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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2009
CONTACT: Molly Dannenmaier
Director of Marketing and Public Relations,
409-765-7834, ext. 1021
molly.dannenmaier@galvestonhistory.org
Uproarious Fun of Victorian Bed Races Added to 36th Annual Dickens on the Strand
Registration Deadline Extended
Galveston Historical Foundation is recruiting teams for what is expected to be one of the zaniest and most popular competitions ever conceived as part of the international award winning holiday festival, Dickens on the Strand.
“We are having the First Annual Victorian Bed Races this year,” said Clay Wade, Director of Events for Galveston Historical Foundation. “We think the races, with teams dressed in Victorian sleeping costumes and beds decorated in Victorian splendor, will provide a huge amount of fun for people of all ages. It’s going to be a hoot.”
The Victorian-themed festival, set this year for December 5 and 6, is always held the first weekend in December in a 10-square-block area in historic downtown Galveston.
The races are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, on Mechanic Street in the heart of Galveston’s historic Strand district.
The two-block race, sponsored by MattressFIRM, includes a stop in the middle at which time one member of each team must change places—and costumes—with the team member who started out in the bed.
“In the middle of the race, we’ll have a chalked-off area in which each bed will have to come to a complete standstill,” Wade said. “One of the four pushers will have to change costumes with the person in the bed, who is required to wear a nightcap and nightgown or nightshirt, and then they can finish the race.”
“As long as we get to a minimum of six teams, we’ll keep accepting registrations until Friday, Nov. 27,” Wade said.
Prizes will be awarded to the teams with the fastest time (1st, 2nd and 3rd places) and for the best-decorated bed as well as the crowd favorite. For $1, festival patrons can cast a vote for their favorite and for the best decorated bed. Half of the “People’s Choice” donations will go to a charity designated by the winning team in the bed decoration category and half will go to Galveston Historical Foundation to help continue its mission to preserve the historic integrity of Galveston Island.
“All the beds will be on display all day Saturday for voting and for judging,” Wade said. “People will get to see the beds, vote on them and then, hopefully, come back Sunday to see the races.”
Top winners in the Victorian Bed Races will be invited to join the 3 p.m. Queen’s Parade on The Strand. The Queen’s Parade includes Queen Victoria herself in an elegant, horse-drawn carriage, other “royalty” and hundreds of other participants in Victorian costume. For more information on the Victorian Bed Races or the Dickens on The Strand Festival, go to www.galvestonhistory.org or call 409-765-7834.
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