West Columbia’s Kinetic Derby Day, featuring iMAGINE STEAM Festival, is Saturday, April 22, 2023. The 4^th annual free festival is seeking volunteers and parade participants to complete the planning of the action-packed family fun event. Join in the fun and get all the details at www.kineticderbyday.com. Registration for soapbox entries closes on April 17, 2023, at noon.

Schedule of Events

10 AM – The Kinetic Sculpture Parade kicks off a day full of fun. Register until April 17, 2023. This year’s parade is 80s themed! Throw on your 80s fashions and ride a bike or create an 80s sculpture to ride or pull.

10:30 AM – 11 AM – Kids’ Zone opens and the chalk artists begin. SOAPBOX RACING BEGINS by 11 AM.

12:30 PM – The track changes… new this year with obstacles and ramps! Start on the Whetzel’s Automotive push ramp, slide through First Community Bank’s green Jell-O Explosion, hit Savage Craft’s Foam Surprise, get soaked by PASCO’s Water Works, and end up in the COVID corn/grits.

While waiting on the track to change, enjoy the chalk artists creating on the corner of Meeting and State, the Meeting Street Artisan Market, shop in the local stores, eat in local restaurants and food trucks, or take a ride on Brookland’s Giant Slide on the corner of State and Meeting Streets.

We have partnered with iMAGINE STEAM Festival to bring a hands-on STEAM Festival to State Street. Make sure to check it out.

1 PM – 2 PM – The Obstacle Course brings on the fun! Participants will be able to test their builds and get dirty with the new obstacles, pedal-powered cars, and ramps. This is a single-car, timed event.

2:30 PM – Awards Ceremony on Savage Craft Ale Works’ Stage and stay for the after party!

Where: State and Meeting Streets, West Columbia, SC

Parking (Map included below):

• FREE Public Parking Garage – 310 Court Avenue
• River District Baptist Church – 400 State Street
• The Warehouse – 312 State Street
• Interactive Art Park – 425 Meeting Street
• Carraway Park – 212 Hudson Street
• Capitol Square – 483 Sunset Boulevard

When: Saturday, April 22, 10 AM – 3 PM

What: Kinetic Derby Day featuring iMAGINE

Dynamic Kids After School & Summer Camp Kinetic Sculpture Parade

Soapbox Racing

• House of Raeford Start Line
• TNT Martial Arts & Fitness Finish Line

Obstacle Racing

• First Community Bank’s Jell-O Explosion
• Savage Craft Ale Works’ Foam Surprise
• Pasco’s Water Works

Brookland SC Giant Slide for Adults and Kids

Aflac iMAGINE STEAM Festival on State Street

• EdVenture
• Columbia Art Center
• Haering Precision
• Lexington Technology Center
• Claflin University-Mathematics & Computer Science Department
• South Carolina Military Museum
• Midlands Education and Business
• Alliance (MEBA)
• IT-oLogy
• FIRST South Carolina
• South Carolina Artists
• Girls Who Code
• FIRST SC
• Vision Builder Adventures
• Million Women Mentors – SC
• The Children’s Museum of the Upstate
• SC Energy Office – Office of Regulatory Staff
• Code Ninjas Lexington
• STEM For Kids
• Pittsburgh Institution of Aeronautics
• Girl Scouts Troop 3395
• Look for the Power LL
• Tesla – Including 2 Self-Driving Test Cars
• The Blissful Hippie
• Alpha Omega Epsilon
• Mathnasium of Lexington
• Verizon

Meeting Street Artisan Market

• 22 Memory Lane LLC
• B.MAC Bakeshop
• Benji Hicks Art
• Blu Jim Fine Art
• Brickhouse Gourmet Coffee and Tea
• Bully Bowtique
• Cindy’s Turn
• Colleen Doodles
• Cute Country Coasters
• Emerald’s Artistry
• Faithful Foods Inc.
• Fired Up Custom Leather Works
• Found & Altered
• Gee Your Dog Smells Terrific
• Kristin Holzer Art
• Maman Afrique Boutique
• Mopickles
• Mrs. K’s Kreations
• One Tribe Designs
• Quipu
• Sealine Soap Company
• Sudsy Dreams
• Tails & Trails Treatery LLC
• The Hope Chest
• Tickled Pink Jewelry
• Tiny Folds Origami
• You Grow Girl, SC. LLC
• WalkerStix

Chalk Artists sponsored by Cayce’s Best After School & Summer Camp

• Michael Krajewski
• Kristin Holzer
• Kate Batten
• Alan Pearsall

Boys & Girls Club of the Midlands Kids’ Zone

• Kids Soapbox Racing
  • Traditional soapbox racing returns to take over Meeting and State Streets. Kids that are too young to compete can still participate in the Kids’ Zone with an American Soapbox car.
• Inflatable Obstacle Course
  • Kids can also have fun with an inflatable obstacle course.
• STEAM Crafts
  • Whether you want to paint a car to take home or learn how steering and axles work, there will be plenty of hands-on activities.
• Dunking Booth
  • Enjoy dunking some of the Boys & Girls Club’s finest in the first-ever dunking booth at Kinetic Derby Day!

Thank you to the festival sponsors & partners!

Sponsors

• House of Raeford – Start Line
• TNT Martial Arts & Fitness – Finish Line
• Aflac – iMAGINE STEAM Festival
• Brookland SC – Fun Slide
• Cayce’s Best After School & Summer Camp – Chalk Art
• Dynamite Kids After School & Summer Camp – Kinetic Sculpture Parade
• NAI Columbia – Cash Prize
• The Sourcing Group – Mailer Marketing
• First Community Bank – Jell-O Explosion Obstacle
• PASCO – Palmetto Automatic Sprinkler Company – Water Works Obstacle
• Savage Craft Ale Works – Foam Surprise Obstacle
• The Carolina Law Group – Stage
• The Graphics Source – Signs
• Security Federal Bank – Pit Crew
• Pedego Electric Bikes – West Columbia – Community Pride
• Professional Printers – Printing
• Whetzel’s Automotive – Push Ramp
• Something Borrowed Wedding & Party Rentals – Tent
• Thompson Funeral Homes – Community Pride Sponsor
• Hood Construction – Community Pride Sponsor
• Partners
• Brookland United Methodist Church
• Boys & Girls Club – Kids’ Zone
• McAlister Smith Funeral & Cremation
• River District Baptist Church
• WXRY 99.3 FM – Columbia’s Independent Alternative
• Giles Brothers Insurance
• iMAGINE STEAM
• Faithful Marketing & Events

Registration for racing, the kinetic sculpture parade, iMAGINE STEAM Festival, and volunteers are open at www.kineticderbyday.com.  

Sign up to volunteer at https://signup.com/go/YyNHpnB.

​About Kinetic Derby Day

West Columbia’s Kinetic Derby Day, featuring iMAGINE STEAM Festival is Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 10 AM – 3 PM. This year, the return of the Kinetic Sculpture Parade will kick off the day, followed by soapbox racing, obstacle course racing, and the iMAGINE STEAM Festival on State Street throughout the day. As always, the event spurs creative thinking, competition, and family fun as teams come together to build unusual vehicles and awe-inspiring art installations. To register to build, race, volunteer, or be a vendor, and join in the fun, visit www.kineticderbyday.com.

The iMAGINE STEAM Festival on State features interactive exhibits emphasizing Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) to ignite the interests of Pre-K through 12th-grade students (and their families) in STEAM subjects by giving them exposure to STEAM careers, skilled trades jobs, and education pathways. The Kids’ Zone, presented by the Boys and Girls Club, will host an exhibition soapbox racing for the little ones.

At the bottom of the hill, a food truck rally hosts festivalgoers for a bite to eat, and West Columbia’s Interactive Art Park houses the Meeting Street Artisan Market for some unique shopping. At the corner of Meeting and State Streets, a giant slide will be sure to bring a crowd. The businesses in the River District will also be open for shopping and dining.

For more information, to volunteer, register a team, or become a vendor, visit www.kineticderbyday.com.     

The mission of Kinetic Derby Day is to inspire creative problem-solving, build community pride, and showcase our growing community welcoming economic investment. The event intends to inspire creative thinkers and help develop problem-solving skills to construct imagined ideas. For more information, visit www.kineticderbyday.com.

About iMAGINE

iMAGINE is a program of South Carolina’s Coalition for Mathematics & Science (SCCMS) at Clemson University. Its mission is to create meaningful experiences that promote a culture of lifelong learning and professional growth with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM), innovation, and entrepreneurial activity in South Carolina. For more information visit https://www.imaginesteamsc.org/ or contact Dallas Thomas at [email protected].