Check out this link to the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race’s site. They have a great “How to Build a Kinetic Sculpture” page for getting started on your kinetic sculpture. Their race is partially aquatic so building for the Oxford Festival should be a snap in comparison.
http://www.kineticbaltimore.com/KSR/HowTo.asp
Photos from 2010′s Oxford Bicentennial Kinetic Sculpture Race:
The Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race (Photos from 2010 event)
The Kinetic Grand Championship (Northern California)
Burningman Mobile Art (Black Rock Desert, Nevada)
C.H.U.N.K. 666, “a bicycle club and civic betterment society based in Portland, Oregon, USA”
Chunk 666 Labs Tall Bike Tips