Traditional greasy pole climbing competition takes place in Malta

Contestants showed their prowess at clambering up a greasy pole on Sunday as they took part in a traditional festival in Malta.

The annual Gostra festival is held to mark the feast day of Saint Julian, patron saint of the town of St. Julian's, which lies close to the Maltese capital.

The 10-meter (33-foot) pole is slathered with grease, attached to a barge and draped at a precarious angle over the harbor. The aim of the game is to run as far up the pole as possible and remove the flags at the end in order to bag your prize.

A man applies grease onto the "gostra," a pole covered in grease, during the religious feast of St Julian, patron of the town of St Julian's, outside Valletta, Malta, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

A man slips off the gostra, August 28, 2016. In this game stretching back to the Middle Ages, young men, women and children have to make their way to the top and try to uproot one of the flags to win prizes. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

For some competitors the style in which you fall off the pole seems to be slightly more important than reaching the flags.

But for others, the seriousness of greasy pole climbing is clearly seen in their determination to get to the end.

A man grabs a flag on the gostra, August 28, 2016. From May to September in Malta, there is hardly any weekend when a town or a village is not celebrating the feast of its patron saint or other saints revered in different churches. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

As if that excitement was not enough for a day's entertainment, as dusk fell over St. Julian's, hunters fired rifles from a building over the harbor as a salute to Saint Julian, their patron saint of hunting. — Reuters