The organisers of the Great Knaresborough Bed Race, the Knaresborough Lions Club, are staging it this year as a virtual event called ‘Bed Race 2020 Unplugged’, on Saturday 13 June 2020. They are asking the public to take part in both the parade and the race – from home.
Amanda George, Public Relations Officer of the Knaresborough Lions, said:
The two essential components of Bed Race day are the parade and the race, which up to thirty thousand people normally come to watch.
We knew we had to make these both happen somehow, while at the same time staying safe and following distancing rules.
So we are asking households to ‘Make Your Bed’: decorate a bed at home, linking it to our theme ‘What I’m looking forward to…’. It could be a normal bed, a flower bed, a model of a bed, or an actual Bed Race bed if you happen to have one. Then make a video between 20 seconds and a minute long, looking as if you are in the parade with your bed.
Sirastudio of Harrogate, who create Bed Race highlights videos for us in normal years, will be putting together a parade from your footage, and this will be streamed for online viewing at 1pm on 13th June – the time when the real parade would normally happen. As in other years, judging will take place to name the Best-Dressed Bed.
We are also trialling a way for the public to take part in a virtual race, to be streamed at 3pm on the day. Send us video clips, from 20 seconds up to a minute long, of your household members facing the camera and looking as though they are running in the Bed Race. You could be behind a bed headboard appearing to push it, or just position yourselves in a racing formation. Be creative!
Two essential requirements:
- position yourselves in front of a single-colour background (preferably a blue or green sheet or plain wall);
- and film in landscape orientation (not portrait)
You can send the Lions both a parade and a race video, or just one type of clip. Send your videos to lionbedrace@hotmail.co.uk by the end of May.
Since dressed beds are usually first seen by the public on the big day, the Lions are asking you to hold back from posting your videos online until after the main event. They would also like to remind people to stay within their households to make the videos, in line with current rules about distancing.
Bed Race Chair Kevin Lloyd said:
With your help, we can make it a big day on 13th June, with participation from many people in our local community and beyond. We look forward to receiving your contributions!
