Big ideas sought for Bristol bike festival

Organisers of the Bristol Cycle Festival are appealing to the local community to get involved by coming up with ideas for ways to celebrate cycling in Bristol.

The Festival is the result of a collaboration between organisations including Bristol’s Neighbourhood Arts team, Spoke n Chain, Team Rubber, the Bike Forum and the Shambala Festival. It has been made possible through the financial support of Bristol City Council’s Cycling City fund.
 

The festival’s aim is to get the city focussed on the fun that can be had through cycling, and over two weeks the organisers want the city to hold a wide variety of events. Ideas so far suggested include wacky bike races, bicycle decorating and bike sculptures as well as rides, bike building workshops and cycling film nights.
 

Organisers are hoping there will be more than fifty cycling related events over the two week festival, which runs from 11-26 September.
 

The main events will happen over the weekend of 18 September, the closest weekend to National No Car Day. There will be installations and activities across Bristol city centre, including the UK’s first dedicated bike carnival. Additionally, IgFest, Bristol’s street game organisation, will be staging bike-based games during the event. .
 

The Bristol Cycle Festival will equally serve to help celebrate 15 years of the National Cycle Network, administered by Sustrans. Just prior to the festival, on September 11 Sustrans is inviting riders to participate in a challenging day of riding on some of its best routes in the south west. Riders can choose between an epic 56-mile route taking in Cheddar Gorge and the Mendips, or the shorter 29-mile Nailsea Loop. Click here for details.
 

If you are interested in contributing ideas to the festival, or want to be involved in other ways such as stewarding or leading an event, contact the organisers via the Bristol Cycle Festival website.