Knaresborough Bed Race is set to make its comeback next summer after organisers announced plans are in place for it to return.
The event has been cancelled for the past two years due to covid but is due to return on June 11, 2022.
Around 30,000 people line the streets of Knaresborough to watch the bed race, which sees teams complete a 2.4 mile course whilst pushing a bed.
People from across the town get involved by volunteering, dressing up or making one of the famous beds.
The themes for decorating the beds and runners’ costumes change each year. For 2022 it will be ‘The Environment: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’.
Kevin Lloyd, chairman of Knaresborough Lions’ organising committee, said:
“Teams can even reuse and recycle decorations from previous years. As ever, the accent is on fun for what is a tremendous family day which has caught the imaginations of people all over the world.
“We get plenty of interest and bed racing in Knaresborough has spawned similar events in many countries.
“We will ensure that it remains one of the finest, funniest and fiercest encounters of the annual sporting calendar in Yorkshire.”
The organising committee said it didn’t plan to change too much from the original 1966 format and hoped next year’s event would be memorable after covid led to its cancellation this year and last year.
The course runs through parkland, along Waterside through the Nidd Gorge, up Castle Ings, through the cobbled street of the town, down Bond End to High Bridge, through McIntosh Park, and finishes with a 35 yard swim through the cold River Nidd.
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In previous years, the fastest team has completed the course in under 14 minutes, the slowest around double that. There are prizes for fastest teams in different categories, for best dressed beds and for entertaining teams.
It costs about £30,000 for the event to be staged, which involves charges for road closures, crowd barriers and licenses. The costs are covered through sponsorship, advertising and income from spectators entering Conyngham Hall fields.
Any additional funds go to charities chosen by the Lions.
Entry forms will go live on the Bed Race website on January 1. Teams have to enter before the end of February. The race field is for 90 teams and their beds and if needed a public lottery will be held in March to decide the final race card.
