The most ostentatious and absurd event to hit Charm City streets, the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race, willrun for its eighth consecutive year on Saturday.
Beginning at the American Visionary Art Museum and looping past the Inner Harbor toward Canton, the race consists of hand-crafted, human-propelled vehicles winding their way through the downtown lanes, and eventually, for some, into the water itself. The spectacle of the wild designs and the eccentrics both observing and powering the entrants contrasted with the ordinary backdrop of the city is by far the best reason to attend.
Last year?s racing hopefuls included the amphibious People?s Choice award winner “Cake on a Lake,” whose artistically designed layers of yellow were crowned by a bee-hived mannequin.
“Fifi,” another entrant from 2005, was a giant pink poodle and an excellent example of amazing feats of sculpting and design as well as engineering that go into these visionary, mobile contraptions.
Meticulous engineering is obviously a top priority in planning, as contestants won?t make it far in the race without it. Inevitably, every year some of the creations sink in the water, get stuck in the spring mud or fall by the wayside. Avid kinetic racers and fans would say that this is part of the experience of the day?s journey, a happening more about the festive atmosphere than the preservation of the soulful labor put into fashioning the crafts.
However, the most lauded workmanship is rewarded handsomely by the coveted ACE, awarded to a participant for “conquering not only a race course, but his machine, and himself,” according to the rules.
This year, more than 28 vessels are expected to participate, making it the largest in the history of the race. The day celebrates the wacky side locked inside us all by instilling the wonderment of a child in every craft pilot and spectator.
When else might you have the opportunity to glimpse a giant rubber ducky plowing up Pratt Street? Where else are you going to wear that ridiculously loud hat you bought on a whim without worrying about turning heads?
If you go
The Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race will begin at the American Visionary Art Museum in Federal Hill and follow a route around the Harbor to Canton and back on Saturday.
» Starting and ending point: The opening ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. at the American Visionary Arts Museum, 800 Key Highway, Baltimore
» Festivities and race: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free.
» More information: 410-244-1900 or kineticbaltimore.com
