This Quirky Spring Event Features a Parade of Human-Powered Contraptions, May 13

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It's a parade, architectural design competition and slapstick comedy routine rolled into one.

The Kensington Derby and Arts Festival parades mobile sculptures along a three-mile, urban obstacle course through the East Kensington and Fishtown neighborhoods, finishing with a messy splashdown in a mud pit.

Stored energy, motors, electricity, pushing, pulling and walking are a no-no for these human-powered floats. Instead, participants must devise unique, human-generated ways to keep “vehicles” — defined as a device that has wheels or moveable legs — moving at a pace of at least three miles per hour through the course laden with obstacles.

  — Photo courtesy New Kensington Community Development Corporation

2023 Highlights

Derby Details & Where to Watch

The derby kicks off at 1 p.m. sharp. At 3 p.m., the event features a friendly, juried competition with award categories that in the past have included categories like Best Costume, Best Engineering and Best Breakdown.

Spectators can catch the contraptions in action at various points along the route, but here are the top spots to watch:

• Trenton Avenue & East Dauphin Street: Serving as the unofficial event entrance, this spot puts you right in the middle of the festival with good views of the vehicle parade. Grab a drink, stuff your face and enjoy the festivities.
• Trenton Avenue & Frankford Avenue: The main performance stage will be pumping tunes all day and sits right along the derby’s main thoroughfare.
• All along the obstacle course: Several local businesses are setting up dastardly hindrances on the route this year, including banana peels at Riverwards Produce Market (2200 E. Norris Street), bubbles at Johnny Brenda’s (1201 Frankford Avenue), a car wash pop-up at Punch Buggy Brewing Company (1445 N. American Street) and wacky waving inflatables at NextFab (1800 N American Street). Other prime spots include Lutheran Settlement House, Two Robbers and Stateside Vodka.
• Trenton Avenue & East Norris Street: Get ready for the main event. The climactic finish. The Mud Pit. Serving as both the official starting line and finish line for derby vehicles, this messy cheering spot draws big crowds and fills up early (with people and with hundreds of pounds of mud).

For more competition details, including the full route, check out the official website.

  — Photo courtesy New Kensington Community Development Corporation

Food, Shopping & Music

Aside from the parade of rigs and gizmos, this family-friendly festival features lots of vendors and entertainment between East Norris Street and East Dauphin Street.

Food and drink vendors include dozens of food trucks, like Bacon on a Stick & That’s It and Kismet Bagels, and several adult beverage purveyors, like Evil Genius Beer Company and Stateside Vodka.

  — Photo courtesy New Kensington Community Development Corporation

Countless artists, makers and merchants are also selling locally designed and handcrafted pieces, including accessories, ceramics, art prints, vintage clothing, skincare products and mechanical inventions.

Local bands, including Rockers Galore and The Gretchen Emery Band, jam all day at both the main stage and at the finish line’s Mud Pit stage.

Getting There

The Kensington Derby and Arts Festival is free to attend, with pay-as-you-go food and drinks.

The festival spans a handful of city blocks along Trenton Avenue from E. Norris Street to Frankford Avenue.

Some street parking is available — and you’ll have the best luck on Trenton Avenue, north of Frankford Avenue — but note that the following stretches are entirely closed to traffic:

• Trenton Avenue from Norris Street to Frankford Avenue
• Norris Street from Front Street to Frankford Avenue
• Susquehanna Avenue from Amber Street to Frankford Avenue
• Dauphin Street from Amber Street to Frankford Avenue

For a leisurely travel experience, take SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line to Berks station or hop on the #3, #5 or #25 buses, which all let off close to the festival. Or you can join in on the human-powered fun and take advantage of the Indego Bike Share docks nearby, including one right at Berks station.

For more information about the Kensington Derby and Arts Festival, click the button below.