Organisers of the Great Knaresborough Bed Race, the Knaresborough Lions, have announced that the theme of next year’s event will be ‘A Night at the Theatre’, a subject calculated to allow teams to explore their full creativity.
Chairman of the Bed Race organising committee, Richard Hall, said:
We are delighted once again to be putting on this illustrious event.
Bed Race is a real highlight of our year, and the decorating of the beds and the dressing of the teams are big elements of what makes this such a memorable occasion.
The idea behind picking this theme is to offer as wide a canvas to the teams and their decorators as possible. The theatrical theme, allowing any choice from opera, musicals and plays, is probably only limited by the imaginations of the teams.
It is estimated that apart from the 630 runners and riders who make up the 90-team Bed Race field, there are a couple of thousand more people involved who help with decorating the bed and dressing the teams and their supporters. It is a whole-community effort here in North Yorkshire.
It all makes for a fantastic spectacle. The parade has always been a key feature of Bed Race day and we believe that standards are getting progressively higher. Hopefully, this theme will produce some dramatic results.
Next year’s Bed Race is to be staged on Saturday 9 June 2017, and will be the 53rd event in an unbroken line back to 1966. Entry forms for teams will appear from 1 January 2018 on the event’s website, www.bedrace.com, and all entries have to be submitted before the end of February.
The winners of various key categories in the 2017 Great Knaresborough Bed Race were:
FASTEST TEAM
Ripon Runners Men
FASTEST FEMALE TEAM
Ripon Runners Girls
FASTEST MIXED TEAM
Flying Pullman
FASTEST NEW Team
Mott McDonald
FASTEST MALE JUNIOR TEAM
Tewit Youth Band
FASTEST FEMale JUNIOR Team
Scotton Scorchers
BEST DRESSED BED
1st Scriven Scouts
MOST ENTERTAINING TEAM
The Hairy Fairies
Background
The Great Knaresborough Bed Race takes place annually on the second Saturday in June. It has been held each year since 1966 come hell or high water in the River Nidd. It is a volunteer-organised and run event designed to raise money for charity and other good causes. The organisers, Knaresborough Lions, are aided by hundreds of other volunteers who help prepare the event, marshal the race and parade, and ensure the event goes off safely as a great family day out. Each year, 90 teams of six runners and a passenger take part.
