alloway 1759 festival. Mr McLay will also hope he can beat the event record of 158ft he set last year. The world record is held by Lorne Coltart, from Blair Atholl, who flung the national delicacy 214ft 9ins at the 2011 Milngavie and Bearsden Highland Games. Competition rules state that the contestants must stand on a half whisky barrel and hurl the haggis as far as they can without it splitting open. The haggis hurling is one of the more unusual attractions at the festival, which draws around 500 people to Burns Cottage. The National Trust for Scotland's Robert Burns Birthplace Museum will also host pipe music and poetry. Event organiser Stuart Cochrane said: "We get people coming from all over south-west Scotland, tourists from Glasgow and others returning to try to beat their previous haggis hurling record. It's free to enter and everyone gets a certificate for their efforts.