Kinetic sculpture races are held in many locations: •
Humboldt County, California hosts the annual Kinetic Grand Championship each May over Memorial Day weekend. It spans over three days. •
Gainesville, Florida – the Menagerie in Motion Kinetic Derby in 2016 became the Southeast's first and only kinetic sculpture derby. The event occurs annually on the last weekend in February to coincide with Chimera Fest. •
Lowell, Massachusetts – New England's, Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, through the streets of Lowell, a giant mud pit and navigating the Merrimack River. The third weekend of September. •
Port Townsend, Washington •
Corvallis, Oregon – as part of
Da Vinci Days festival. •
Ventura, California – benefits the Turning Point Foundation. •
Klamath Falls, Oregon The race is held the last full weekend in June. •
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania hosts a kinetic sculpture derby as part of the Trenton Avenue arts festival in the neighborhood of
Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. •
Coeur d' Alene, Idaho – Gizmotion Celebration of Creativity There are other kinetic challenges, derbies and so on which follow some of the rules and traditions of kinetic sculpture racing, but are not an official part of it.
Clearlake, California; and
Prescott Valley, Arizona.
World Championship The concept of kinetic sculpture racing originated in
Ferndale, California in 1969 when local sculptor
Hobart Brown "improved" the appearance of his son's tricycle by welding on two additional wheels and other embellishments. Seeing this "
Pentacycle," fellow artist Jack Mays challenged him to a race. Others later joined in creating a field of twelve machines that inaugurated the first race down Ferndale's Main Street during the town's annual art festival. Neither Brown nor Mays won; instead, the first winner was Bob Brown of
Eureka, California whose sculpture was a smoke-emitting Turtle that laid eggs. The race received broad publicity when photos of Congressman
Don Clausen riding the Pentacycle were seen nationally. The event was repeated in 1970, and the course subsequently expanded to include cross-country terrain. When affiliated races were initiated in other cities and the course grew, the Ferndale event became the World Championship, and has become the largest single event in Humboldt County. During the 1970s, the race adopted its present three-day, cross-country format and became the "Triathlon of the Art World." Machines tackled mud, sand, water, gravel and pavement. Stan Bennett's book
Crazy Contraptions chronicles the first five years of the race. As the 1980s ended, a mineral water company began sponsoring the race, which adopted a family-friendly approach. Soon after, a local manufacturer of sports racks and car storage boxes became interested in the race. The sponsors' financial support – especially the creation of the Kinetic Lab in Arcata – took the race to a new level of art and engineering. The Lab's long sculpture
Yakima KingFish was the longest ever raced according to its creator. During the 1990s, the race matured. Many contestants were younger than the race, having grown up with its philosophy, "Adults having fun so children will want to grow older," coined by Brown. As age and crippling
arthritis limited his activities, he sold the race rights, the kinetic chicken logo and the trademark "For the Glory" slogan to a new not-for-profit agency called the Humboldt Kinetic Association in 2002. Changing economics caused the sport rack company to leave the area and the water company to end their sponsorship. With no major sponsor and several years of county budget cutbacks reflecting statewide budget problems, the race experienced difficulties. In early 2007, Humboldt Kinetic Association abjured responsibility for the race. Race volunteers rapidly created Kinetic Universe, a new not-for-profit, to manage the 2007 race. In 2009, the
New Belgium Brewing Company became a sponsor. In 2013, the annual Mother's Day
Kinetic Klassic children's event moved from Ferndale to Eureka's waterfront Halverson Park. In 2014, the
World Championship race course covered , crossing a series of sand dunes,
Humboldt Bay and the
Eel River. The race began on Arcata Plaza with the Saturday noon whistle; the race goes through
Eureka and
Loleta before reaching the finish line on the third day on Main Street in Ferndale. The race is broadcast live on local radio station
KHUM.
East Coast Championship in Baltimore neighborhood. . In 1999, the
American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) in Baltimore worked with Hobart Brown to start the first race in the Eastern United States, and has sponsored the race every year since. On 4 May 2019, 22 teams brought 25 sculptures to Baltimore for the 21st East Coast Championship. With the 2020 race postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the next race was scheduled Saturday, 1 May 2021. Twenty teams participated in the 22nd East Coast Championship on Saturday, 7 May 2022. In contrast to the rural flair of Humboldt County, the Baltimore race spans the city's urban center and is completed in a single day. The race begins with morning opening ceremonies and the
Le Mans Start down
Federal Hill to AVAM on the south side of the
Inner Harbor, continues past well-known sites including the
Maryland Science Center,
Harborplace, the
USS Constellation, the
National Aquarium, and
Fells Point, enters the water at
Canton, continues with sand and mud challenges at
Patterson Park, then through
Butchers Hill and downtown to the finish line at AVAM in mid- to late-afternoon. An awards ceremony at AVAM concludes the event. In 2002, Baltimore's race included a loop around the Patterson Park ice skating rink, a challenging extension of the all-terrain aspect. However, in the years since then the race occurs later in the spring to benefit from warmer weather – after the rink closes for the season. ==Rutabaga Queens and other numeraries==