Footage from the Newsflare vault shows the first European gull screeching championship, held in Adinkerke, Belgium in March 2019, with screeches and squawks galore.

Video shows people from across Europe participating in the competition, with each providing their own variations of the high-pitched bird calls.

The bizarre event still goes on today. On Sunday, April 23, the Belgian town of De Panne put on the third European seagull screeching championship. This year, Yarmo, a 21-year old student from the Netherlands, won the crown for the best seagull sound, according to Reuters.

The European Championship Gull Screeching was held in Adinkerke (Belgium) for the first time at the 24th op March 2019. Mimic the sound of a seagull as well as possible. The was no big price to win, only a basket full of Belgian beers and the honour.

Location: De Verloren Gernoare in Adinkerke near De Panne (Belgium)
Concept explained by Jan Seys from Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee.
Winners: Reggy Laatsch (31) from Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Bregje Iding (21) from Hasselt (Belgium)

The final winners were Reggy Laatsch, 31, from Amsterdam and Bregje Iding, 21, from Hasselt in Belgium.

The event had no grand prize as such beyond the glory of being an expert gull imitator, and a basket of Belgian beers.

Jan Seys, from the Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (Flanders Marine Institute) commented on the event: "[People have] come together to make the best imitation of the sound of a gull, which sounds quite stupid, but it is real science.

"Before you can really imitate a gull, you have to make nice observations otherwise you'll never make it."