Every Labor Day weekend from noon to 4,
the Rotary Club of Fernie, British Columbia hosts the Lions Labor Day
Demolition Derby at the Gymkhana Rodeo Grounds.
The spectacle of classic old cars
lurching around in a muddy field, deliberately ramming into one
another for hours, has fascinated children and adults alike since the
1950's. About a dozen cars collect on the dirt-packed open space
normally reserved for rodeo competitions. Specially painted in bright
colors, the cars are customized to compete in the derby. The glass
windows have been taken out, the gas tanks relocated, the passenger
doors have been welded to the frame. The drivers have done everything
in their power to make these cars well-suited for crashing into one
another.
Visitors cheer their favorite drivers
as they try to get their vehicle to gain enough speed to smash and
immobilize the vehicles of their rivals. The driver of the last
vehicle still able to function will be declared the winner of the
derby.
At the Lions Labor Day Demolition
derby, the mayhem and destruction is organized into several rounds.
At the end of the event, the two longest-lasting cars from each round
enter a final round. This is perhaps the most thrilling component of
the afternoon, as the drivers of the already-wrecked cars struggle to
keep their vehicles operational for one more round.
Demolition derbys have waned in
popularity since the 1980's. Only now are people rediscovering the
thrill that only the demolition derby can provide: the thrill of cars
being destroyed on a mass scale. The Lions Labor Day Demolition
Derby plays a proud part in this renaissance.
