Ax-Throwing Venue Plans Downtown Worcester Opening

WORCESTER, MA — Axes are the new bowling balls.

A competitive ax-throwing venue is coming to downtown Worcester in 2021, aligning the city with a recent rise in popularity of the lumberjack sport. Far Shot Worcester, 44 Front St., will also offer other competitive and dangerous-sounding activities like knife-throwing and archery.

The Worcester location would be the third for Far Shot, which has ax-throwing spots in Albany and Syracuse in Upstate New York. But plenty many more lumberjack bars and venues have opened across the nation in recent years.

The Backyard Axe Throwing League (BATL), based in timber-rich Canada, claims to have been the first to offer ax-throwing as entertainment way back in 2006. But ax-throwing bars have opened over the past several years in just about every Millennial-rich city from Brooklyn to Spokane, Wash.

Nearby, there are ax-throwing spots at the Apex Center in Marlborough, in Agawam and Boston.

In concept, ax-throwing is pretty simple: you hurl the sharp tool at a round wooden target and try to get as close to the bullseye as possible. But like any sport, it's also incredibly difficult, requiring skill and strength, and caution.

Far Shot Worcester promises visitors the sport is safe (except for splinters), and provides coaches for groups of two or more. The venue will allow visitors to bring food and drinks, but no hard alcohol. Anyone under 18 has to have parental consent, according to the company.

Far Shot's website says it will open its Front Street venue across from City Hall this fall.