After the Brake Check lap around the Arcata Plaza on Saturday, May 24, 48 kinetic sculptures and their teams — from canine to bovine, warriors to hippies, spooky to sparkling — set off on the more than 50-mile, three-day quest for glory that is the annual Kinetic Grand Championship. The rollicking ride detoured past Dead […]
Kinetic Grand Championship
Posted inArts + Scene
Rutabaga Ball Tonight at the Eureka Theater
“No Kings!” may be the mantra of 2025, but here in Humboldt, we love our Queens. Join the revelry at the 2025 Rutabaga Ball, dazzling the stage at the Eureka Theater on Saturday, May 24, starting at 7 p.m. ($20). Witness the coronation of the queen who’ll reign supreme over the legendary human-powered sculpture race, […]
Posted inArts + Scene
A Glorious Weekend
The legendary Kinetic Grand Championship, happening May 24-26, is pedaling, floating and rolling its way through Humboldt for three days of pure, unadulterated imagination on wheels (free). The fun begins on Saturday, May 24, at noon on the Arcata Plaza where you can watch the innovative and colorful contraptions take a few laps before setting […]
Posted inNews
Kinetic Chaos, Kreiss and Soup Scoops
We’re looking back on a wild and wacky Kinetic Grand Championship weekend with all its attending sand, splashing, cycling and costumes. We’ve also got an update on the allegations against Judge Greg Kreis. Finally, we bid farewell to a pair of iconic Arcata restaurants and preview the upcoming Empty Bowls fundraiser for St. Vincent de […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Glory Days are Here Again
Summer’s unofficial kick-off starts this weekend with everyone’s favorite art-in-motion jaunt through the streets, dunes and waters of Humboldt County. Slather on the sunscreen and get ready to follow your team with the fervor of a Deadhead — the Kinetic Grand Championship is here. Start at the Arcata Plaza on Saturday, May 25, to watch […]
Posted inNews
Salmon Runners, Kinetic Racers and Anti-Chinese History
This week we’re looking at the athletics and activism that make up the Salmon Run, raising awareness of the ecological and cultural impacts of the Klamath Dams on the cusp of their removal. And in the wake of the Kinetic Grand Championship, we look back at the winners and flippers of this year’s art and […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Road to Glory
For the 55th time, the wild and wooly wheels of the Kinetic Grand Championship rolled through the Arcata Plaza, down the sandy dunes at Dead Man’s Drop, into Humboldt Bay (and hopefully back to shore) and southward on the long trek to Ferndale. After three days of escalating challenges, roadside repairs and grueling pedaling, Trashlantis […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Photos: Kinetic Day Two (by Sea)
After the sand has settled at Dead Man’s Drop on the first day of the Kinetic Grand Championship, racers prepared for the amphibious leg of the journey. Creatures great and weird hit the water of Humboldt Bay, making big waves and struggling not to capsize their way into a Golden Flipper award. Photographer Mark McKenna […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Crowned Royal
Who you rutin’ for? It’s time to crown the next Kinetic Rutabaga Queen, the royalty that reigns over the Kinetic Grand Championship Race, and you decide who’ll wear the crown at the Rutabaga Ball, happening Saturday, May 27 at 8 p.m. at Synapsis ($15). It’s an evening of outrageous fun with food, music and a three-round […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Hop on a Bike
A middle-aged woman who said she had never ridden a bike in her life, climbed onto the saddle of a bicycle bolted to a stationary stand, curious to try pedaling to power the amplified PA system. The watt meter surged and she smiled. The scene was a Bike Rodeo organized last summer by the Arcata […]
Posted inNews
NCJ Preview: Kinetic Madness, Desperate Times
This week photographer Mark McKenna joins us to talk about the return of the Kinetic Grand Championship after a two-year COVID hiatus and what it’s like to shoot the wild ride over asphalt, sand and sea. This week’s issue is also full of opinions, including on Brett Watson, harassment and the limits of civil debate […]
Posted inNews
Kinetic Rides Again
The rest of the world is trying to get back to “normal” but here in Humboldt, we’re just happy to go out in the fresh air and get weird again. After two years of paused and remote races, the human-powered Kinetic Grand Championship once again rolled around the Arcata Plaza, down the Manila Dunes, into […]