The Great Port Townsend Bay Kinetic Skulpture Race is:

* Kids leaping into a mud pit while their parents scorn.

* Respectable business people cross-dressing.

* Fantastic contraptions wheeling, floating and slogging on land, sea and mud.

* Competitors helping one another.

* People laughing and smiling.

The kinetic race — now in its 19th year — has long served residents who need to let off steam following the impact of tourists from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The event, billed as “2001: A Race You Odyssey,” is perhaps the least commercial of all Port Townsend festivals — no passes, no entry fees, even no rules.

“We as a consortium decided we didn’t want to go with big-name sponsors — all our sponsors are local,” said Janet Emery, High Priestess for Life.

“We are a homegrown community event. Our sponsors and business owners give $10 here and there.”

This full report appears in Peninsula Spotlight magazine with the Friday/Saturday editions of the Peninsula Daily News. Get your PDN delivered to your home or office by simply clicking on “Subscribe.”