The Running of The Tubs
2019
This annual event takes place on historic Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park. We stumbled upon this unique festival on our way from San Antonio to Nashville. Basically, the town and tourists show up armed with squirt guns and water balloons with which they assault the race participants.
The five-member teams parade down Bathhouse Row to the starting line.
Some before and after shots. As you can see, competition is fierce and sometimes tempers flare.
The teams race to the finish line while carrying the required props (towel, loofah, soap, and mat). The spectators, armed with the water-delivery device of their choice, proceed to drench the racers for the entire length of the course.
This was my first attempt at travel photography. The harsh midday light added some difficulty to this project, but the costumes and water added lots of interesting details. This project gave me the confidence to continue to pursue photography.