14 city chefs will go flipping flat-out to win this year's Liverpool Pancake Race!

Chefs from 14 Liverpool restaurants will line-up, frying pans in hand, to compete in this year’s Liverpool Pancake Race.

The annual race, which takes place in the grounds of St Nicholas’ Parish Church on Shrove Tuesday, has been a hotly-contested city tradition for decades.

More recently organised by Liverpool BID Company, it’s grown in popularity post-Covid, to the extent that runners now flip in heats for a place in the final!

This year’s event will see pancake contenders from the Hilton Hotel, Crowne Plaza, Pen Factory, Fazenda, Ma Boyle’s, Tempest on Tithebarn, Nova Scotia, Titanic Hotel, Atlantic Tower, Delta Hotels, Voyagers, The Municipal, Café Tabac and Liverpool Cathedral all sprinting for the coveted first place and pancake pan trophy.

They each have to complete three laps of the garden while flipping their pancake. The pancake has to be thick enough to withstand the outdoors, light enough to be flipped cleanly while running, and it mustn’t fall from the pan.

There’s also the added challenge of toppings, with two toppings stations located around the gardens that have to be stopped at and included.

And if all that wasn’t enough pressure, there’s a running commentary from Anfield Wrap’s Neil Atkinson to build up the tension and make sure spectators know who’s in pole position.

Laura Brown, who works with the Business Improvement District on the pancake race, says it’s become an annual event that local restaurants love getting involved with – and it’s also an unexpected attraction for visitors to the city.

She said:

“When we came back from Covid it was one of the first things we did because it was outdoors and it was easy to keep people apart,” she explains.

“We wanted to have some fun with it and give people a sense of joy and it really helped that the chefs are insanely competitive and, because most of them know each other already, they just really love taking part.

“There isn’t a lot to do on pancake day, it’s traditionally been something you enjoy at home, so it’s nice to have something a bit bonkers happening on the day.”

This year’s race starts at 11am on Tuesday February 17, early enough for the chefs to get back in time for lunch service once they’ve crossed the finish line.

Being in the business district means it does attract office workers on a mid-morning break, as well as teams of workmates supporting each runner and tourists who love stumbling on a quirky Liverpool tradition while they’re on walking tours.

Ma Boyle’s is the current reigning champion after chef Sebastian Wojton took the title in 2025. He followed pancake racing thoroughbred Alex Hopkins from Lunyalita who won for three consecutive years before retiring last year.

Whoever comes home first this year will be awarded a pancake pan engraved with all the names of the winners, and they’ll get a miniature pan to hang up in pride of place in their kitchen.

The rivalry, says Laura, is intense but there’s a fantastic sense of camaraderie too.

“The chefs are the ones who make the event special. If they didn’t love it, it wouldn’t happen but because they’re all so 100% into it, it makes it amazing and it’s a unique chance for the restaurants and chefs to really celebrate themselves.”