A large crowd gathered on Boxing Day on Çalış Beach in the warm December sunshine to watch the brave souls who took part in the annual dip in the sea to raise money for the Çalış carnival charities.

Many of the 'splashers', who had been sponsored by friends and family to take a festive dip, turned up in fantastic fancy dress costumes.

The best fancy dress competition was won by Barry and Karen Prowse pictured above who dressed as Elf and Safety and Elf Care (gettit?).

After a brief line up for the press and friends to take photos the group made the dash for the sea joined by a couple of the splashers dogs too.

There were some shrieks initially, no doubt brought on by the cold water, but after a while they all started laughing and swimming around.

The Turkish press also turned out in force and seemed intrigued as to why people would want to swim in the sea in late December. Their reports are interesting and one report describes Barry and Karen who won the event as dressed as 'King's Fools'. That confirms something we have suspected for some time – “Elf & Safety” is not widely known in Turkey.

The event raised over 1,500 TL from sponsorship and donations from the crowd on the day.

More pictures of the event can be seen on the Calis Carnival website here.