Birdman rallies occur in multiple locations around the world, including Bognor Regis and Worthing in the United Kingdom, the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia and Lake Biwa in Japan and in China, which has been created by regular entrants in the Bognor Regis event.
The oldest Birdman rally in the world started in Selsey, West Sussex, United Kingdom in 1971.
The Australian competition first started in 1972 in Glenelg, South Australia but now occurs as a part of Melbourne's Moomba festival in March.
[5] Started in 1977, the Japanese competition takes place every year in July, and the majority of competitors come from engineering programmes at universities.
Known in English as The Japan International Birdman Rally [jp] the event takes place at Lake Biwa and since 1986 has had separate glider and human-powered divisions with the tournament record standing at a few hundred metres shorter than 70 km for the human-powered triangle course.