A shark submarine will roll down the streets of Gainesville on Saturday.
Active Streets Alliance planned Menagerie in Motion, a design competition in which people build and ride human-powered floats.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., participants will ride their creations on a 1.5-mile route near Depot Park.
Joseph Floyd, executive director for the alliance, said the event will start near the future Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, which will be situated at 904 S. Main St.
Nineteen handmade floats are registered for the event, which is free for spectators, Floyd said.
“In my heart and mind I have to believe if you show people just how awesome the world can be, they can get behind that,” he said.
The next closest kinetic derby is about 800 miles away in Baltimore, Floyd said.
Raymond Rawls, an independent artist and float creator, helped Floyd get the project rolling.
Of his five current creations, Rawls said a horseshoe crab is the newest, but the alligator is his favorite.
“We’re in Gainesville, so of course we had to build a gator, but I just feel like it’s really indicative of the area, both in nature and on campus,” he said.
The creations take anywhere from two weeks to one year to build, Rawls said, but the effort is worthwhile.
“This is all really about the experience and the community we build,” he said.
Raymond Rawls rides one of his custom-made floats down University Avenue during the UF Homecoming Parade on Nov. 6, 2015. Of his five creations that will be featured at the Menagerie in Motion event on Saturday, Rawls said the alligator his favorite.
