Festival’s bathtub team to stand out from crowd

Their watery antics often attract thousands of spectators to the banks of the river to witness the madness.

This year, visitors can once again expect a collection of colourful, quirky and innovative ‘vessels’ for the Arundel Festival Bathtub Race.

And to mark the 2014 event, the Gazette will be following the progress of one team – Sainsbury’s Littlehampton – for four weeks.

The retailer is again teaming up with Crossroads Care South Central, the Climping-based care provider which last year entered as ‘Store Wars’ with staff dressed as stormtroopers and Princess Lia.

Their vessel managed to secure a respectable eighth out of 23 entrants with a combined team of six.

The bathtub has been hauled in for a makeover which will hopefully make it stand out from the other competitors. This year’s race promises to be more competitive than ever, as Stubbs Copse, event sponsors, have built the winning bath tub for The Red Lion Pub before and are now set to enter their own design.

Peter Thomas, manager of Sainsbury’s Littlehampton, said: “Our staff really enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere on the banks of the River Arun last year despite the heavy rain. It was a real eye-opener on how much effort goes into the design and costumes of the other entrants.

“This year we know what to expect. Our vessel did well under the strain of six people and I have many staff wanting to join in.

“We are discussing in our team meetings about the theme of the design but we have yet to finalise our decision.

“We want to stand out in the crowd of bath tubs and hope to have a few surprises on board. It is a true representation of community spirit.

“We are pleased we are doing it again with our community charity of the year, Crossroads Care South Central.”

To enter this year’s Arundel Festival Bath Tub Race www.arundelfestival.co.uk