NEWRY – Sunday River Ski Resort will host the sixth annual North American Wife Carrying Championships at noon Oct. 8.

The event is part of Fall Festival weekend at the resort, which also includes live entertainment with Boston-based Entrain, a beer garden, crab fest, craft fair, children’s games and activities, scenic chairlift rides and wagon rides.

The winners of the event will receive a round-trip ticket to Finland to the World Wife Carrying Championships, in addition to the traditional prize of the wife’s weight in Redhook beer. Prizes are also awarded to second- and third-place finishers, as well as for special weight and age categories.

Couples navigate a 278-yard obstacle course while the man is literally “carrying” the woman. Women are allowed to carry men as well, but so far there has been no such team. The teams do not have to be married couples, but they must comprise a man and a woman and both must be at least 21 years old to enter.

Besides the annual world competition in Finland, there are several regional competitions in the United States that have developed in recent years.

Registration is from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 8 and is $35 per team. For more information or to register, people may log on to www.sundayriver.com.

The carrying method is the competitors’ choice, though most use the “Estonian” carry, where the woman holds the man around the waist and tightens her legs around his neck, thereby freeing the husband’s hands.

The first modern-day event was held in 1991, and foreign contestants were admitted in 1995. Qualifiers are also held Sweden and Estonia.