Reminder: Plunge into 2023 with annual dip in Edmonds Jan. 1

Plunging in 2014. (File photo by David Carlos)

Looking to make a splash in 2023? All are invited to join the Edmonds Uplift Society for its 15th Polar Bear Plunge at 1 p.m. New Year’s Day — Sunday, Jan. 1 — at Brackett’s Landing beach.

The event traditionally draws several hundred people to Brackett’s Landing beach — located at the foot of Main Street just north of the Edmonds-Kingston ferry terminal — for a cold-water dip on New Year’s Day.

Daphnes bar owner and event founder Brian Taylor said that a pre-function party will occur at noon at Daphnes, located at 415 1/2 Main St.

The Edmonds Polar Bear Plunge got its start in 2008. Taylor had participated in similar events elsewhere over the years, and one evening over a few drinks with friends it was suggested that the time was ripe to institute a polar bear plunge in Edmonds. Inspired by a 1932 photograph from the Edmonds Historical Museum archives showing the Edmonds Uplift Society, a prohibition-era drinking club, Taylor and others decided to revive the Uplift Society as the event sponsor.

In recognition, the museum donated a print of the original Uplift Society members hoisting a few cold Rainiers, and that image continues to occupy a place of honor in Daphnes Bar.

 

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