Torquay Waiters’ Race

Torquay hosts Hotels Week and the waiters' race. The trophy is presented by Bruce Forsyth who was doing summer season at the Princess Theatre. Also present are the Mayor and Mayoress Mr and Mrs Robert Kellow. Waiters from all hotels compete at the end of June to complete the course from the harbourside to the Town Hall without spillage or breakage. Waiters included professionals working in the Imperial Hotel, the Osborne Hotel, the Palace, the Grand or the Torbay.

Torquay's most famous waiter was probably Manuel, the fictional character from Barcelona played by Andrew Sachs who played opposite John Cleese's Basil Fawlty in TV comedy's Fawlty Towers. The series was actually filmed in a studio and the external shots were not Torquay. The idea for the race originated in France around the turn of the century and helped turn waiting into a profession. It is traditionally held in Paris on 14 July or Bastille Day, which celebrates the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 and in the so-called course des garcons de cafe neither running nor gluing glasses to trays is permitted! The concept is now a mixed gender affair and held in countries around the world.