Wet and wacky Beaufort Water Festival bed races (w/video)

Hundreds turned out on Friday afternoon along Bay Street to enjoy one of the Beaufort Water Festival events that requires audience participation…the Bed Races.  Teams of racers push a gurney down the road, with a teammate on board, and the fastest finishing time wins.

The catch? Audience participation actually means that spectators get to douse the teams with water as they go by.  Bay Street was lined with water guns, buckets, hoses, and even trash cans.

And the water flowed.  Boy, did it ever.

Local Chris Skrip makes it a tradition to ensure that each and every bed that goes by receives at least two trash cans full of water.  “I’ve been doing this for a few years now and it’s so much fun.  The races pass right by my real estate office on Bay Street, so we all get together and have a great time.  Beaufort is a fantastic place to live.”

After the bed races, the night concluded with the annual River Dance at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park with live music from local band Bootless, and the Dirty Guvnahs, in town all the way from Kentucky.

Here is some video from the bed races.  (we stayed dry)

For more photos of the bed races and for hundreds of photos of the 58th Annual Beaufort Water Festival’s events, visit our Water Festival Photo Gallery here.