Cheese Wheel Day

History

Started to commemorate the actions of a cheesemaker's apprentice in stopping the theft of a village's food supply during a time of famine and hardship for the land; the exact details of the story change a fair amount based on who is doing the telling. A great many villages in the Golden Plateau region, and an equal amount on the other side of the Ashallan border claim that their village is the source of the tale, and exactly when the event occured (if indeed it happened at all) also has as many variations.
What is consistent in the tale, though, is known by most of the residents of the region.

The story goes that one night, during a time of famine, the virtuous apprentice of the village cheesemaker, having heard tales of bandits raiding the stores of neighbouring villages, decided to stay late to guard his master's cheeses. Try as he might, however, he could not keep his eyes open and soon fell asleep. He awoke to the sounds of an evil band of raiders breaking into the stores, intent on stealing the cheese. Feeling decidedly unthreatened by the young man, the bandits laughed at him, and rather than kill him, bound his hands and, after cutting out a hole, placed a large cheese wheel onto his head. The bandits quickly emptied the town store, leaving the apprentice unable to raise the alarm, as, try as he might, his shouts for help could not be heard through the thick, flavoursome, cheese. He soon realised that there was only one thing for it - He would have to eat his way through the cheese if he was to save the town's food. And this he did, alerting the sleeping villagers to the danger. The villagers chased down the fleeing bandits to their hideout, and liberated their food (and then some) from the thieves. Hailing the apprentice as a hero, they paraded him around the town and his brave actions were to be remembered always.

The actual truth of the story may never be known, but every year the story is still celebrated on Cheese Wheel Day; a tradition that has spread throughout the region.

Execution

Cheese Wheel Day is a day of all sorts of cheese-related activities and competitions. For the village's culinary masters, there is a cooking competition, to make the most delicious dish using the local cheese. The cheesemakers themselves present their very best creations to a panel of judges. Those villages with a nearby hill will have cheese-wheel-rolling races.
Every village will have its own particular activities and ways of celebrating, but for all, the main event is a competitive re-enactment of the apprentice's story. Competitors have their hands bound and a cheese wheel placed over their head. They must then eat their way out of the cheese wheel and shout the alarm of raiders in the food supplies. Often village children will play the role of the 'raiders'. The fastest to eat their way out is the winner.
The festival is a major social event on the village calendar, and since the festival's humble beginnings, the main 'Cheese Escape' activity has grown to also be a competitive event between neighbouring villages. Indeed, in the decades following The Demon War, a much larger event has evolved from this - In the weeks following Cheese Wheel Day itself, each village sends its winners to compete for the chance to represent the entire Golden Plateau region in an annual face-off against the champion of the villages of Ashalla on the opposite side of the border.
This friendly international competition has brought the neighbouring countries closer, and the final face-off is hosted alternatingly between the town of Caveil in Ashalla, and Midrest in Vallanna.