Great Raft Race to launch in Sand Springs Monday morning

The 24th Annual Great Tulsa Raft Race will be launching from Case Community Park in Sand Springs Monday, September 2nd beginning at 8:00 a.m. Hundreds of uniquely crafted homemade rafts will take to the waters of the Arkansas River in a race to Tulsa’s River West Festival Park.

The iconic showcase of Tulsa ingenuity first ran from 1973 through 1991 before being discontinued, and was resurrected by the Tulsa Young Professional Foundation in 2015 with overwhelming success.

Kayaks, canoes, inflatable rafts, and homemade rafts float approximately eight miles in a timed race. While competitive rafters enjoy the exhilarating race to the finish line, most spectators are entranced by the unique floats showcased in the design challenge. Awards are presented for Best of Show, Best Engineered, and Most Creative, in addition to the timed race winners.

While many families prefer the ease of sleeping in and catching the final leg of the race in Tulsa, there are exciting perks to watching the show bright and early in Sand Springs. Many of the more kooky and creative rafts won’t make it to Tulsa due to poor engineering. Some of the neatest aesthetic designs are crafted without proper expertise in seaworthiness, and won’t even make it off the Sand Springs boat ramp without sinking. Every year fan-favorites hit the river and immediately begin taking on water - leading to a mad dash by the rafters to bail water and corral their vessel to the shore before it is submerged.

Only a few hundred viewers are treated to this sight as most of Sand Springs’s fans watch from the Highway 97 Arkansas River bridge instead of journeying into the park. However, there is plenty of room in the park for onlookers, and the Sand Springs Parks Department will have bleachers set up near the launch point. The River City Trail that runs through the park also has several great viewing locations downstream from the launch point, and one of the best spots to get right up on the water is beneath the Highway 97 bridge on either the north or south sides of the river.

The northbound bridge over the river does have a pedestrian path that is safe from traffic, and in past years the Sand Springs Police and Fire Departments have narrowed the southbound bridge to a single lane to ensure the safety of onlookers watching from the shoulder of the highway.

The best views, however, can be found at ground-level from the shoreline, and there is easy access with plenty of shade in Case Park beneath the bridges. Case Park will also offering free parking at the soccer and baseball complexes, whereas the Finish Line Festival in Tulsa charges $10 to park.

Launches will last from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Sand Springs, and rafts will be arriving at River West Festival Park from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The earliest arrivals will be the kayaks and speed racers, while those who build large lumbering contraptions may take longer to make their way downstream. There will be food trucks and concessions, as well as music from DJ Connection in Sand Springs.

At the Finish Line Festival there will be inflatables for the kids, as well as a Cardboard Regatta raft competition and a Sand Castle Exhibition. Yard games will be set up throughout the park and tournaments will be held in corn-hole and volleyball. There will food trucks, retail and nonprofit vendors, a Conquer the Gauntlet Youth Obstacle Course, kayak rentals, live music, and even $40 helicopter rides.

The Speed Awards will be presented at 12:00 p.m. and the Design Awards will be presented at 4:30 p.m.

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