Those infamous bathtub races are returning to Vancouver in 2018, but with a bit of a twist.
Vancouver Park Board this week unanimously approved adding a bathtub race to the annual KitsFest in 2018. The organizers of the festival, which has been running since 2009, in conjunction with the Loyal Nanaimo Bathtub Society and the Pitblado Group, proposed adding the race to next year’s event.
The original bathtub races, which ran from 1967 to 1996, featured a race across the Strait of Georgia from Nanaimo to Vancouver. The new local incarnation will feature a race circuit in English Bay at the north end of Kits Beach. The preliminary plan includes several race heats and category finals.
An area will be set up where spectators can meet the racers, watch the racers set up their bathtubs, take photos and observe the races.
KitsFest started in 2009 as a two-day sports and healthy living community festival featuring basketball, volleyball and tennis. It was expanded to three days in 2010 and has continued to grow over the years to include other activities, such as sunset yoga, touch football, water polo and Zumba.
